Daybreakers (2009) ***

Most movies with a world that's ten years past a plague that killed most of humanity is a wasteland of epic proportions. Charlton Heston is on the beach screaming at the severed head of the Statue of Liberty comes to mind, as does the zombie hordes overtaking the shopping mall in Dawn of the Dead. Daybreakers features yet another society that has become the victim of another curse that has led to most of the population becoming vampires. But in the wake of the vampire holocaust society has continued, making concessions to problems like sunlight (Disney World like sub walks and day time driving additions reminiscent of the bus in The Gauntlet are a few of these innovations). There in lies the problem for society in Daybreakers- there aren't enough humans left.

The film follows Edward (Ethan Hawke), a hematologist trying to come up with a blood substitute ti curb the growing shortage of human blood. Edward's boss (Sam Neil) is intent on pushing some kind of substitute not for the benefit of vamp kind, but for his company's profit margins. He has set up a facility that farms the blood from humans in suspended animation, but even that isn't enough. The next quarter is coming up and blood suckers never change. A chance accident leads Edward, who is the equivalent of a vampire pacifist because he avoids human blood, to "Elvis" (Willem Dafoe), who seems to have found a way to reverse the effects of vampirism.

Daybreakers is a hell of a concept. As a broad concept the idea of a post apocalyptic world that is still very much intact is a fresh and different idea. To see a vampire movie in this day in age that doesn't feature glittering or chasing depressed 17 year olds is also nice considering the amount of vampire garbage I'm sure we'll get thrown at us soon enough. The idea is great and the first half of the movie really shines. The problem comes during the second half. It's as if all of the effort afforded setting up the story drained the participants and caused the film to suffer into the credits. I can't pinpoint what exactly was wrong with the last forty minutes other than it's little things like hokey dialogue and some plot points that get a little too silly. Willem Dafoe is totally wasted as Elvis, a role that he is much too good for and it shows. Maybe that's where it starts to decline. Who knows.

One thing I will say about Daybreakers is that it has some originality to it. Of course the metaphors are blaring out at you, mainly when comparing the blood shortage with an oil shortage. It's not striking, but it's there. It's an interesting movie that could have been a little crisper.