The First Purge

The Purge B-movie series is one that I find pretty interesting and have kept up with throughout the years. 

Funny enough is that I still haven't found time to get around to the very first Purge film from 2013 and at this point, I highly doubt I ever will. 

But I get the gist. 

The First Purge strangely takes the series back in time (though time is truly a rough construct in these films as they all feel like they're "today" based on settings, technology, etc.) to show us...well...the very first purge experiment. 

With the stance and advertising that this particular installment is taking, it's clear that the intention is to ruffle some feathers in comparison to today's seemingly endless news reel of tragic news and government politics. It's a bit hard to review these films anymore without politics getting involved and The First Purge certainly takes direct aim at many of today's target demographics in terms of who it appeals to and who it's attacking. 

Aside from that however, it's clear that this franchise is running out of steam, especially after The First Purge. I'm decently fond of Election Year (the 3rd Purge film) as in it's probably the only one I wouldn't mind re-watching. But The First Purge represents a fourth attempt for this series to try and break out of its mediocrity mold and truly become something intense, biting, and substantial. 

It definitely doesn't happen with The First Purge and I'm beginning to fear it may never happen. This isn't a film that's so bad that it nails the series' coffin shut, but it's also so unnecessary that I can't see it garnering more excitement for the franchise post-viewing, even for hardcore fans. For starters, the film feels much longer than it really is. Getting to the actual purging takes a while so that we can set up the political climate and even once it gets to the Purge, it's slow to start since it's the first experiment (contained just to Staten Island for the first go around). What bothered me the most is that, while we're shown the people making the decisions about putting the first purging night in place, the film offers little explanation or reasoning as to why/how this actually got approved. Pretty much all we're given is: "This psychologist suggests it would be good for the soul to release anger legally" and a nation/world seemed to be totally okay with the fact that murder would be legal. I know these movies are not the most cerebral, but I do think that if the series was going to take all the trouble of coming back to this initial experiment that more should have been done to explain the reasoning behind it. If you've been watching Legion Season 2 on FX, a similar "narrator" approach at the beginning could have been incredibly cool and borderline convincing, right off the bat. 

Mad Max: University Blvd

How hard are you flexing right now, breh?

The First Purge just isn't all that exciting either. Our main character is an oddly "moral" kingpin-drug dealer, Dmitri who has moves akin to John Wick-lite. He gets the bulk of the best action but it's sparse, filmed poorly, and he's no Frank Grillo despite his endearing nature. Most of the horror elements feel gone here aside from a couple scenes that aren't as intense as they think they are. Even the masks and costume design -- something I've come to really enjoy in these films -- seems like a significant step down, particularly from Election Year. Against my better judgment, I also want to touch briefly on the politics of the film. As a white male, I could certainly stand to be more uncomfortable with many of my movie-going experiences. I totally get that. But with The First Purge I was interested to see such a hard line drawn of all bad people in the film being white and all black people being good (mostly). I get that this has certainly been the opposite in films past, but I usually feel like there's some sort of attempt to balance out on either side; or at least I feel like that's been the case as of late. It didn't offend me, instead it mainly just made me think about how inaccurate a "line in the sand" like that is, regardless of what side (or in this case, race) is "good" and which one is "bad".

There's an awkward head-to-body ratio going on here...

I feel like many predicted this would be the case but The First Purge ends up being the most unnecessary film in a series that didn't really need to evolve to one in the first place. It admirably tries to be the most political by relating to current-day tensions, but ultimately it has to be a good, enjoyable film for that to work. Instead it's a bit of a slog with hardly any excellent qualities. 

CONS

• Feels long because the purging aspects take a while to get to
• Coming all the way back to the first purge for this weak of an explanation makes the film seem like a waste of time
• Hard-line stance on race felt a bit awkward and inaccurate, but I get its been the reverse in other films
• Mostly boring action without much great editing
• Seems like a downgrade in terms of horror and mask/costume design

PROS

• I enjoyed the cast, especially our main trio of Dmitri, Nya, and Isaiah
• Has a couple tense moments (and a few good masks!)
• Cuts tension with humor well. And genuinely funny humor at that

Rath's Review Score | 4/10