Magic window film1/7/2024 They place Bud in the role of the put-upon veteran forced to deal with Franco’s inexperienced pencil pusher turned field agent, Seth. They ground the wild proceedings in the tried-and-true “mismatched partners” formula that’s largely drifted out of favor. Through all the world-building and heartfelt homages, Tice and Hatten never forget that action movies still need relatable characters. Scriptwriters Shay Hatten ( Army of the Dead) and Tyler Tice handle this without falling into the all-too-common mentality of “saving it for a sequel,” which has stopped so many film franchises before they ever really began. Someone who has never seen the older films the script and directing nod to will still find a lot of quality subtle world-building that hints at where sequels (and spinoffs) could fit if there’s a suitable demand. Others are roaring, affectionate shoutouts.ĭay Shift doesn’t live or die by these references and homages, though. Some of these references are presented in subtle ways meant for only the most dedicated film geeks. The Lost Boys, Dead Heat, and Fright Night all get their separate homages, among other movies. The refreshingly low stakes and the way the mundane and the supernatural effortlessly intermix here are just two of the ways Day Shift will remind savvy viewers of the many ’80s and ’90s video-store staples the film is so clearly a love letter to. At his core, Bud is just a working schmo trying to get through the day, dealing with a boss who wants to see him unemployed, a partner he doesn’t want to deal with (Dave Franco), and unforeseen complications making his job more difficult, like a gentrifying elder bloodsucker (Karla Souza) who has plans to remake the Valley into a new vampire hot spot. The job helps him make ends meet and support his young daughter - it just happens to be incredibly dangerous. Bud masquerades as a low-rent San Fernando Valley pool cleaner to cover up his real profession: killing vampires to sell their fangs to his local chapter of the International Union of Vampire Hunters. That same “working-man grit meets LA shine” feeling that Perry embodies is all over Day Shift’s story of blue-collar monster slayer Bud Jablonski (Foxx). In interviews, Perry comes across as a throwback to a time when stuntmen were almost California cowboys bringing real white-knuckle danger to movie sets. So when the action design collective known as “87eleven,” (the group behind the John Wick franchise, and many of recent cinema’s best action sequences) decided it were going to proceed with Day Shift as its first fully branded 87eleven film project, the team reached out to Perry, as a longstanding member of the group, to steer the ship. His 30-year-plus career as a stunt performer and action coordinator is nearly unparalleled in Hollywood. While this is his first time fully at the helm of a feature film, he’s no rookie at delivering top-notch mayhem on screen. In a blockbuster landscape where all big-budget movies are starting to feel frustratingly similar, Day Shift stands out for its clear point of view, obvious swagger, and decidedly old-school approach.ĭirector J.J. It’s closer to an oddball cult classic like John Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China than to other Netflix Originals, and it’s more interesting for it. This film’s mixing of cinematic flavors harkens back to a time when big releases could have highly specific, off-kilter vibes, most likely aimed at a niche audience. But Day Shift’s peculiar blend of action, comedy, and horror doesn’t feel like a choice made with the intention of bringing in the widest possible audience. Yes, it was still designed with cross-genre appeal, complete with Jamie Foxx as the prerequisite big star up front. Netflix’s vampire battling action movie Day Shift feels like the antithesis of that pattern. As films like Red Notice and The Gray Man seemingly become the standard for big-budget, action-oriented “Netflix Originals,” the streaming giant’s recent output is frequently criticized as not much more than “movies by algorithm.” Netflix’s feature films have often been homogenized, four-quadrant content, specifically engineered to garner clicks based on a few recognizable stars, plus just enough CGI-smeared thrills to distract audiences from how bloated and uninspired nearly every aspect of these massive productions has been.
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