Daybreakers is one of the more unique vampire films in that it depicts a world overrun by the bloodsuckers in a stylish and even satirical manner. Rather than ruling the usual post-apocalyptic landscape, as one might expect, the vampires have taken over all aspects of Western society, becoming extremely good at running a high tech world that largely resembles the present day human society--with the main difference being everything now happens at night. Human beings, having been replaced at the top of the food chain, are now hunted down to be used as cattle; they’re drained of their blood in vast numbers in a ghastly, automated set up that reminds one of the human battery charger sequence in The Matrix.
Ethan Hawke stars as Edward Dalton, a scientist working for a vampire-owned and run pharmaceutical company that makes the bulk of its money from taking the blood from captured humans. But the well is drying out, so to speak. Humans now only make up five per cent of the population, and with their main food supply running out, Dalton and his scientific colleagues are racing to find a blood substitute before their food runs out. If deprived of blood for too long, a vampire turns into an animalistic, Nosferatu-like creature with bat wings who kills everything in sight in order to slake its primal bloodlust.
However, after a chance encounter with some humans on the run--whom the sympathetic Edward help to hide from the police--Edward is contacted by a human underground movement that needs his help. They have stumbled across something very big: a cure for vampirism, and they want Edward to help them to spread it before the human race is made extinct. Daybreakers is very well written and directed by brothers Michael and Peter Spierig, who manage to insert some sly commentary about the evils of corporate greed (is it any surprise that vampires would make great businessmen?), as well as a stark warning (which environmentalists would love) about a society greedily using up its resources.
Although the film deteriorates into a slap-happy, comic book mentality, thanks
to some lame lines (as well as some silly, B-movie action film moments near the end) Daybreakers’ carefully thought out script and premise, along with its strong cast, saves it in the end. Hawke and Claudia Karvan are very good, but Willem Dafoe, as the rough and tumble mechanic nicknamed Elvis, is even better. So is Sam Neil, as the dastardly CEO of the evil pharmaceutical company that prizes profits over curing the problem. Fast-paced, stylish and just plain fun, Daybreakers is an enjoyable ride on the dark side that is also blended with a welcome dose of science fiction. If you’re a fan of either The Underworld or the Matrix films, you might want to give this one a shot. --SF
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