First Shift, 2024.
Written and Directed by Uwe Boll.
Starring Gino Anthony Pesi, Kristen Renton, James McMenamin, Willie C. Carpenter, Daniel Sauli, Brandi Bravo, Garry Pastore, Kwabena Ampofo, Onye Eme-Akwari, Tia Dionne Hodge, Cate Bottiglione, Tom Ukah, Aaron Berg, Michael Wren Gucciardo, Frank Muni, Holland Smith, Ivo Velon, and Christian Pastore.
SYNOPSIS:
NYPD veteran Mike and rookie Angela tackle a high-stakes day on New York’s toughest streets, diving headfirst into a vortex of danger and action. Their adrenaline-fueled pursuits and unexpected threats unfold as they navigate perilous encounters. Amidst the chaos, intense challenges forge unbreakable bonds.
Not only is First Shift (the latest from infamous filmmaker Uwe Boll, forever synonymous with butchering video game adaptations and challenging critics to boxing matches over justifiably poor reviews) is a nihilistic, copaganda exercise that is somehow flat in its relentlessness. Worse, the film essentially goes out of its way to reinforce its belief that negative stereotypes are mostly accurate, complete with a childish tirade against woke culture for good measure.
A Black man pulls out a gun during a routine pullover for speeding while trying to get his labor-induced partner to the hospital, but the indignity doesn’t stop there. Following the scuffle, drugs are found in the vehicle. If that were as cynical as this movie gets, it would still be pretty bad, but rest assured, it gets worse. Thankfully, the attempted shocks never reach offensiveness; Uwe Boll, after all these years making terrible movies, is still nowhere near talented enough to elicit a heated reaction.
As the title implies, the film is about a rookie’s first shift, specifically within law enforcement. It’s Angela’s (Kristen Renton) first day on the job (and relatively new to New York, coming from Atlanta) partnered up with eye-rollingly edgy veteran Deo (Gino Anthony Pesi), who has lost all faith in humanity and sees the city as nothing but a cesspool for crime despite its tourist attraction. Again, the ensuing 85 minutes seemingly exist to prove his point with grim depictions of crime ranging from mobster-related double homicide (characters who hilariously talk like embarrassing caricatures) and PTSD-stricken, drug-abusing, domestically violent fathers. He is not a people person, although he does have an affinity for dogs, as seen when he is quick to care for one following his owner, who has a scare in a grocery store that leads to a three-week hospital stay.
As for Angela, her character is not portrayed as suitable for the job whatsoever; she repeatedly live streams on TikTok while on the job (something Deo condescendingly refers to as Click Clack because that’s what passes for a joke here), has several geography-related questions, and unprofessionally pries into his personal life at every turn, and generally comes across as a vain influencer more than someone with a vested, committed interest in protecting the community.
Technically, she is serviceable in the field, depicted in a sequence that feels ripped right out of a generic video game side quest; Deo tries to talk an unhinged man into putting down a knife after having already wounded himself several times, all while Angela maneuvered her way around clockwise while stopping and using crates for cover like it’s a third person action-adventure game. Eventually, she makes her way behind him enough to stun-gun him, leaving one feeling like an Achievement should pop for solving the crisis non-lethally.
Sloppily edited into their deadly boring conversations and crime scenes are glimpses of those situations before they arrive, or sometimes, left hanging until Uwe Boll finally decides to work it into the shift. A selling point here (according to the comment on the private screening link left by Uwe Boll, something I have never seen a filmmaker do until now) is apparently that the movie was filmed in various original locations across New York, which is an empty statement considering not a single compelling thing is done with the landmark or geography here.
The dialogue is often stilted, and nothing here feels human or raw, making the crimes easier to watch than the material might suggest. As for the bonding between officers, Angela is harping on Deo to give humanity a second chance. That is something that the film actively tries to stop Deo from doing until he does, sending a mixed message that doesn’t make sense given the horror he comes across in a single day. Still, far more horrifying is that Uwe Boll thinks he has the goodwill of Kevin Costner and ends First Shift with a trailer for the sequel. Now, that is a reason for nihilism.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ / Movie: ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
