A vampire-slaying movie starring Jamie Foxx, Dave Franco, and Snoop Dogg in a role that’s uncharacteristically not typecast, is a recipe for… well, something. And Day Shift, the sum of this smorgasbord of parts, certainly is something, according to the film’s critical consensus.
Day Shift stars Jamie Foxx as Bud Jablonski, a pool cleaner trying to make ends meet in California’s San Fernando Valley, doing everything he can to provide for his family. Evidently, “everything” includes moonlighting as a vampire hunter, which is where the real big bucks come in.
But while some folks have unabashedly sunk their teeth into the film with satisfying results, others were left unimpressed with this impressively-cast bloody romp.
Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian found no joy in Day Shift, calling it an unexciting and unfunny film that seemed to promise quite the opposite.
The crude, tedious action sequences with their video-game aesthetic are an incredible trial and there is nothing interesting or glamorous about these vampires at all. There is a tiny flicker of comic potential when Seth himself is compromised, but the ethos of being “turned” is fudged so that you can sort of become a vampire while more or less staying a good guy. Pretty bloodless stuff.
Nerdist‘s Tai Gooden was on the other end of the spectrum, suggesting that the film never tries to be anything more than it is, namely a fun popcorn flick, and for that, respect was given.
It’s the kind of movie that you fire up to escape the world and dive into for a little less than two hours of absurdity, blood, creepy vampires, and shenanigans. And, to me, that’s cinema.
And Rick Marshall of Digital Trends found himself left wanting, mourning the film for its inability to bring meat back to the vampire genre and its under-utilization of Snoop Dogg.
Time and time again, the film sinks under the weight of how familiar — and at times, frustratingly shallow — it feels. From its predictable story and recycled characters, to its willingness to ignore the rules it established for its world of supernatural creatures, Day Shift often feels more like an action sizzle reel than a fully fleshed-out film.
Day Shift is now available to stream on Netflix.
