"Daybreakers" is directed by the Spierig Brothers and stars Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe and Sam Neill. That was all I knew about the film when I bought the ticket to see it yesterday. Actually, I had a couple of hours to kill in between the classes I teach - very long teaching day yesterday (about 8 hours of straight teaching). Truth be told, I was actually looking to take a nap in the cinema for an hour or so before getting back to work. Little did I know that the film kept me on the edge of my seat for close to two hours with its exciting plot, unconventional take on the sci-fi vampire genre and very poignant social message. If you like your movies all paranoia-sci-fi, you'll love this. I haven't been so gripped by a sci-fi film since Alex Proyas' "Dark City" in 1998. Critics have compared this film (and "Dark City", for that matter) with the Wachowski Brothers' "Matrix"-trilogy. If you ask me, both of these movies are far superior to the Wachowski's bloated ego-trip of a trilogy.
Hollywood doesn't do sci-fi very well. I mean, prior to the above-mentioned films, sci-fi buffs have had to be contented with watching "Blade Runner" on their father's VHS player again and again until they finally wear the tape out. After the Wachowskis, everyone wanted to do William Gibson/Phillip K. Dick-styled films. Alas, most were mediocre (i.e. "Minority Report" and "Paycheck") and some were downright unwatchable ("Babylon A.D." anyone?). Other than those, we got space-operas, zombies, vampire-flicks and the present Hollywood-comicbook crush.
"Daybreakers" succeeds in that it is a sci-fi film pretending to be a vampire-flick - and as a result, offers a little bit more than either genres could afford to provide on their own. Honestly, after all the teeny-bopper vamps in "Twilight" (which I avoided like the plague), the last thing we need is another angsty vampire flick. Thankfully, the Spierig Brothers give us something far more valuable. They gave us a world where vampires have taken over the entire planet - the government, the corporations, the pharmaceutical labs, the military, the media, the transportation, the coffee-chains, the car-manufacturing plants, etc. and human beings are hunted to be farmed for their blood. In fact, human blood is the most precious commodity on the planet because it is very quickly running out and the planet-wide vampire masses are staring extinction in the face because they could not get their hands on human blood. Enter: vampire hematologist Ethan Hawke. He's working on a substitute for human blood to save the entire species (and also to prevent the remaining humans from being captured and farmed like cattle).
What Ethan Hawke didn't know was that his boss, Sam Neill, is a corporate bastard like every other corporate bastard. The pharmaceutical company he runs profits from the sale of human blood (what an allegory!) and is not exactly looking to end the farming of humans. Should the substitute blood be successfully manufactured, they will sell that to the masses but human blood will still be sold to the rich and powerful who can pay the price for the "premium" taste of the real thing (like Pepsi, if you will). Finally, Ethan Hawke hooks up with a human played by Claudia Karvan and an ex-vamp played by Willem Dafoe. It turns out that as a result of an automobile accident, Willem Dafoe was exposed to the sun and cured of his vampirism. Hawke then tries to duplicate the accident by exposing himself to the sun in order to come up with a cure. When the cure was finally offered to Sam Neill, the corporate bloke (who talked like my ex-boss) simply explained that they are not in the business of coming up with a cure! Where's the business in that? They are in the business of profiteering from the masses' constant need for blood to feed their addiction.
The film doesn't shy away from limb-tearing and blood-guzzling violence. We are better off for that because there is probably nothing more satisfying than watching a corporate bastard like Sam Neill being served up as the main course for a troop of starving vampire soldiers. The end result is a film that looks and feels authentic - or at least, sincere; something that is sorely lacking from Hollywood these days what with its ongoing love affair with 3D effects but zero content ("Clash of the Titans" *ahem* "Avatar" *cough* "Alice In Wonderland" *sputter* *vomit*).
Here's the trailer to the film - now, go watch the real thing:
