Day Breakers

&nbsp

Daybreakers
The Australian-based brothers, Michael and Peter Spierig, who had made the disappointing zombie horror "Undead" in 2003, take a step in the right direction with their second feature, "Daybreakers," a futuristic sci-fi thriller (what else?), which is cast with better actors and is better produced; a function of a larger budget, growing technical skills, and cumulative knowledge of moviemaking. Premiering at the 2009 Toronto Film Fest (last September), the film will be released by Lionsgate on January 8, the same day that another routine comedy, "Leap Year," opens theatrically. (January is known in the industry as the month in which the studios tend to dump their less commercial, less prestigious products). The Spierigs are credited as producers-writers and directors, so it's valide to ask if the narrative is more engaging or more fully worked out than that of the undernourished "Undead." The answer is: Only slightly so. The problem is that there are so many vampires and bloodsuckers in our marketplace right now (in film, literature, TV, music) that it's getting increasingly difficult to come up with a fresh angle, new type of charactetrs, and inventive line of action to separate one item from another. Like most of these tales, "Daybreakers" begins in the near future, in 2019, when a mysterious plague has damaged the earth, transforming the majority of the world's population into vampires. Feeling threatened and endangered, the surviving humans, clearly second-class species, are forced into hiding as they are hunted and farmed by the vampires. As the global blood bak is rapidly depleting, the human race seems to be on the brink of extinction—unless one heroic individual would step up and make some necessary sacrifices. That hero is Edward Dalton, a vampire researcher who refuses to feed on human blood, aiming to perfect a substitute that might sustain vampires and spare the remaining humans. Predictably, the clock is ticking fast and time is running out, and a quick action is needed. Turning point occurs when Ed meets Audrey, a human survivor who leads him to a startling medical breakthrough. Armed with knowledge that both humans and vampires desire, Ed must battle his own race in a deadly struggle that will decide the fate of the human race. Sharply uneven, "Daybreakers" contains several visually stylish, thematically provocative and action-packed sequences; the make-up effects were created by the internationally renowned WETA Workshop, overseen by Peter Jackson and his associates. But there also are many boring and predictable scenes, which simply exist to connect the dots of the plot. Inevitably, when you watch sci-fi pictures these days and what's on screen is not particularly involving, you begin to compile the scenes that are taken from, refer and allude to other classic sci-fi, and that library is rapidly growing. My companion though that "Daybreakers" recalls Kathryn Bigelow's "New Dark," a romantic vampire that I admire, whereas I saw elements of "Gattaca" in the new story, as well as indicators that the couple has seen several time such seminal noir thrillers as Ridley Scott's Blade Runner and Spielberg's still-underestimated "Minority Report." The real test for the talent-caliber and level of narrative originality of the Spierieg siblings would be offered by their next (third feature). What elevates this genertic item above the routine is the strong acting by Ethan Hawke, who's credible and compelling as a vampire wth both conscience and consciousness, Wilem Dafoe as Elvis, who looks right as the head of a small band of human outlaws who bears a secret, and Sam Neill as the greedy and ruthless head of corporation for which Hawke works. End Note The names of the characters in this flick are suspiciously familiar. Dafoe is called Elvis, and Hawke's name is Edward (have we reached the point of paying tribute to "Twilight").