Have A Break, Have A Quick Bat

So me an S-San went to the pictures last yesterday to see Daybreakers. It was, shockingly enough, not a bad film. It wasn't a massively great one, but I'd say the positives outweigh the negatives fairly comfortably.

What we have is nice idea about what happens when vampires outnumber humans. The whole society seems pretty well realised, and visually everything looks very nice with an interesting blend of modern and 40s/50s style.

The subsiders makeup effects are VERY good, giving a great sense of twisted and bestial but still allowing a hint of patheticness to visible. Generally the film makes good use of physical effects, with the only obvious CG being used on the burning vampires.

The plot has some nice ideas, and you can't really have a go at the lack of science involved, as it is made clear that these are the classic undead type vampires rather than something more modern. There's a great establishing shot early on showing the characters lack of reflection. I suppose in way the "cure" discovered does make a kind of sense, since you cannot kill that which does not live. But thats all I'll say for fear of spoilers.

The best performance is easily Willem Dafoe turns in easily the best performance in the film, Sam Neill makes a fairly enjoyable villain though. The leads are, it has to be said, generic at best. I'm not gonna say Ethan Hawke is Keanu Reaves or anything, but they are kind of just... there.

I'd say the major problem with the film is simply in the closing scenes, at is it really feels that after the big reveal they really didn't quite now how to end the film. after a point it just goes on to long, as various characters turn up to save the day in turn, finally culminating in a driving off into the sunrise shot which is frankly just as cliched and played out as it sounds. Can't really go into to much detail without giving away spoilers, but they should have faded out after the secound round of Dawn Of The Dead. I'll try not to point how silly it is for the leads to be running around in sudden action hero mode after suffering extreme bloodloss at this point, since it is a bit daft.

Bonus points are given for not having the leads suddenly leap on each other and start fucking despite the complete abcense of any chemistry or attraction like pretty much every other film. Though there are a few points where they do kind of make you think thats going to happen. I'm not sure whether to take points off for that or not.

So, overall then: Yes this is pretty good film. It's an interesting take on the whole Vampire idea, and does have the advantage of portraying Vampires with some actual balls, rather than the whingy whiney emo gheyness that seems so prevalent these days. However I can't honestly say I'd rush out to buy it on DVD at any point.