Review: Daybreakers
Peter and Michael Spierig’s first Hollywood project opened at #4 in the US last weekend, and both Paul Hayes and Miguel Gonzalez believe there’s still a lot of box office blood ready for Daybreakers to suck dry.
Paul Hayes:
Vampires are the flavour of the month, but the latest from filmmaking twins, Peter and Michael Spierig, is no angst ridden teen romance.
Daybreakers is set in a not-too distant future where 95 percent of the world’s population has been turned into vampires and human blood is fast running out.
Two words: high and concept, and the Spierigs do a pretty decent job of pulling it off; they have created a future where questions of environmental responsibility are raised, but they never forget that they are making a vampire film, and the blood certainly does flow. There are exciting chases, scary moments, all out gore fests and deep conversations about what it means to be human.
Where the film stumbles is when the brothers do seem to forget that they are making a futuristic vampire film and tend to take the whole thing awfully seriously.
Those wanting an immortal love fest will be disappointed, but anyone after the slightly curious mix of vampire horror sci-fi, Daybreakers is just the ticket.
Miguel Gonzalez:
If any Australian-driven project has ever had a clear market potential, this is it. It’s the right moment; the midst of a vampire craze that’s generated millions of dollars based on sugar-coated sexual/romantic fantasies for teenage girls.
Yet it is nothing like that and, alongside TV’s True Blood, Daybreakers will offer an alternative for vampire lovers who feel their favourite supernatural creatures have been taken hostage by Stephanie Meyer.
It takes itself too seriously in the first act, so much that it’s hard not to laugh at its premise. As the tone changes, everyone’s in for a fun, bloody ride. It looks amazing for its budget, and it is exactly the kind of movie that always has a healthy run at the international box office, appealing to vampire/horror/action fans. It could be a hit of Blade dimensions; a sustainable idea that has potential for sequels, which will hopefully expand the Spierig’s vampiric universe financially and creatively.
DAYBREAKERS
Dir. Peter and Michael Spierig
With Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, Claudia Karvan
Hoyts, 04/02/2010
Looking forward to seeing it. But isn’t there a danger that the public appetite for vampire flicks will disappear as quickly as it began?
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It will never disappear; it’s the kind of thing that goes through popularity cycles through the years. At this stage, we have at least one or two more years of Twilight fever, with Eclipse coming out later this year – and the last film will probably be ready for 2011.
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im looking forward to this movie.
can i have some free tickets please.
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