Day Shift is Netflix’s next big swing at a $100 Million franchise. This time, first-time director J.J. Perry works with A-listers Jamie Foxx, Snoop Dogg, and Dave Franco to bring vampire hunting to the San Fernando Valley. More buddy comedy and less horror, does this big-budget vampire movie work?
What’s it about?
Day Shift follows Bud Jablonski (Jamie Foxx), a vampire-hunting mercenary that works under the guise of a pool cleaner. The vampire-killing business isn’t paying like it used to, especially since Bud was kicked out of the vampire hunting union for multiple code violations. His dismissal from the union forces him to sell vampire teeth on the black market for a fraction of their wortk
To make matters worse, things aren’t going great at home. His ex-wife, Jocelyn (Meagan Good), is sick of his unreliability and aloofness. Jocelyn threatens to take Bud’s daughter, Paige (Zion Broadnax), and move to Florida. They make a deal that they will stay in San Fernando if Bud can come up with $10,000 for school tuition and money for braces in a week. He can’t make that type of cash on the black market, so he needs to get back in the vampire hunting union’s good graces.
Lucky, his friend and legendary bounty hunter, Big John Elliott (Snoop Dogg), agrees to vouch for Bud. Bud is allowed back into the union on probation. During his probation, he must be shadowed by a union employee to ensure that he is following protocol. That union rep is Seth (Dave Franco). Seth has the vampire hunting codebook memorized and knows all the rules of vampire hunting. However, he has never been in the field and practices nonviolence.
To make matters worse, Heather (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), a powerful vampire with a legion of followers, has a vendetta against Bud. So, Bud must kill enough vampires and collect enough teeth to pay Paige’s expenses and keep his family together. On top of that, Bud must keep Seth safe and avoid being killed by Heather’s hordes.
My Reaction
Day Shift should have been a lot more entertaining. Based on the marketing, I was hoping for something more akin to From Dusk to Dawn or the comedy to be as clever as that found in Shaun of the Dead. However, Day Shift doesn’t come close to those classics.
For one, parts of the plot are ridiculous. Bud’s family has no inkling of what he does. And yet, Bud must regularly shower using a solution, which smells of sulfur, to wash off vampire pheromones that come in contact with his skin. Why did his ex-wife never smell this solution on him? Also, Jocelyn must be some big-time executive, as there is no way that they would have been able to afford that huge house on a pool cleaner’s income. If that is the case, why doesn’t Paige have health insurance?
And let’s not get started on this vampire hunting union. Some of these rules seem like they only exist to piss off Bud. Any sensible vampire hunter (and I get the irony of that phrase) would be upset they would have to abide by rules that would probably get them killed. Not to mention the other vampire hunters in the film, who seem to disregard the same policies without impunity.
Director J.J. Perry has been a stuntman in the film industry for quite some time. He has worked on stunts in films like Star Trek Into Darkness, Iron Man, and Argo. He even worked with Jamie Foxx on Django Unchained. The action in Day Shift somewhat benefits from his experience. Perry directs some pretty good fight sequences and action scenes throughout the film. There is a particular raid on a vampire hideout that is especially memorable. However, even the action was uneven. The car chase scenes are pretty silly, and the most important sequences feel underwhelming.
Toilet humor shouldn’t be your central gag in a movie about vampires.
You would think that having Jamie Foxx plus Dave Franco would equal hilarity. Unfortunately, the comedy falls flat more often than not. Toilet humor shouldn’t be your central gag in a movie about vampires. I feel like Foxx and Franco should have been given more space to improvise and improve the humor, especially with Foxx’s comedic genius and storytelling ability.
There are a few bright spots in Day Shift. Snoop Dogg eats up all his scenes. Sure, Snoop isn’t a good actor. But Snoop’s charisma is predicated on being himself, and he provides that authenticity in the film. Also, there is some good music and musical arrangements in the movie. You may not care for a scene, but at least you have something to bob your head to.
Overall Rating
Day Shift suffers from a script that needed reworking and ineffective storytelling. The film had all the talent required to make it successful and yet winds up falling short. What makes Day Shift frustrating is that there was a seed for a better movie there. For example, the motivation behind Heather and her vampire organization was much more interesting than the main storyline, yet it was never fully explored. With an almost two-hour run time, you would believe there was space to let that part of the story breathe. But hey, why do that when there are more pee jokes to tell?
Sure, some parts made me laugh, and I enjoyed Snoop. But Day Shift is a $100 million mess.
