Movie Review: Daybreakers

Okay. You know how I've been on a vampires are monsters because by definition they have to eat us kick. Well now I'm going to review Daybreakers. First off I like it. It's a smart vampire movie. It deals with just that dilemma. They have to drink blood. And if they don't bad bad things happen.

In this movie vampires start off as your Lastat looking vampires and without blood slowly start degrading into your Orlok looking vampires. That is the plot. Figure out a way to get them off blood before a second vampire apocalypse happens. Get them off blood before the vampires the other vampires are afraid of take over, cause those are some scary mother -shut yo' mouth. I'm only talking about homo draculas.



And it works. The movie understands completely the underlying reason why vampires are bad, and plays with it. It's not that they're sociopathic, though they are. It's not because they're immortal and hard to kill, though they are. It's not because they're conniving bastards, though they are. It's because they have to eat us, and that just ain't right. If the vampire apocalypse happens I don't want to feed and I don't want to be fed on. Both seem like pretty lousy ways to live. Thus my general KOS approach to blood suckers.

Okay so apart from the premise, how does it stack up? First off they choose which vampire rules they were going to work with well. The only "weird" twist I can think of is that the vampires developed tech to help them overcome they're weaknesses, and well that makes sense. When let's call it 90 %of the population becomes night walkers you adjust. The vampire rules aren't annoying. Carlyle from Spill.com said it best, playing around with the lore is one thing but if you push it too far you make vampires not vampires, and these guys are definitely vampires. There is even a self awareness about it that I think humanity would shy away from in reality.



These guys are vampires and are embracing it... so much so that there's a blood crisis.

Okay how about gore factor. It's not a vampire movie without the aforementioned blood. Let's just say when almost all of humanity has turned vamp and the blood starts running out you do not want to be the one guy in the room with a heartbeat. You're chum man. You are chum!



I described the general plot but how about how it's executed. It is executed damn well. Again the movie is smart with its vampires exploring the ramifications of it. It explains itself well and has few lose ends or plot holes. It is an intelligent vampire movie.

Why Vampires are Evil

Okay so I'd thought I'd go on an anime reviewing kick after Rin so right now I'm watching Black Blood Brothers. But I have to be honest vampires are evil and nothing you do is going to annoy me more than trying to portray them as anything other than that.

People play around with vampire lore. I get it, but by definition vampires have to have at least one constant trait. They have the urge to drink blood or at the very least some sort of human life force. Something or rather someone has to die in order for them to live. Or at least live comfortably. Thus they are by their very nature evil.

Some versions are more sociopathic than others, with the reveling in the murder of humanity. And others at least feel guilty about that aspect of their biology, but it doesn't change the fact that it makes them an anathema to humanity in the most basic of ways. They eat us! You can't have a conversation with them without them being tempted to nom on that vain in your neck man!



Sure being natural enemies, humanity can do some damn distasteful things to the vampire. But there is no overriding the fact that we are natural enemies. Again, THEY EAT US! And for all the vampire lovers out there, I'm looking at you Sookie Stackhouse, even if you aren't on the menu some other poor sap is. My patented policy towards the vampire is stake now, stake later, stake some more and when everyone is permanently dead, don't ask questions and just be glad you still have all your hemoglobin.




Hell even Angel the coolest vampire I can think of made damn sure his friends knew to kill him if he ever had a relapse.

And now that I am thinking about it that Kotoro kid is stupid and annoying. Not just as a vampire but as a character. I'm watching the third episode and still wondering what he adds to the mix other than being a Jar Jar. Sorry, had to get that out of my system.

Anyway back to my original point. Even the vampires that are aware of their nature are not going to exactly be clean heroes. The best you can hope for is gray. You are not going to make vampires nice and fuzzy. And if you do you are missing the point. Even when vampires aren't complete bastards they have to put effort into it. And that's' why I guess I like them. Being nice when it comes natural is one thing. Being half-decent when every bone in your body is screaming at you to be at best a murderer and at worse an asshat murderer is another.

And that is what interesting about the vampire searching for redemption, trying to do good when you're hardwired for evil. But here is the problem. It doesn't work when the vampire isn't hardwired for evil, because then you have something other than a vampire. And being good when you're at worse naturally neutral doesn't have the same pathos to it. It doesn't have the same room for character development. In fact it just makes the vampire feel like an angsty douche.

Then again there is also the catharsis of seeing pay evil unto evil in full affect. And vampires as a general rule fully believe that paying evil unto evil is the best way to deal with it.