Daybreakers

CHANNEL: Movies

Directed by The Spierig Brothers (Michael and Peter Spierig)

Starring Ethan Hawke, Sam Neill, Willem Dafoe, and Claudia Karvan

Don’s take:
THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT — LITERALLY

Leaving Daybreakers, I felt a little like I did after getting out of Ninja Assassin — what a missed opportunity, I thought to myself. Not that Daybreakers was a terrible movie. It was amusing in some parts, inspired in other parts, and amateurish in yet other parts. But the overwhelming feeling was disappointment, because the concept offered potential for this to be a really great movie: a look at society were Vampires to become the majority of the population and humans a fringe population — how cool does that sound??

When I start to read other people’s reviews or hearing their opinions, I suspect they will tell me that I am expecting too much from it, that it’s supposed to be a B-movie, etc. It’s what I usually hear, after all, when it comes to movies like this. They’ll defend the movie for advancing its plot almost pathologically through its dialogue arguing that you shouldn’t expect more since its meant to be a trashy flick. And they’ll forgive it for its relentlessness in reminding us that this movie is about a world overrun by vampires. Okay, I get it, coffee stands serve coffee with blood… I get it, pretty much anyone who isn’t enslaved and hung up like they’re hooked up to the Matrix or running around acting scared as a cat is a vampire. So do you really have to put those tooth-bite stickers on their necks? Let’s be honest, they look a little Halloweenish.

But I am tired of hearing this rationalization for cheesy movies. What does this say about fans of these sorts of movies? It says that studios don’t think we are smart enough to be challenged. That the filmmakers think because of the subject matter, the product should be dumbed down. I, for one, take offense to this. I like vampires and ninjas… and I am a smart person. Come on, let’s all say it together… We like vampires and ninjas, and we are smart people… The days of zombie/vampire/alien/ninja movies being attended only by lonely, socially-challenged, pimple-faced teenagers — they are gone. Those teenagers have all gotten older and become intelligent socially-challenged grown-ups. Those teenagers are us. And we deserve a smart movie.

Like I said, there are some really inspired scenes. There is one part where a mass vampire execution is shown, and the imagery will be seared into my mind forever. For scenes like this one, the movie is definitely worth taking a gander. But how refreshing would it be to watch a vampire movie that was actually smart? One that looked at the characters a little more in depth. That used the imagery on screen to advance the plot instead of narrating it to us through the characters. It is a movie after all. What a novel concept, huh? Or how about one where the filmmakers are actually concerned with writing characters that behave realistically and don’t make decisions simply in service of the plot. Casting a quality actor like Ethan Hawke as your lead will only get you so far…

The Spierig Brothers are obviously talented guys. For God’s sake, this movie was made for 20 million dollars! It does not look like a 20 million dollar movie — I would have guessed in the range of 60 to 100 million. I have high hopes for this fresh new brothers-directing team. But my complaints have nothing to do with the look of the film. They all have to do with the execution of the plot. But directors get better with time and experience. This is their third film, but their first major motion picture, so while it is far from a masterpiece, it’s a heck of a debut.

3 out of 5
Albert’s take:
A BITE ABOVE

It’s rare that a vampire movie rises above the level of a video game — think hokey backstory, specialized weapons, enemies that die with stunning ease — and “Daybreakers” isn’t one of the few to break the mold. But the movie does have strengths that make it better than the average: It’s slick, it has a great cast, it delivers more than enough scares (cheap though most of them are), and it even gives vampire lore a few novel twists — but none so ambitious as to keep the third act from turning into a splatter fest. But hey, that’s what we paid to see, right?

4 out of 5

And now… THE 180 DEGREE RULE

Albert: Man, what passion from you — almost makes me feel ashamed for liking the movie! As a defense, and as an explanation, I invoke Pauline Kael again: “Movies are so rarely great art that if we cannot appreciate great trash, we have very little reason to be interested in them.” “Daybreakers,” to me, is great trash — regardless of the storyline, it looks great, it sounds great, its performances are great. Sure, it had the potential to be great, period. But my expectations for this kind of movie are so low to begin with, its novelties were a pleasant surprise to me. A better-than-average time at the movies, for me.

Don: Well, it wasn’t my intent to make anyone ashamed for liking it, so sorry for that. I guess my point is this: camp is starting to get played out. A few years ago it was homage, but at this point, enough is enough. Maybe I was spoiled by District 9. Now there was a movie that took a subject matter that was previously b-movie fodder for the most part and treated it with love, respect and intelligence. And the result speaks for itself.

Albert: But even “District 9″ fell back on genre conventions in its third act, like this one did — shootouts and weapon upgrades galore. I do agree with you, a transcendent genre pic would be great, but I also think a part of us craves their familiarity, which is why filmmakers keep churning out formulaic movies like “Daybreakers.” I think vampire movies and alien invasion flicks play off the xenophobia and fascist tendencies that lie somewhere deep down in all of us. That kind of hard-wiring isn’t easy to change.

Don: I didn’t have a problem with the shootouts and such in either this movie or District 9, so much. What elevated District 9 in my eyes is that the characters behaved like believable people thanks in large part to Neil Blomkampf’s decision to have his actors improvise their parts. I feel like I must mention, though, that there are well made vampire flicks — Let The Right One In was a really satisfying vampire movie, I thought.

Albert:True, I can’t exactly say Willem Dafoe oozed credibility in this movie — he was about two steps removed from his role in “Cirque du Freak.” But he and the other actors were good sports. Their presence alone added to my enjoyment of the movie, I won’t lie. I kept thinking, Ethan Hawke surely had a good reason for being in this movie! If he was phoning it in or paying back a favor, I sure couldn’t tell.

Don: So when exactly did vampyrism become synonymous with cheese? I find it ironic given that, as a genre, it has a distinguished origin with Bram Stoker’s Dracula (the book). And there is so much there in the mythology to work with and explore. But instead, it just gets exploited time and time again.

Albert: The filmmakers are stuck with the vampire conventions, I guess — sunlight, neck biting, invisibility in mirrors, stakes through the heart. Every self-respecting maker of a vampire movie takes a shot at playing with these conventions, and I thought the Spierig brothers did it better than most. For instance, I think this was the first to show a world in which vampires multiplied at a believable rate (i.e., to the point where humans become endangered).

Don: They did. In all, I think this movie was definitely a worthy entry into vampire lore. I just felt like it should have aspired to more. But yes, what was there was actually quite good. I also liked how they show the world as business as usual for the most part despite the dramatic transformation of the population. People still work their jobs like normal and spend their wages to feed their addictions, just like we all do, but here, their addiction is human blood.

Albert: I thought of “The Matrix” as I watched this movie, and I mean that in a good way. The Spierig brothers, the Wachowski brothers. It’s not an unfair comparison.

Thanks for joining us for another round of The Alias Men! And that does it for this week. We won’t be doing an A-List review this week, but we’ll be back to our regular schedule next week. Visit us again Tuesday, January 19th; we’ll be reviewing Book Of Eli, starring Denzel Washington. We’ll be seeing you soon!