Daybreakers Broke a Mold
Daybreakers isn’t your typical vampire movie. This movie does transcend the genre a whole lot, though the typical vampire elements are there. Sure, there’s the neck biting and the aversion to the sun, but the plot is a little more different than other vampire movies. Humans as the one’s being hunted isn’t so much a cliche in the genre, but the fight for survival against perilous odds, is. However, that’s not the real point of the movie. In a role reversal of sorts, the movie makes clear that the world is overrun; rather, turned by vampires, but really this movie could do away with them in the first place and the meanings of the movie would still be the same. Replace vampires with zombies and you have the same movie. Replace vampires with upper-middle class workers you have the same movie. The list goes on. This movie is a special “breed” in and of itself. The vampires are just an end to the social means this movie is discussing.
In a nutshell, Ethan Hawke is a rogue vampire looking for a cure for vampirism and befriends humans in the process. His loyalties are torn, but one of the themes in the movie is can you go back to where you came from. Digest that for a minute. Anyway, this movie is pretty good. I expected it to be a typical vampire movie with lots of blood and gore and a cliched battle between human and nonhuman. Surprisingly each character (even the “minor” ones) played an important role, vampire or not. Not one minute of the film was unnecessary. It all was and is perfect for a change of pace. The only downside I would give this movies is the ultra creepy Willem Dafoe. Sam Neill (Jurassic Park) plays a great bad guy. I hated his character from the start, but you kind of grow to like him, believe it or not. Go see this movie. It’s well worth it. Sadly, this movie isn’t highly advertised but the movie is refreshing change of pace that does have an extended meaning than what you see on screen.
It’s fantastically artistic in a directorial point of view. Read into it what you will, but the movie will definitely surprise you. I give this movie a 9.
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