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[30 Days Of Night:Dark Days]
Plot:Sequel to the bone-chilling "30 DAYS OF NIGHT". It's been a year since the Alaskan town of Barrow's population was decimated by vampires during its annual month long sunset. Riddled with grief over the death of her husband, bound by nightmares and void of all emotions beyond hate and sorrow, Stella (Sanchez) has spent the past months traveling the world, trying to convince others that vampires exist. Met with skepticism and laughter, Stella is ready to throw in the towel when a group of lost souls (Coiro, Baird, Perrineau) offers an incredible opportunity: the chance to exact revenge upon Lilith (Kirshner), the vampire queen responsible for the assault on her sleepy Alaskan town. With nothing remaining to live for, and nothing left to fear, Stella joins their mission and ventures into the uncharted underbelly of Los Angeles where she pushes herself to the most extreme limits to stop the evil from striking again.
Cast:Kiele Sanchez,
Mia Kirshner,
Harold Perrineau,
Diora Baird,
Rhys Coiro,
Monique Ganderton,
Katherine Isabelle.
My Thoughts:Average followup.
Review:So what do we know about sequels to vampire movies? Well, we know that they bring in the obligatory vampire hunting squad, the equally obligatory "good" vampire, who is not like his blood-thirsty brethren. And the survivor of the first film, is a broken, emotional wreck, who seeks peace and solace in his or her vengeance against those who murdered their friends and or family. "30 Days Of Night:Dark Days"...has all of these things. And not much else, hence...the problem. The film follows Stella Olsen (now played by Kiele Sanchez).
Stella, the only survivor of the Barrow's massacre, seen in the first film, "30 Days Of Night"...buries Ebben, and then sets out on a quest to warn others of the presence of vampires, and the threat they pose to the human race. This sets up one of the movies best scenes, where while giving a speech, Stella "proves" her point with some tricks of her own. After she's done...she returns to her dwelling to find some people there waiting for her. They're vampire hunters, all brought together by their own personal vampire-related tragedies.
Upon joining up with the group, Stella learns that the attack on Barrow, led by the evil Marlow...was actually orchestrated by another vampire named Lilith (Kirshner). Now...Stella, and her new partners, seek out Lilith and her pack, to destroy them once and for all. But for Stella, it's also about payback. "Dark Days" brings the usual bells and whistles of a vampire movie sequel. Guns, shootouts in the dark, angst when a team member is killed or bitten, and those moments where someone has to "do what must be done", after one of their number is bitten in battle, and is on the verge of becoming a vampire.
Directed very edgily, the film also boasts a far better music track than the first movie. But that's where the superiority ends. "30 Days Of Night" owns "Dark Days" in every other aspect of things, and while "Dark Days" isn't a total waste...it is not a terrific sequel either. It's actually a necessary followup, which means little to the first film except it fills in a gap or two, and wraps up Stella's story post-Barrow's. But beyond that, the movie takes it's cues from previous vampire movie sequels. And like those sequels, the number one lesson learned here is...a group of badasses dressed in black with tough looks scribbled across their faces, do not a fearsome foe make.
Most of the characters in this movie are sliced and diced because they aren't professional vampire hunters. But rather regular people with guns bent on revenge. It would be nice if for once, some of these people actually had a background in vampire hunting. Instead of just taking up arms against the vamps, thus putting their own lives in serious jeopardy. Just seems foolish to me. But oh well, what do I know. Anyways, the vampire this time around have far less personality.
And the heirarchy is the usual abuse of power thing. Lilith kills or maims one of her own when they don't bring her "good news", just to prove she's in control, she's a bad ass, she runs things, yada yada. As for the character of Lilith, there's not much to her really. Marlow was a much better vampire villain. Lilith doesn't do much but speak in a creepy tone of voice, give an occasional order, and sneaks around waiting for her opportunity to catch someone off guard. She also carries around an old record player which plays the same record on loop.
No one ever said vampires had an ear for music though, so no surprise here. "Dark Days" is bloody, but not as blood as "30 Days Of Night". And while the directing is mostly strong, the dark scenes in tunnels or caverns are poorly shot and even more poorly lit. As far as violence is concerned, the film has it, just not on the level of impact as the first movie did. The first movies death scenes, vampire or human, carried a lot of impact. In the sequel, they're more just to move things along because after all, these are really evil and vicious vampires no? The most bizarre thing about "Day Days" however...is the movies ending.
It's not confusing, or a head-scratcher, but on a level of common sense and sheer regard for ones own life, it just doesn't add up. Granted, I kind of got what the director wanted to convey about one of the movies main characters, but it just seemed dumb and pointless how this film ended. And kind of negates Stella's whole journey right from it's very beginnings. "30 Days Of Night:Dark Days" is a decent sequel. But nothing more and nothing less. It's certainly not on par with part one, and only has anything in common with that film because of it's title, a few story caviats, and a singular character.
Positives:Great camerawork in some areas, good music track, the finale, which takes place on a dusty old ship, was pretty exciting.
Negatives:The movies key moments lack impact, bad directing during the dark scenes, Lilith as a villainess is pretty bland, and the ending is just stupid.
Overall:Two stars out of four.
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