Day Shift, 2022
Directed by J.J. Perry.
Starring Jamie Foxx, Dave Franco, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Meagan Good, Karla Souza, Steve Howey, Scott Adkins, Snoop Dogg, Eric Lange, Zion Broadnax, Oliver Masucci, C.S. Lee, and Tetiana Gaidar.
SYNOPSIS:
A hard-working, blue-collar dad who just wants to provide a good life for his quick-witted 8-year-old daughter. His mundane San Fernando Valley pool cleaning job is a front for his real source of income: hunting and killing vampires.
It doesn’t inspire much confidence when a vampire movie (or zombies or anything else) begins with a cliché fake out of an elderly woman that’s a monster in disguise. As such, Day Shift opens with Jamie Foxx’s Bud Jablonski – an undercover vampire hunter who rides around in a pool service truck – taking on an old woman who just happens to be a bloodsucker.
The lengthy fight allows first-time director J.J. Perry (using a script from screenwriters Shay Hatten and Tyler Tice) to flex some of his stunt coordination background chops. Still, it’s also bland and far too reliant on vampires contorting their limbs (among other unimpressive effects). Granted, the story does have a clever reveal about this woman related to the big villain, so that’s something.
More surprisingly, Day Shift isn’t concerned with action for most of its running time. Bud’s marriage to Jocelyn (Meagan Good) is on the rocks, with the latter ready to take their daughter Paige (Zion Broadnax) and move to another state. However, suppose Bud can come up with enough money to keep her in the expensive school she currently attends (and that he’s always late picking her up from because he’s out fighting vampires that somehow, no one seems to know exist, including the family) and cover the cost of necessary braces. In that case, Jocelyn is willing to reconsider her decision.
The script is also committed to trying its damnedest to put new spins on the age-old tale of vampires among us and their lore. This ranges from an underground network of vampire hunters where teeth from slain vampires are sold off, with the amount determined by the type of vampire, its age, and the condition of the teeth. Unfortunately for Bud, he was banned from the organization for breaking too many rules (and there are a lot of them with a running joke being that they are silly), meaning that he sells to a friend (Peter Stormare), failing to barter for more money. If Bud is going to come up with the money, he needs to get back into the big-time network where hefty sums of money are made.
This is also where Snoop Dogg comes in as Bud’s longtime friend Big John Elliott, putting in a good word to the head of the organization. Reluctantly, Bud is allowed back into the fold but partnered up with a desk worker named Seth (Dave Franco), who is only given the assignment to catch Bud breaking the code of conduct again so he can once again be cast out (in return, Seth will be given an office promotion).
What sticks out is that this is already way too much plot for a movie where the selling point is Jamie Fox, Snoop Dogg, and Dave Franco hunting vampires. Somehow, there’s even more plot with a realtor vampire (Karla Souza) looking to take over the San Fernando Valley and sell all the houses to other vampires. A woman (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) moves into Bud’s apartment complex, making for a few pointless scenes that only lead to something more pointless.
One would think that in between all this would be vampire hunting, but Day Shift also gets bogged down with expanding on the ins and outs of vampire hunting (neck braces to protect from biting, special oils to get rid of the smell after killing a bunch, different breeds like it’s all a video game, etc.) to a dull, superfluous extent. Eventually, Bud and Seth find themselves teaming up with rivals (brothers played by Scott Adkins and Steve Howey), bursting into a home and slaughtering a whole nest of them during an energetic sequence bolstered by quality choreography. However, by this point, the movie may as well be toast (or garlic).
There are some fun ideas during the third act, such as one character getting turned into a vampire, which allows for some amusing hijinks, and Snoop Dogg reentering the fray with a more prominent presence (and the giant ass destructive Gatling gun). Everything Day Shift should have been doesn’t come out until those last 30 minutes. Even then, it resembles a generic video game as characters repeatedly and tediously shotgun vampires in enclosed areas to death. The humor is also particularly awful unless you find Dave Franco peeing his pants funny. Jamie Foxx is also phoning in his performance, lacking his usual charisma. Given the derivative, lame material, it’s hard to blame him.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
