Day Shift is one of those forgettable but highly entertaining summer movies we used to get all the time. It offers nothing new and it doesn’t try to be some masterpiece you’re going to remember ’till the day you die. It knows perfectly well what it is and it leans in heavily into that. I was blown away by the amount of gore and graphic violence in Day Shift. The stunts were simply incredible, very creative, and exciting. As someone who has seen a lot of these movies, I can tell you that I have not seen anything like this before. Sure, they feel a bit too choreographed at times but at least they’re original.
What’s certainly not original is the story. We will be following a divorced dad who works as a pool cleaner during the day but kills vampires during the night. And you can already guess what’s going to happen to him and his family. The character development was also a bit inane and I think that some characters will be quite offputting to some of the viewers. Seth is one of them for sure.
Jamie Foxx and Dave Franco were pretty good considering how mediocre the script was. At least Jamie was wearing an amazing collection of Hawaiian shirts. As a man of style myself, I have to say that I loved every single one of them. I also want to say that Natasha Liu Bordizzo needed a bigger role and that Snoop Dogg was great.
Oddly enough, this is his second vampire movie, after Bones, released in 2001. Another thing they nailed was the soundtrack. It’s full of great bangers perfect for hyping up the atmosphere. The only problem was that as soon as you started smiling and enjoying the song, they cut it off abruptly. At least we got a fair chunk of Body Count’s in the House.
Meet Bud Jablonski, a seemingly ordinary pool cleaner who also happens to be a vampire hunter. He used to be a part of a huge organization but because of his unusual methods he now finds himself working alone. To make things even worse his ex-wife tells him she’s thinking of moving to Florida with their daughter. And while Bud starts coming up with ways to keep them in Los Angeles, Audrey, a very powerful vampire is coming up with ways to kill Bud.
Throughout the entire Day Shift, I had a feeling I’m watching John Wick but with vampires. Upon further inspection, I found out that the movie was written by Shay Hatten who also wrote the script for John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. Plus, the director of the movie J.J. Perry, an accomplished stuntman, also did stunts for the first two John Wick movies.
I have to admit that after a couple of years of stumbling in the dark, Netflix is getting closer and closer to the formula for these movies. The atmosphere is getting better and they’re not afraid to show graphic violence. All that’s left now is to get the story and the characters right. Day Shift is a definition of a dumb guilty pleasure movie with a couple of really cool gimmicks.
If you’re looking for similar movies, you check out Project Power, another Neflix release also starring Jamie Foxx. Next up we have The Old Guard and Bright, both equally forgettable but perfectly fine for those nights when you don’t know what to watch. Finally, I highly recommend you check out Extraction with Chris Hemsworth as it also features excellent action sequences and a lot more chase scenes and shootouts.
Director: J.J. Perry
Writers: Tyler Tice, Shay Hatten
Cast: Jamie Foxx, Dave Franco, Meagan Good, Eric Lange, Snoop Dogg, Karla Souza
Fun Facts: Day Shift makes multiple references to a cult vampire movie from the eighties, The Lost Boys.
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IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13314558/
