30 Days of Night - Review

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30 Days of Night
****-

It's a movie about freaking vampires in Alaska, it has to be awesome. At least that's my thought process when considering 30 Days of Night, my latest choice for a netflix viewing. To be honest, there really isn't much more than that. There's a town with Josh Hartnett, the town is in Alaska, and it becomes overrun with vampires. That last sentence should pretty much be the deal breaker as to whether or not it's your cup of tea. Whether or not you'll enjoy it is determined upon your sex, age, intelligence, and fine taste.
So here's a quick quiz:

Ax wielding Josh Hartnett + Vampire Heads =
A. awesome
B. not a valid equation

A bare knuckled fist fight with a vampire is:
A. awesome
B. retarded

There's this one part where a vampire gets his head punched through:
A. awesome
B. that's not even a question, also it's retarded.

Well, if you answered B to any of the above, you're wrong. It's all pretty much awesome.
True, it's incredibly shallow, but still awesome.
Technically, there's some pretty jaw dropping stuff in here. I just have to say, there is one overhead shot, beautifully constructed, showing the glorious destruction of the town as hopeless citizens run to-and-fro in the midst of the vampire chaos. It's unnerving, scary, and incredibly entertaining. I kind of wanted the movie just to be that for two hours.
So yes, you'll get plenty of vampire vs. people vs. vampire action.
Other than that, there's not too much. The characters are enough to get you to root against the vampires, but they're not much more than that. The story itself is pushed forward a tad too fast as well.
Forgive me, but I actually thought the character's thought processes were a tad more unrealistic than the concept of Arctic vampires. Seconds after a generator goes out, people in the town go from happy forest friends to terrified puppies. These people live in the harshest conditions on earth, you'd think lights flickering wouldn't suddenly turn them to an end of the world scenario. And I'd imagine people wouldn't suddenly jump to conclude these were vampires, either.
But hey, whatever, a vampire gets a hole punched through his head. That's awesome, right?
Let's face it. If we saw this movie while in middle school, it would be the coolest movie ever made. In fact, if you're reading this right now, and you're fourteen, and you have irresponsible parents and a bunch of sugar-high buddies, you should sneak this rental. It was practically made for you.
There are certain things I really, really, liked about 30 Days of Night. From a purely, non-horror based viewpoint, there's still a lot to like. It's nicely filmed, charmingly acted, and strangely affecting. It's just that certain things could have been magnified a bit to make the experience a tad more complete. The movie shines best when it manages to cram the most terrifying creatures into the corner, and just let them lurk. But unfortunately those creatures are pulled back into the light, a place they clearly and boldly state they do not belong.
Still, you can do much much worse. I recommend it.