Day Shift (2022)
Some jobs really go for the throat.
The night has finally come. Tonight we get a fiesty little feast out on the coast, filled with glamor and blue collar how to. Vampires in a new light, if you would. Sure, we’ve seen countless take on vampires, even out in ole California, but this one’s up to date and promises fun, so buckle up your seat belt. Grab your pickup and get ready for some work, tonight we check out Day Shift.
A man is doing his job, cleaning up some pools. When the neighbor takes off though, he gets ready for a different type of cleaning job - one involving arming up and breaking into a house.It’s not a normal home invasion though, as these residents aren’t your run of the mill folks - no, they be vampires! Our pool boy? Vampire hunter. Out popping them fangs for some trade-in cash. Meanwhile, some vampires are making moves on the valley with some big plans. Here comes the confict though - our lead character’s baby momma is plannning on jetting to Florida unless the main can manage to get about ten grand to pay for school fees and braces. He’s going to have to try and re-join the union to turn those kind of profits. Back in the vampire side, head lady making all the power-moves comes home to find someone has busted in and killed her peeps - so it’s time for some revenge. Now it’s a race against time - both the deadline to keep from his kid moving away and from a pack of angry vamps out for revenge.
Actors do a good job here bringing the entertainment value. It’s a pretty crazy situation sure, but they all feel like characters that are pretty believable as far as existing in the movie. They do some good macho stuff, they do some good endearing stuff, and they hit the comedic beats incredibly well also. Heck, even the kid is pretty charming - even if she doesn’t specifically have a crazy heavy amount of screen time compared the the main. There’s some good back and forths between folks, and some pretty decent chemistry between folks. Yeah, sure, maybe it’s a bit cheesy at times or slightly over the top or maybe even stereotypical perhaps - but it’s a good time.
Characters are about on par - the ones that they want to have some backstory for extra oomph and driving force. Our main set of heroes get plenty of moments to play up the comedy. The main two you’ll be getting a back drop for are the two mains - good and bad - and also you’ll get some good sauce for the sidekick as well, although it’s less a history backstory and more just character building. It’s all enough to get them motivated and do what they are doing, without bogging down to heavily into standing still and talking heads. Side characters have their moments, although outside of one or two most people probably won’t be excitedly writing home about them.
Looks like an old rubber band but flexible like a young one.
Action here is a wonderful thing. We get plenty of variety - gun fights, car chases, close quarters fist-throwing arm-baring MMA matches - to keep it fresh as well. It’s well choreographed, and the vampire side particularly seems to have a ton of people made out of rubber with how they bend, and it makes my old bones hurt watching it. It does lead to some amazing looking hits and impacts though, so if you are here for the action scenes you’ll be loving it. Effects work does well also, with plenty of solid looking effects. Nothing is too over the top - at least as far as graphic-ness goes. That said, it does get violent with things getting torn off and blow apart.
Costumes are believable and what you’d expect out of modern stuff. It blends nicely, so it’s doing it’s job, but most the “ooo”s and “aaaah”s will probably be reserved for either the vampire looks or the effects department. Sets give us a decent swath of stuff, with a few outdoor scenes - usually but not always devoid of vampires - and plenty of different looking interiors to make everything stand out and not feel super samey. Weapons and everything looks good when we get to the prop side, and it all comes together quite well to make for a visually good flick. At times there might be some stuff that isn’t quite as stand out or impressive, but for the most part i think the average person would be having too much fun for it to be a big problem.
Audio balance is fine, and the subtitles to go along with it also do their job. Actor deliveries are well done, with the wittier or funnier moments helping to mix up the serious bits. Humor is subjective as always, but the group I watched it with all had a good time laughing at stuff, and I recall having a similar experience when I watched it the first time myself - so it’s a good time for the average person I would think based on my sample size. Of course their is plenty of music in here, and it doesn’t stick with me afterwards - that said, at least one if not both the folks I watched it with knew all the stuff that was going up because it was their jam. Pun intended. Thoughtful stuff exists in here, but it’s not what I was really setting out for. There’s some stuff about family in there, following and not following the rules, and all that, but I really (once again) didn’t pay much attention to it because i was locked in to just have fun with the ride without thinking to hard about it.
Kicking doors and taking teeth.
Sure, it’s probably not a movie for everyone. It’s a tab dit violent, some of the jokes are a little low-brow, but it’s a good flick if you ask me. I had fun the first time, I had as much fun the second time with everyone else so I think it has a good track record so far for me. It’s got good action, it’s got a fun flair that you don’t always see in the genre. Actors do a good job keeping it entertaining and not always serious, but without getting so comical that it breaks your immersion. It’s a good time with plenty of action thrills and that light horror element - you could almost argue it makes the day to day job of hunting vampires fun.