Review of The First Purge (2018) by Jimmy J — 25 Aug 2018

This movie has its moments of good action and a great idea but the writer and director of this story are either willfully ignorant or live in an echo chamber. The fact that it turns to record high unemployment and people wanting tax cuts for this change in government is laughable. I guess by this reasoning President Donald J Trump is a hero for bringing our economy back from this direction with record low unemployment up and down the spectrum. I'm from the neighboring state and if there is one thing I can tell you it's that this area of the country is very diverse. This point wasn't lost in this movie but according to the story there is a complete divide upon race. That part is not so true of this area. While there are groups that don't get along most do and are intertwined. But this movie fails to show that on a grand scale. It's also laughable that "Drug Dealer" are going to save the community. Wow how bad is that. This part of the story hurts the movie to no end. These people have a chance to do as they please and they sit back drinking tea light good English gentlemen. Give me a break. In classics horror film form at every opportunity to better the situation people refuse to pick up weapons off of the dead which could help them later on in the film. Typical horror movie BS. The adding of the mercenaries was ok at best but to tell me that on all of Staten Island only one guy was killing people is a fantasy and dumb. People would be lining up from every state to get on this island. They could have made a great film if they put their stupid agenda aside and focused on Carnage and the human response to it which transcends race and creed. Could have shown that in times of great despair people forget their little issues and work together. But know, it's agenda time. As for the KKK or Mercs dressed as the KKK? the director should have watched Jango. "I can't see shit in this hood" lol. While the addition of masks makes sense as some would want to live out a fantasy. Wearing certain things will make doing what you are doing hazardous.

So ok movie.

Could be much better.

Not own-able.

Not worth watching a second time.

A bit agenda driven which I hate.

Solid 2 stars.

Realism is -1 Star.

Final note to writer / director, people don't group by race, they group by ideology. My group would have White, Black, Jewish, Asian and Latino working together as the good guys. Zero representation of this movie.