30 Days of Night: Dark Days ~ Am Fun World

Monday, February 28, 2011

30 Days of Night: Dark Days

30 Days Of Night : Dark Days

30 Days of Night was scooped up in a wave of comic book-to-film adaptations. It told the story of the small town of Barrow, Alaska, and the group of vampires that attacked it when the sun set for an entire month. It wasn’t a fantastic film, but it had its merits. It was one last hurrah for terrifying, demon-like blood suckers before Twilight took over, forever damaging the vampire’s reputation. Now more than ever we need a vampire film done right, and while 30 Days of Night: Dark Days makes good on that front, it’s pretty much a bust in every other aspect.

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Dark Days begins a year after the original, with Barrow survivor Stella (now played by Kiele Sanchez) traveling the world, preaching the existence of vampires. Not surprisingly, few listen with a serious ear. Her lecture circuit is cut short, however, when she meets up with a group of fellow survivors. It’s through them that she learns of Lilith, the vampire queen who was behind the attack on Barrow. She joins the group in an attempt to take Lilith down.

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What follows is very, very different than its predecessor. The original was very much a horror movie, with some of the scariest creatures to grace the silver screen in a long time. Dark Days feels much more like Blade, with the team bringing the war to the vampires. It’s a natural evolution for the story, but that doesn’t do it any favors. While the Blade films may be far from cinematic greatness, Blade was a character you could believe in and really get behind. This ragtag group of slayers feels a might too silly and forced, especially the youngest girl in the group, who seems more like a girl scout than Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

30 Days Of Night

This also hurts the vampires themselves. They still look pretty much the same as before, but now they’re the victims, which takes away a lot of the terror.Then there’s the probably with Stella, who’s somewhat inconsistent of a character. She starts out the rough, stoic action hero, and by the end of the movie she’s in tears. Of course, it could be intentional, her getting in over her head and becoming overwhelmed, but it just makes it even harder to support her character.Like the vampires themselves, 30 Days of Night: Dark Days has no soul. The original 30 Days of Night felt like a complete story, and while the comic has numerous sequels, it doesn’t feel right for the films to keep up, especially when you have to do so with cast changes and a lower budget. It’s not scary, it’s not cool, it’s not worth your time.