Daybreakers (BD)

I am beginning to believe that vampires, zombies, werewolves, and Roland Emmerich (“2012”) all have a common plan--to eradicate every living soul from the Earth, thereby leading to the destruction of mankind once and for all. But wait a minute: This scenario is not at all possible. Vampires need human blood, zombies feed on human flesh, and, of course, we have hybrid creatures in werewolves, who will feed on anything human. And for Roland Emmerich’s movies to work, he needs heroes to save mankind. Hence, in spite of all the odds stacked against mankind, human life will still continue to persist on Earth. Alas, this setup of the possible extinction of the human race at the hands of vampires, zombies, werewolves, and Roland Emmerich has been shamelessly milked by Hollywood to a point where this so-called human-extinction horror genre feels like a total dozer and uncreative. So far, we see no end to these types of movies, with the latest offering, “Daybreakers,” coming from directors Michael and Peter Spierig and no Roland Emmerich in sight.

The story is simple and told in a linear fashion. In the not-too-distant future, a deadly virus has converted the human race into vampires. Faced with a possible shortage of blood, vampires harvest humans in a lab to find a way to manufacture synthetic blood, without which they all will die in a month. Dr. Edward Dalton (Ethan Hawke) works for a blood supply company, Bromley Marks, that is headed by Charles Bromley (Sam Neill). Along the way, a covert group of vampires, lead by Audrey (Claudia Karvan) and Elvis (Willem Dafoe), make a startling discovery that will cure vampirism, and as a result they seek out Edward for his special expertise. Soon, the group is chased by an army of human-hunters, ending in a number of casualties with a few surviving members captured by the army for scientific purposes. Meanwhile, Elvis persuades Edward to try the experiment that eventually converts him back to human form. Edward, along with Elvis and his men, reaches the premises of Bromley Marks to confront Charles Bromley.

“Daybreakers” has a promising plot against a backdrop of science; however, with a muddling script, it never escalates to become entertaining or thoughtful. The presence of big stars like William Dafoe, Ethan Hawke, and Sam Neil can fool one into watching this clunker. Not only are these stars confused in their roles, but they also don’t seem suitable for the roles they are trying to portray. For instance, the character of Elvis, played by William Dafoe, is a more than a bit out of place. He tries to play a tough guy, and the style here is reminiscent of his earlier role in “To Live and Die in L.A.”

With a gun in one hand and broad shoulders, Dafoe’s image of a strong, masculine figure is unconvincing because he’s too getting too old for this sort of thing. His presence in “Spider-Man” was menacing and wicked, but in “Daybreakers,” being the leader of his group, his character lacks the charisma and spark to shepherd his group. Maybe a badass character instead of a wise vampire could have injected the necessary adrenaline into the film. Nonetheless, even with this limitation, Dafoe’s performance is the best out of the three main stars.

Moving along, Ethan Hawke playing the character of a vampire doctor takes his role too seriously. At times, his character is unknowingly perplexed, when switching between the character of a doctor and vampire. The confusion arises due to character’s dual nature, and obviously due to his underdeveloped character and poor lines. Because he’s supposed to be a scientist, we would expect him to utter some scientific mumbo-jumbo in relation to the blood scarcity problem. Even so, considering the rapid transformation of humans to vampires, an understanding of this evolutionary behavior could have given the movie a lift in the storytelling aspect.

Finally, Sam Neill’s portrayal of the bad guy, Charles, falls flat. He is the corporate visionary who is driving humans to the point of extinction by farming them for their blood. Yet he never operates like a C.E.O. He does not articulate his thoughts in terms of profitability, corporate-mergers, or competition; we only get a military minded, thickheaded corporate executive. The corporation operates like a big government entity with a military mind-set. Moreover, it seems like Bromley Marks is the only company on Earth researching the possibility of manufacturing synthetic blood. This is hardly plausible considering that vampires were humans before the transformation. There is bound to be a percentage of business-savvy vampires who would seek out other business avenues and alliances, but not in the case of “Daybreakers.”

“Daybreakers” does not benefit from its featherweight characters or flawed story line. The overall tone of the movie is too serious, with no moments of comedy or smart dialogue. It seems as though the film is on a mission to provide us with a message, but in the end, there is none. There are a few cool action sequences, but other than that “Daybreakers” is at best merely a passable vampire flick.

Video:

As expected, Lionsgate presents this movie in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.401:1, encoded in an AVC format. The transfer looks consistently crisp and pristine. Being a vampire movie, “Daybreakers” has a plenty of night scenes. These scenes are presented beautifully, with appreciable improvement in contrast. The palette is devoid of bright colors, but occasionally they do pop out, mostly in the form of gore. The blacks are solid, and detail is considerably excellent. Likewise, the skin tones are lifelike and realistic.

Audio:

Lionsgate has included a 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track for this release. Here, we have a track that packs all the punches. In action sequences, the bass is heavy and loud, but it’s never overbearing. The gunshots are deep and heavy, providing plenty of bang. There is plenty of sound flowing through the rear channels, too, thereby creating a full 360-degree effect. The dialogue gets a boost as well, clear and crisp throughout. Overall, there is nothing to complain about as this track provides for a full immersive experience. Also included is the option to watch the movie in English and Spanish subtitles.

Extras:

Starting off the extras, we get an insightful commentary track with co-directors, Peter and Michael Spierig, and creature designer Steve Boyle. They provide substantial details on the sets used, storyboards, and concept of the film.

Following this, we have a four-part documentary on the movie called “Making of Daybreakers.” The filmmakers discuss their ideas about how this movie was conceived, and they provide relevant details on production techniques used throughout the film. Of course, the theme of the movie was motivated by comic books and other vampire movies. We also get interviews with the actors discussing their roles. The production team talk about a special technique called animatics that uses 3-D models for testing out a scene before the actual shooting--they are animated storyboards, in motion, though.

We also get a short film, “The Big Picture” (16x9, 13 minutes), created by the Spierig Brothers. This is a very good short film, even better than “Daybreakers” itself. Here, we see a woman, alone in her house flipping through TV channels. While navigating through the channels, she witnesses a live video feed of families doing their regular stuff like partying and taking care of kids and family. The feed makes her think about a few things in her own life and the importance of enjoying moments together with friends.

Up next we have a technical feature called BonusView that basically lays out storyboards and animatic on-screen comparisons in the background while you watch the movie.

Finishing off the extras, there is a theatrical trailer for the movie, as well the poster art gallery.

Parting Thoughts:

“Daybreakers” assembles a nice cast in the form of William Dafoe, Ethan Hawke, and Sam Neill. Unfortunately, the actors look jaded in their roles, and the movie never ignites any emotional spark. “Daybreakers” uses a nice idea, but with a sloppy script and a flawed story, it remains a deeply underwhelming effort.