Friday, 22 January 2010

Daybreakers, Avatar and The Book of Eli

There are so many vampires on film and TV, did we really need another movie? Definitely yes. Daybreakers is an original take on the genre, where vampires are in the great majority, and their blood supply from the few humans remaining is running out. A good script and wonderfully directed by the Speirig Brothers (Peter and Michael), who are new to me, the action is pacy and well shot, with shocks and gore that make a mockery of it's 15 certificate. Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe and Sam Neil are well cast and obviously enjoyed their parts.

Avatar only confirmed what I don't like about animated features. They have to be witty and very well written for me to enjoy them. Avatar is none of these. In fact the dialogue is so bad, I cannot believe it won a Golden Globe for best film. I suppose it was visually stunning, but once you have seen the aliens and their habitat, the rest is far too repetitive. There are long periods without any dialogue so it did get quite boring.

The Book of Eli is a strange movie. Veering between the drama of post apocalyptic America and action straight from an old western, it could not make up it's mind what it wanted to be. I think the drama just won, as the fight sequences were just confusing. It was one of those films where I had seen the trailer but had not read a review, so I didn't really know what to expect. Denzel Washington played the lead with a complete absence of humour, but managed to hold the thing together. The one brilliant scene was when Denzel and his partner come across an isolated house inhabited by Michael Gambon and a wonderful Frances De la Tour. They were worth the entrance fee alone. If only the rest of the movie had been the same.

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