YYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS THIS MOVIE IS FREAKING AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!*ahem* Hey guys and gals, after earning a few bucks helping people move I decided to go to a local FYE and I saw Daybreakers and immediately picked it up and bought it for like 30 bucks, and I was busy that day to watch it so I just finished it about 11 minutes ago and yeah, this movie is FREAKING AWESOME. Everything about this movie is awesome; great acting, amazing visuals, great pacing, amazing make-up effects, and tastefully done gore all wrapped into one spectacular film.
The film is takes place in the year 2019 where 10 years prior, an epidemic has occurred where a Vampire virus has spread and made a majority of the world Vampire's, and these are the real kinds of Vampires(no sunlight, steak through heart, and drink HUMAN BLOOD). Edward Dalton(Ethan Hawk) works for a Pharmaceutical company run by Charles Bromley(Sam Neil) who seek to find a blood substitute due to a dwindling real blood supply and an outbreak of freakish looking creatures. Along the way Edward discovers a group of humans who have found a cure, with the help of Lionel"Elvis"Cormac(Willem Dafoe). He joins them in hopes of using the cure to bring the world back to the way it was.
Alright that's all I'm gonna say about plot and story. Lets talk about the acting and cast. This is such an amazing roster of actors. Ethan Hawke as I mentioned plays Edward Dalton, a vampire who hates being a vampire and is said to drink pig blood as a substitute but its not as potent. I loved his performance in this film, he has been out of the limelight for quite sometime and now has made a great comeback with this film(hopefully we see him in a comic movie soon*wink*). He plays Edward in such a way where he's the man caught in the middle between 2 drastic live choices and his decision is what decides the fate of both. The next best thing in this thing is Sam Neil, who blows this movie right out of the ball park. Neil plays the ultimate evil in this film. He's all about making money because being a vampire means big business(I will mention that in a bit). He makes Gordon Gecko seem like a cheapskate, he cares nothing but his business and making LOTS of money. He's not the leader of the vampires but he's one of the smartest and the most cunning. Finally there's Wilem Dafoe as Elvis, this is the craziest role Dafoe has played...and that's saying something. He plays this role so well that its on Bruce Campbell levels of awesomeness. He drives a sweet muscle car, uses a shotgun looking crossbow, and makes Elvis referenced quotes that have deeper meaning in terms of the context of the story. His character has such a great back story and is one of the keys to the "cure". I consider this role sorta of a cameo because he's not it it a lot, not even during the 2nd and 3rd acts, nonetheless it was a great role and the best performance I have seen him do. As for the supporting cast I give them a lot of credit too, the female lead is basically shoved into the love interest til the very end but I give them credit for not going straight to that.
The setting of this vampire world is amazing, they took a lot of time and effort in making this world feel very REAL, and I mean this could be something be done by 2019. The main setting is this City, which never is mentioned as to which major city in any major metropolitan city. Anyway this city, is very futuristic, yet very modern. Every building is connected with this walkways between each other to avoid the sun light and traverse to work or social outings during the daytime. Also they have a massive intertwining underground tunnels called subwalks which look subway tunnels and dimly lit. The cars are all custom fitted with an array of gadgets designed to keep the Vampires safe and protective from the sun. They have special mirror systems that use cameras instead of mirrors. This same method is used while driving, the cars have special super black tinted windows that can appear and disappear with a push of the button and the camera projects whats ahead, to the sides, and behind. And that image of the human population being farmed by being kept alive in these chambers is both haunting yet unique. Oh and one other thing about this world that I love because in terms of vampirism, EVERYONE SMOKES...well in terms of the vampire populace, none of the humans are seen smoking. The reason why they smoke is because well since they are dead, it don't matter, so they smoke for leisure(I'm glad to see chain smoking back in R Rated films again). Also they keep the myth of the vampire tried and true, these are the kind of vampires that drink blood to live, yellow eyes, fangs, die by sunlight or stake through heart, or head chopped off, and they cant drink their own blood because its poisonous. After prolonged blood deprivation the vampires turn into these monstrous creatures, sorta of a mixture between max shreck and man-bat. This was an amazing looking world and felt very lively and full of people all the time.
In terms of pacing this movie was 98 minutes long and each act of the film was quick and concise. There was never a dull moment or a scene that dragged too long. This is a good example of a roller coaster film, we have slow build up, great set up, awesome action throughout and a soft ending that leaves you wanting more. The ending kinda sorta sets up for a sequel, but that really depends on the popularity and sales.
The make-up and special effects are amazing in this film. While nothing is really gonna surpass AVATAR in terms of "groundbreaking" but a film like this uses what its got and goes for it. The vampires do have very pale complexions and these yellow eyes, they have fangs ALL the time. The monsters these vampires become are very great and very creepy, they act like monsters with NO humanity left, much more effective than the creatures from I am Legend. The burning from the sun moments seem cheesy but for the most part they aren't seen a lot except for a few key moments and they are really good. In terms of blood, there's a LOT..and I mean LOTS, not as much from dead alive or brain dead, but still a good amount of it. There is one puking scene and it came out of nowhere. All the gory scenes in this film were kept for the third act and for the most part they were tasteful, they didn't do gore for the sake of gore, they showed how desperate the vampires were for blood, so I give them lots of credit for making this a good old fashion horror film
So now wrapping up, I really really really enjoyed this movie. This gave vampires their dignity back, this is the ANTI-TWILIGHT vampire we have been waiting in a long time. There hasn't been a good vampire film since Near Dark and this surpasses it by far. I give this a high recommendation to fans of horror and to satire like films like robocop and district 9. I give this film an A+. GO GET THIS FILM AND WATCH IT!!!! til next time BlackAirs Out!!!