So, let’s look at the basic premise to Day Shift: a pool cleaner is secretly a vampire hunter in Los Angeles. Said pool cleaner is played by Jamie Foxx. He’s got some money problems, and vampire fangs bring in cash. To make sure he follows the rules, an uptight pencil-pusher played by Dave Franco has to follow him around. And while this is going on, a powerful vampire played by Karla Souza is consolidating power to do…something really bad. And every so often, Snoop Dogg shows up.
Something like this, the latest new release on Netflix, was either going to be awesome or stupid. At the least, it would probably be entertaining.
In a world where vampires are secretly real and vampire hunters work undercover in various service industry jobs, Bud Jablonski (Foxx) has problems. His ex-wife Jocelyn (Meagan Goode) is looking to move their daughter (Zion Broadnax) to Florida unless Bud can raise $10,000 to pay for the girl’s school tuition and braces. As far as Jocelyn is concerned, Bud is just a pool cleaner who seems to be just scraping by. To get the money, Bud will need to take out some vampires in short order because fangs brings money. To get the right amount, Bud will have to rejoin the Union, a secret organization that keeps an eye on vampire hunters and has a lot of rules and procedures that Bud violated in the past, hence the reason he was kicked out. Thanks to a bit of vouching from the legendary hunter Big John (Snoop Dogg), Bud is in but on probation. The Union assigns desk jockey Seth (Franco) to stick to Bud like glue with the idea that if Bud breaks a single, solitary rule, Bud is out again. Oh, and since he is on probation, Bud has been assigned to the day shift when vampires are not-so-common.
However, then there’s Audrey San Fernando (Souza). She appears to be a real estate agent buying up and selling expensive property in the valley, but she’s also a powerful vampire. She has a plan to regain her lost power and prestige, consolidating what she has with other vampires while up to something that won’t be very good for ordinary humans either. Plus, she already has her sights on Bud. It seems he wronged her without realizing it at some point…
OK, in many ways, this movie does follow the familiar beats of a movie like this. Yes, Bud’s wife and daughter don’t know what he really does, but they’re sure to find out eventually. Yes, the pencil-pusher Seth will gradually become more aware of what life in the field is like, and his knowledge of the rules will come in handy. Yes, Bud will need to save his family, and yes, the jackass running the Union house will keep checking in with Seth to make sure Bud is going to be kicked out. I expect that sort of thing. However, since a lot of movies follow that sort of general formula, the trick becomes whether or not the movies can offer something fun. This movie does it on two levels: the comedic chemistry between Foxx and Franco, and the outright fantastic fight scenes between Bud, his allies, and various vampires.
The latter, I think, will be the bigger draw. While the movie does have its share of info-dump scenes, most of them coming from Seth, the opening scene shows Bud on the job and quickly establishes with very little dialogue vampire strengths, weaknesses, and fighting styles as well as many of Bud’s standard weapons. A mid-movie car chase didn’t do much for me, but whenever Bud or other hunters go into a fight with guns or stakes, the movie has a really cool, kinetic style of its own. It’s probably not that big a surprise that first time director J.J. Perry got his start as a stuntman. And these fights are often gory, so the movie earns its R-rating. Regardless, I had a lot of fun with this one. Considering how forgettable many direct-to-Netflix movies are, this one deserves a look if you want some goofy action. It’s a pretty darn good shut-your-brain-off-and-enjoy kind of movie.
Grade: B+
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