We interrupt our Alien/Predator marathon to bring you the following announcement:
Attention readers. This is not a test. This is your emergency broadcast system announcing the commencement of the biennial Purge review, The First Purge. Angrily pointing out plot flaws, assumed stupidity on the part of the filmmakers and horrified amazement over the levels of political and race-baiting are all legal for the next 800 words. Actual decent films dealing with thorny socio-political topics will be unavailable until the end of this review. Blessed be to Eris and the Flying Spaghetti Monster. For pony!
In the near-future (allegedly 2014 according to Wikipedia, but no actual date is given during the film), rising unemployment and a tanking economy in the US has lead to the rise of a new political party, the New Founding Fathers of America, who win the presidency and set about rebuilding the country as they want it to be. Part of their plan involves testing a sociological theory about letting people vent their anger and frustrations all on one night, thus dropping the crime rate for the rest of the year. They decide to test this theory in Staten Island, as its location allows it to be easily isolated and - the NFFA say - its demographic makeup is comparable overall to the entire country. They encourage participation in this experiment by offering to pay anyone who stays $5,000 - with additional payments for anyone who decides to actively participate. Some people are eager to take part in this "Purge" but most are not, preferring to stay in their communities or to party all night instead of trying to kill each other. A few people, however - community activist Nya and her brother Isaiah, and Nya's ex and local drug lord Dmitri included - find themselves caught up in the Purge whether they want to be or not. And the NFFA is watching the events, and are determined to make sure that this "first Purge" is a success, one way or the other...
So. Remember in The Purge: Election Year when the third act involved a pitched battle between a black revolutionary group and a gang of neo-Nazi mercenaries? Well, The First Purge has the KKK driving around and shooting black people. Later on, a group of shocktrooper mercenaries led by a guy in an actual Gestapo outfit (and they're all blond Aryan-lookalikes under their helmets and masks) massacres a building full of low-income black people. This film is literally standing about two inches from your face and screaming, "The poor minority groups are being oppressed by the rich white people! Do you get it? Do you? Shall we shoot some more of them to the tune of Deutschland Uber Alles for you?" Yes, The First Purge, we get it. Honestly, I think most people figured that out in the second film when you had the government mercenaries storm that tenement to kill everyone and the black man went off to sacrifice himself to the rich white family so his daughter would have money. And yet you keep desperately throwing it in our faces, just in case we missed the plethora of unsubtle hints that have been in all the films so far. It's gotten to the point where the NFFA are just cartoonishly evil.
And speaking of cartoonishly evil... There's a character named Skeletor in the film. Yes, you read that right. Skeletor. Now, Skeletor is utterly psychotic and admittedly quite disturbing looking, with his facial markings and crazy staring eyes, and his handmade weapon of choice - three hypodermic syringes taped to the back of his hand, like a Freddy Krueger cosplayer on a budget - are pretty cringe-inducing (although that might just be me with my severe needle phobia). But he's called Skeletor, and if you're going to call a character that he'd better be throwing down with Prince Adam of Eternia by the end of the film, and sadly this doesn't happen in this movie.
Our three protagonists in The First Purge are Nya, Isaiah and Nya's ex Dmitri, and while Isaiah tries at the beginning to be a tough guy, it's really left to Dmitri to save the day. He's the drug lord of the neighbourhood, the "big dog" - but don't worry, he's got his community's best interests at heart. He's shocked when he learns that Isaiah has started corner dealing for him and he forbids any of his crew taking part in the Purge. But when he does eventually get dragged into the night, he decides to jump in with both feet and ends up racking up a body count by himself that's at least equal to the government's mercenary groups. In fact, by the time the film's final act rolls around, he transforms into black Bruce Willis, storming an apartment block in his vest, with an assault rifle and a bag of guns and explosives. He might deal crack to all of Staten Island and have his own armoury, but he cares about the neighbourhood, so it's okay.
Perhaps the thing that angered me the most about The First Purge is the idea that the revelation that the government was faking Purge activity to make the night seem like a success when it wasn't is somehow a shock to the audience. Uh, no, we figured that one out in The Purge: Anarchy, when we saw government troops using the Purge to clear out tenements. I'm not even bothering to spoil the NFFA's "secret" involvement in this review because not only was it that obvious, but they telegraphed it in the trailer! I really can't shake the idea that the filmmakers think their audience this stupid, and it bothers me a lot - not just because I suspect they might be right. I've seen more than enough threads in horror movie groups where people enthusiastically discuss what they'd do if the Purge was real (strangely, nearly everyone thinks they would be a one-person killing machine rather than gunned down in the first hour or cowering in their home with the lights off) to know that this race-baiting, patronising film series appeals to people, even if I can't understand why.
A Purge TV series is reportedly premiering later this year. If it does an anthology-style narrative, following different people during a Purge each episode and how they all react to it in different ways, then it might prove to be decent. But I also don't trust this franchise one bit. We shall see.
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