DVD reviews: 'Daybreakers,' 'Legion,' 'Edge of Darkness'
This weeks new video releases include a police drama starring Mel Gibson and two thrillers steeped in the supernatural.
Daybreakers
3 stars (out of four)Rated R for strong bloody violence, language and brief nudityLionsgateAvailable on: DVD and Blu-ray
Admit that you like vampire movies these days and everyone assumes you climbed aboard the Twilight Express a couple years back. In my case, that couldnt be further from the truth. Im an old-school vampire nut, a guy who was touting the merits of Nosferatu (1922) and The Horror of Dracula (1958) long before bloodsuckers were cool.
The trouble with vampire films is that so few are actually good. For every Near Dark or respectable interpretation of Dracula (think Bela Lugosi), we get a half dozen movies like, well, Twilight. Still, I always get a little excited when somebody takes another stab at bringing the undead to life, and with Daybreakers some of that excitement remained after the credits had rolled.
Written and directed by brothers Michael and Peter Spierig, the film adds a respectable twist to vampire mythology, and thats no easy feat. The film is set in the not-so-distant future when a virus has turned the majority of Earths populace into bloodsuckers. The few humans left either live on the run or have been placed into coma-like states where they are essentially milked for blood. In fact, the human population is perilously close to extinction, and thats bad news for vampires, too. They cant, after all, live without food.
A corporation run by vampire businessman Charles Bromley (a deliciously evil Sam Neill) is working on a synthetic blood substitute, but its chief researcher, Edward Dalton (Ethan Hawke), hasnt had a significant breakthrough. He does, however, discover a separate scientific solution that could save both vampires and mankind, but not everyone in the vampire class is keen on that.
Most vampire films stumble in their plotting, but Daybreakers is original enough to avoid that pitfall. Its also well-acted, particularly for a film of its genre. Hawke is strong throughout, and the supporting cast includes Willem Dafoe and Claudia Karvan.
DVD reviews: 'Daybreakers,' 'Legion,' 'Edge of Darkness'