This is probably the largest leap of faith that Daybreakers asks you to make, and since we're all pretty damn familiar with the various tropes and shackles of the genre, it's a leap that I'm sure everyone in the audience is more than willing to take (otherwise, why would they be there?).
2. Due to the existence of said vampires and the nature of their "transmittal" illustrated in this piece of fiction (i.e. a vampire bites another person, thereby making them a vampire as well; no reciprocation is necessary, though it all begins as a pandemic of sorts), the world soon counts vampires as the vast majority of the population, with but a few remaining human counterparts.
This point is not only believable, but one that makes you wonder why it is that this idea had yet to be seen in modern vampire stories, much less the dominating set-up. It makes too much sense not to have surfaced previously. This is where someone tells me that is showed up in a comic book in 1984 or something; that's not what I mean necessarily - why haven't we ALL seen this premise and multiple variants of it? All (or at least many) vampire stories should have this built-in and work from there.
3. Due to the dwindling number of humans (read: food sources) available, steps have been taken to ensure the future of life (vampire life, that is) on the planet. This is done via a) the farming of humans, similar in style to the battery model used in The Matrix, and b) attempts at producing synthetic blood, suitable for stable consumption by the world's population.
All of the major conflicts radiate from this point, as well they should, since it's the one that provides the allegory for the impending drying up of the real Earth's oil supply. It's handled strongly if a bit heavy-handed.
Most vampires are content to continue drinking human blood at their everyday rate of consumption, assured that the power structure will come up with something to sustain their survival. A minority exists, however, that drive Priuses does not/has not/will not ever enjoy the indirect cannibalism that they're asked to participate in, instead imbibing in "lesser" bloods, coming from animals like rats or rabbits (see, Vampire, Interview with the). Naturally, our protagonist fits into the latter category (played by Ethan Hawke yet voiced by the Dark Knight - er, also Hawke, who must believe that whispering makes his voice seem less whiny). By the way, so far, so good as far as the movie's concerned.
4. Should a vampire abstain from drinking blood for an extended period of time or drink the blood of another vampire or drink their own blood, they will devolve into a non-humanoid, bat-like creature devoid of intellect and somewhat immeasurably stronger.
This is where Daybreakers began to go off the rails. As I said, though I'm able to make the much larger leap of faith in buying into the existence of vampires in the first place, something about these creatures getting stronger and more fierce as they should be withering away discombobulates my Spock-like logical mind. That and it seems as though this element was added purely for shock/scare value, of which little was added. The film would have been vastly better without this element added; while it's understandable that something needs to happen when they go without blood (food), I could have reconciled it much easier had they merely melted away or imploded or some other such nonsense.
5. (Thus begins the spoilerific stuff, if you care) Vampires can be transformed back into humans through a process that includes them entering the sun's harsh UV rays, thus setting them afire, combined with dousing said fire immediately. Think of it like the paddles you see in a hospital setting, essentially jolting their insides back to "life."
Yeah. Sure. Whatever.
6. If a "normal" vampire drinks the blood of a "former" vampire (not human via the sun trick), said vampire will him/herself mutate back into human form.
This was a nifty plot device, but one that ultimately led to Daybreakers' demise. Rather than dealing with it a single ounce (get it? Ugh.) of restraint, the appearance of any humanoid form to the now-starved population led them to act like the scarabs from The Mummy movies, tearing apart anyone within their immediate vicinity in seconds flat. So much for conservation of resources. In effect, this turned the film from an interesting vampire/sci-fi study into an out-and-out splattery gorefest, which was mind-numbingly boring more than shocking.
To top it all off, we're given a Matrix-y overly serious voiceover ending. Heck of a job taking a perfectly good concept and flushing it down the toilet.
Fletch's Film Rating:"Whatever"Shaky Cam Rating (details):LAMBScore:
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