Movie Review: “Daybreakers”
Set in 2019, Daybreakers explores a future in which a plague has transformed nearly all of the world’s human population into vampires. Those who remain unchanged are captured and farmed for blood, a practice made necessary by a rapidly shrinking human population. When unchanged humans run out, so will the blood supply needed to sustain the vampires. One vampire, Edward (no, not that Edward), who is working towards developing a synthetic blood substitute becomes involved with a group of human fugitives who have discovered a way to cure the vampire pandemic. Enticed by the prospect of curing himself, Edward offers the humans protection, aligning himself against the rest of the vampire population.
In an era drowning in books, movies and television programs about friendly vampires, Daybreakers was poised to be the very welcome reemergence of real vampires. Finally, a horror movie about vampires who were unafraid to spill some blood and cause some terror. With the added pedigree of Oscar-nominees Ethan Hawke and Willem Dafoe (who even has experience playing an evil vampire), this was sure to be the return to form audiences so desperately craved.
So, it is easy to imagine the spirit-shattering disappointment felt when Daybreakers turned out to be just another bastardization of the genre.
Sure, these vampires were all about sucking blood and killing people, but there is nothing scary going on in this movie. Ethan Hawke is so unalive in his role, it’s as if he really is inhuman. Further, Willem Dafoe is reduced to cracking cheesy one-liners to the tune of, “life’s a bitch, and then you don’t die” (get it: because they’re immortal). Finally, in yet another insult to viewers, the overly-stylized vampire battles are depicted using such rudimentary CGI, it appears almost hand-drawn. This film is so poorly assembled, it’s almost laughable.
This entire film makes a mockery of itself, but doesn’t present its campiness as though it is intentional, á la 2009′s Drag Me to Hell. Instead, this movie reeks of the sad Hollywood trend that is high-concept meets tragically flawed execution.
Overall Rating: 
