3 out of 5

Directors: Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig

By adding a bit of interesting spice to the world of vampires, Daybreakers manages to be a pretty satisfying little film, even though it ends up wandering into mindless action toward the end. The look of Daybreakers isnt really new – the washed out colors of the vampires, the warmer palette introduced around the humans – but writer/director brothers Michael and Peter Spierig had enough ingenuity up their sleeves to stage an interesting premise with some cool details. Basically the story spins opposite from most vampire tales, with the worlds power shifting toward that of the undead after a disease starts giving people vampiric attributes. Humans are the dwindling population, and are farmed for blood. And the film is given time to flesh this out a little bit, with blood bars in the subway stations, cars designed for day driving, and nifty shots in the dark of everyday folks eyes glowing red. Ethan Hawke plays a scientist whos researching a blood substitute, as resources are growing thin. The plot develops when we learn that Hawke tends to avoid human blood as much as possible – and this can be a problem, as a lack of blood turns these regular blood-drinkers into savage bat-like vampires of yore. So Hawke runs into a cheesy Willem Defoe, and lo and behold there might be a cure for vampirism, and the little scientist that could helps to save the world. It gets a little rote once its interested in big battles and showdowns, but thanks to some creative camera work (hunting for fascinating pans and nifty angles instead of the now ridiculous quick cuts and flash edits) and the room given to showing the new vampire world, Daybreakers stands out amongst the supernatural action crowd.