Day Shift (2022)

Directed by J. J. Perry. Starring Jamie Foxx, Dave Franco, Meagan Good, Snoop Dogg, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Eric Lange, Karla Souza, Peter Stormare, Zion Broadnax, Scott Adkins, Steve Howey, Oliver Masucci. [R]

A low-watt high-concept supernatural action-comedy where Los Angeles (and presumably the rest of the world) is overrun with vampires, Foxx is a vampire hunter masquerading as a pool cleaner, and dislodged bloodsucker fangs are just about worth their weight in gold for no apparent reason. These slayers have their own union, too, so Foxx’s frequent rule-violator is joined on the job by union rep Franco, and it’s not exactly a “buddy movie” match made in heaven; their lack of comic spark isn’t helped by the sort of shortage of inspiration that sees a grown man pee his pants not once but twice (it’s a running joke…running right down his leg, har har). Slickly made and not entirely lacking in energy, but there’s no sense of timing on director Perry’s part when it comes to either action or comic relief; self-consciously over-the-top fight choreography and puerile humor, on the other hand… Being saddled with boring baddies, continuity lapses, obvious music cues, and half-assed world-building and set-ups (ranging from how poorly it explains or pays off the vampire sub-culture to how lazily it concocts a “cover story” for Foxx to use to keep his family in the dark about the dangerous way he makes a buck) makes this time-killer a de-fanged dud.

37/100