Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Daybreakers

Daybreakers starts from the now popular premise that vampirism is caused by a disease and spreads rapidly. It then asks the question "What happens when the food (humans) run out?"
In the movie the vampires have either turned too many humans or have fed on too many of them. Vampires that are not getting enough human blood regress into a subhuman form. The society relies on corporate run human farms that slowly drain the blood from living humans. The army's primary mission is to round up stray humans.
To stave off the coming starvation, scientists are desperately hunting for a suitable blood replacement. One scientist thinks that discovering a blood substitute will mean the end of hunting humans. The more pragmatic vampires know that humans will always be hunted. He thrill of the real thing is just too strong.
While the underlying ideas are interesting, the movie does not go too far in examining them. Instead it sticks pretty close to accepted norms. The bad guy is greedy, immoral, and cowardly. The good guys are noble, smart, and strong. The resolution of the problem is both miraculous and reaffirming of the basically good nature of humanity.
That does not mean that the movie is no good. If fact, I found it quite enjoyable. The acting is strong and the characters are well drawn. The cinematography maintains a nicely dark aura.
Daybreakers is well worth the six dollar PPV fee.

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