First Shift
by Daniel Baldwin
We all have filmmakers whose works we actively seek out. Even those of us who only watch a few new movies a year. For many it’s Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan, or Martin Scorsese. For others, it’s John Carpenter, Jordan Peele, or Sam Raimi. These are names that are marks of quality, style, and substance. They are names that say, “Hey, you’re about to watch something good.”
They’re also names that frequently have (or had) solid financial resources at their disposal. This, of course, is not always the case for filmmakers. Some often have little to work with, but often manage to carve out a noticeable career anyway. Some have excelled at this level, others have not. Cinephiles know such filmmakers in both categories. People like Russ Meyer, Albert Pyun, Andy Sidaris, and Jim Wynorski. And yes, Ed Wood and Uwe Boll too. Since 2003’s House of the Dead, Boll has made a name for himself as king of “tax shelter trash cinema”. He’s even built up a following, much like the others listed above.
Mr. Boll has fans who celebrate his works from Alone in the Dark to BloodRayne to the aforementioned Dead. They exist and unfortunately even they will derive little enjoyment from his latest endeavor, First Shift. A New York City-set crime drama, First Shift is a mismatched buddy cop thriller that pairs a seasoned NYPD officer (Gino Anthony Pesi) with a super-green rookie from Atlanta (Kristen Renton) on a single hellish 12-hour shift that pits the against, among other things, the mob.
Boll wrote, produced, and directed First Shift, which is very evident as one watches the film unfold, as he is the problem at its core. The assumption now might be that he has conjured up another “trashterpiece” like Seed, Postal, or Rampage. That’s what has fans crossing their fingers whenever he gets behind the camera again. I wish I could tell those fans that he has done just that here, but I cannot. Barely any Boll-isms are on display here. Instead, the viewer is offered a poorly written and poorly directed cop thriller that dishes out little in the way of thrills, chills, or chuckles. The cast try their best to elevate the material – kudos to them for that – but it’s not enough to keep First Shift from being a bland, inept, and authorless affair.
Every movie made is a minor miracle, but not all miracles are good. First Shift is for completists only. All others should perhaps skip this Boll and watch a Meyer, Pyun, or Sidaris cult classic instead.
