Review of The First Purge (2018) by Leon B — 30 Dec 2018

The First Purge.

(2018).

Plot:

To push the crime rate below one percent for the rest of the year, the New Founding Fathers of America test a sociological theory that vents aggression for one night in one isolated community. But when the violence of oppressors meets the rage of the marginalised, the contagion will explode from the trial-city borders and spread across the nation.

Review:

I haven't been a big fan of this franchise to date, but this movie was watchable. It explains how the whole Purge concept began, and how the government took full advantage of a bad situation but from an entertainment point of view, it's very much like the other movies. The only reason why this movie stood out from the rest is because you actually care about the characters, who were put in a terrible situation, with no were to turn. Anyway, the movie is based sometime in the 21st century, where the government has been overthrown by the NFFA (New Founding Father's of America) because of the turmoil in America. Arlo Sabian (Patch Darragh) and Dr. Updale (Marisa Tomei) announce an experiment to take place in Staten Island, where for 12 hours, citizens will be allowed to purge and release their inhibitions in any way they choose. The NFFA offers residents of Staten Island $5000 to stay in their homes during the experiment and compensation for those participating as well. If they accept the money, they have to wear tracking devices and contact lenses with cameras so that they can monitor all activity. Drug lord Dmitri (Y'lan Noel) doesn't want to get involved in the purge, so he decides to flee Staten Island with his companions. His ex-girlfriend Nya (Lex Scott Davis) is an anti-Purge activist, who decides to stay in church during the purge but her young brother Isaiah (Joivan Wade) takes the cash NFFA, so he can get revenge on a crackhead, who stabbed him during a drug deal. During the Purge, Dmitri is attacked by 2 prostitutes who are working for his competition, which leads to a confrontation that ends badly for the guy who tried to take out Dmitri. He soon realises that the government-controlled experiment is not what it seems and that they have brought in missionaries to enhance the trouble in the area. Meanwhile, Isaiah confronts the crackhead Skeletor, with a gun but he's easily disarmed and ends up running for his life. He calls his sister for help, who leaves the church to try and find him. As the government's experiment isn't causing as much destruction as they thought, the missionaries make it seem like the murder rate is really high, by wearing masks and causing mass destruction. Dmitri and his team try to take on the missionaries but most of them are taken out by an armed drones. Meanwhile, Nya and Isaiah finally get together to tackle the purgers, and they make there way back to the church, where they witness the missionaries killing all of there friends. 3 of there friends manage to escape, so they make there way back to there flat. Dmitri then calls Nya to tell her what is happening, and he hears on the radio that the missionaries are making there way to her block, so he gathers as much artillery as he can, and he makes his way to them. Will he save the Day! You have to watch the movie to find out.... It is full of tension throughout and there is a hidden message that makes you question the government today, but the acting was pretty poor. Some of the violent scenes were gruesome, especially from Skeletor who looked quite scary but the 50 Cent lookalike, Dmitri turned out good at the end, even though he was acting like Wesley Snipes in New Jack City through the first half of the film. In all, it's a half-decent movie which is worth a watch but it won't go down as an all-time classic. Average!

Round-Up:

This movie was directed by Gerard McMurray, who also directed Burning Sands in 2017. He's a fairly new director who hasn't done that much work to date, but he did produce Fruitvale Station which went down well with audiences. As this movie had a low budget, it did make a hefty profit at the box office, so I'm sure that we will be seeing more from this franchise. I just hope that they get some established actors for the next instalment.

Budget: $13million.

Worldwide Gross: $136million.

Genre: Action, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller.

Cast: Y'lan Noel, Lex Scott Davis, Joivan Wade, Mugga, Patch Darragh, Marisa Tomei, Luna Lauren Valez, Mo McRae and Steve Harris. 4/10.