The First Purge

In a world where politicians do what they feel like, we know that ordinary hard workers are not really respected. I know a lot of families who struggle to survive, to make sure their children have everything they need, and the families have to survive on the economy they have. Of course there are families that are happy with what they have, but you can´t help to feel sorry for parents who have to work more than 2 jobs to survive, while politicians use our taxes money to party, pay hotel rooms and fancy dinners. In an honest world, this would not be allowed. But reality is of course different, and the middle class people will always have to struggle. That is why i love people, who want to do right for themselves and not use the system, as many politicians do. A lot of films have taken on subjects of behavior by politicians, such as former French politician Dominique Strauss-Kahn. A man who is known for his scandal. Allegations to have sexually assaulted and attempted to rape hotel maid Nafissatou Diallo in New York, on 14th May 2011. The charges were later dropped, and Dominique was not found guilty, but he did not deny that he did have an encounter with Diallo, but had no intentions to do anything criminal towards her. A film based on this case was released in 2014, known as Welcome To  New York. A very interesting story, where lead actor Gerard Depardieu plays the politician character Deveraux ( loosely based on the case of Dominique Strauss-Kahn ). A very powerful film, and one of the best performances i have seen actor Gerard Depardieu do in his career. A must see if you ask me. Speaking of politicians, how many of you have seen the 2012 film known as The Purge. A film that tried to give us a different perspective, of what happens when you can kill anyone you want, on one specific day that the government have allowed. This film had a different approach than the ordinary home invasion concept, and this is one of the things that i enjoyed about The Purge. Of course, we also had legendary actor Ethan Hawk. But then something happened, when the sequel The Purge: Anarchy came out in 2014. This film was even better than the first film, and was one of the better action films released in 2014. The main actor Frank Grillo as the bad ass charactor Leo, was the biggest reason why i enjoyed this film. The next film simply called The Purge: Election Year, released in 2016, was not as good as the second film, but Frank Grillo still made this film enjoyable. After the third film was released, it was clear that the successful Purge franchise would continue, and they decided to make a film that tells a story, of how it all started. So here we are with the latest film called The First Purge, a prequel to the previous film. Since the other films have been good so far, is this latest one the best so far, or is the Purge franchise doomed to fail thanks to this prequel ?

The New Founding Fathers Of America ( NFFA ) are about to start an experiment in society, where they pay people to be a part of the first annual Purge. The idea is that everyone who agree tó be a part of this experiment, is that you can kill as many people as you want on the streets, within the hours you have to kill as many victims as possible. Protester Nya ( Lex Scott Davis ) don´t want people to be killed on the streets for money, so she go against the NFFA with other protesters. The NFFA will still go on with the Purge, and Chief of Staff - Arlo Sabian ( Patch Darragh, assisted by The Architect - Dr. Updale ( Marisa Tomei ) both begin to follow the first day of the Purge on surveillance cameras, and through a special developed contact lenses, designed to follow every murder. As the first night of the Purge starts, Nya protect herself and others at the local church, while gangsta leader Dimitri ( Y´lan Noel ) refuse to let any Purge contester take over their neighborhood. The Purge is on, and everyone has to be prepared that anyone is a possible victim. 

Since i have enjoyed all films so far of The Purge franchise, i can tell you that this film does have a different approach on the previous films. This is where we are supposed to find out how it all started. And i have to say, i do understand the political approach that this film is trying to give us, on why we need a Purge night, one day every year, where you are allowed to do what you want. Do i agree with the concept ? No, because this would be an disaster for society, there are enough killing on the streets. Another difference with this film, compared to the previous ones, is that this film focus more on how the black society reacts on the idea of a Purge night. This is also something positive, because we know that there are many poor areas in America, where drugs is a very big problem. This is something that this film also bring up, how it affect families, including young people with no future plans. So of course when poor people are offered a lot of money, to participate in doing the first annual Purge night, they accept the money. Some of the characters of this film is something we have to talk about. Dimitri, a rough gangsta ( played by actor Y´lan Noel ) who won´t let anyone mess with him or his business. And in the final scenes of the film, he becomes the new version of the 80´s classic Commando film with Arnold Schwarzenegger. If they ever do a remake, they should have Y´lan Noel play John Matrix. The strong female character Nya, played by actor Lex Scott Davis is exactly what this film needed. A woman who don´t take shit from anyone, but still try and help people. The brutal and evil character known as Skeletor ( played by actor Rotimi Paul ) is one of the most effective characters of the Purge people. He is completely insane, shows no mercy, and fits right in with the Purge theme. The political sides of the Purge loose some power in the middle of the film ( too bad ), so we rely on the action scenes instead. And they actually work pretty good. It takes some time before something starts to happen, but when the film finally pick up the speed, we get what we wanted. Director Gerard McMurray have directed one full feature film before this one called Burning Sands. I have not seen that film, but i think he have made a Purge film that works, especially for the strong characters. I would have liked to see him become even more political with this film, but he does know how to make action scenes look good. The First Purge is not one of the better films in this franchise, but deliver enough action to please the viewer. If you like the previous films, i think you might enjoy this one as well. Actor Y´lan Noel, think about my idea of you as John Matrix in a Commando remake, i know you would do this film justice.

Rating: DDD