The movie THE FIRST PURGE Review: Restless Night in the Black People Area
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A warm greeting to you, my fellow readers. As always, Friday evening was for the new movie. It was raining here, so I did not regret spending time at the cinema. What the movie I watched? It is strange that nowadays I so often choose horror movies which I did not like some time ago. But after a few great films, I am choosing new horror movies without big fear. This time, it was THE FIRST PURGE. So, it's time for the movie THE FIRST PURGE review. Are you ready?
Jason Blum, the head of Blum House, the producer of the most prolific horror thrillers over the last few years such as Truth or Dare and Happy Death Day2 over the last few invites to another horrible adventure - the fourth film of series The Purge. This film finally answers the main crucial question of the viewers - how the bloody night of purge began that brought so much horror.
The film director Gerard McMurray has replaced James DeMonaco - the scriptwriter and director of all three first movies of The Purge series. The director Gerard McMurray before this movie has created great drama Burning Sands about the culture of black people. This time he again had a great opportunity to present the story from the perspective seen by his black brothers.
THE FIRST PURGE, Official Trailer - Video credit: UniversalPictures via Youtube.com
The Short Story Of The Movie
After the financial crises that have taken place, people in the US are choosing a new government that calls themselves The New Founding Fathers of America. Their goal is to control the nation and give it a beautiful future. However, due to excess of people, it is impossible to do this. That is why a drastic decision has been made.
The new government has decided to carry out an experiment beyond the bounds of morality in the Staten Island. This island is least populated New York area, and there were absolutely no rules all that night long. The experiment must allow people to pour all their accumulated anger away at night, and at the same time wipe a part of the population from the ground. As is typical of these films, everyone has a plan, but when it does not work, you need to find a new way to survive this horrible night.
This is the worst night in the history of the United States, which has begun with a new era in the world.
Horror thriller THE FIRST PURGE - Photo credit: conexiontravisbickle.blogspot.com
The Content of the Movie
When I saw the first part of this lucrative franchise in 2013, I thought that it was a really great movie having a perfect idea that, unfortunately, was not conveyed interestingly. It seemed to be like yet another full of violence thriller with a few unexpected horror elements that did not frighten you but forced to feel the feeling of frustration due to the showed images.
Of course, the first movie attracted a lot of curious watchers because of its engaging storyline, so it not only redeemed a budget of 3.5 million dollars but also made it possible to earn a good deal for the studio produced by producer Jason Blum, what ultimately led to the decision to create a sequel of the movie.
Horror Thriller THE FIRST PURGE Review - Photo credit: wall.alphacoders.com
After watching the predecessor, I did not really wait for the sequel, because I was hoping that I would see a similar movie. And here I made a mistake. The film appeared to be not only the whole head higher than the original but also, in the same year 2014, it became one of the coolest action thrillers. That is why I have watched again the very best part of the series before going to watch this new movie.
The second film also earned good money. It was better appreciated by critics and film lovers, so it was only a matter of time when the Blum House studio will present the third part. True, the film went a bit worse in comparison with the second part but not so cardinal that it would be possible to throw out the entire franchise.
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That's why I was looking forward to the new part, which was supposed to complete everything that started the director James DeMonaco in 2013, but at the same time to become an introduction to the series that will start at autumn.
The new Purge part, like the previous movies, has its own theme. The first film was for domestic conflict, the second one for revenge, and the third film focused on politics. Now, the audience is presented with a social theme that deals with the black people, and people' attitude towards them, both from their own perspective, presenting the most diverse stereotypes, and from the side of the public, who are often suspiciously looking at people of other race.
The movie THE FIRST PURGE - Photo credit: wall.alphacoders.com
Depending on the theme and the existed already films, this tape is not as attractive as the previous ones, as the entire action is moved to just one area. The minus is also that there are not so many heroes in the film, which we should worry about and wish them all the best. As I wrote a bit above, this is a film based on the black people' culture, so the whole movie action revolves around these people living in blocks on New York's Staten Island and trying to survive through a bloody night.
And if we talk about the stereotypical Black culture, this film reminded me many other criminal film projects and series about the same drugs, the poverty in the lowest levels of society, the indecent behavior with women and, of course, law abuses. In this movie, thanks to the bloody experiment, all this was accompanied by even more smart crackdowns.
THE FIRST PURGE - Photo credit: wall.alphacoders.com
There are action scenes in the film, but it was in previous films too, so I could not really distinguish it because there were no memorable scenes here. On the first part of the film, we get familiar with a few insignificant characters who have tried to fight for their lives, so it may look that movie is boring. But even after the first massacre, the picture almost does not improve. Everything happens monotonously until the armed men come to the area, and the massacre starts. And precisely the last 30 minutes of the film are the most intense and most interesting of all in this band.
Some action scenes are very funny, some scary, but all have one feature - the lack of logic. I do not want to talk about the logic in this film, because it is not a kind of film in which we should care about it, but there is one nuance that did not give me peace. What did the creators want to show us with this movie? If in the first film we saw the desire of the closest neighbors and friends to ruin one family, in the second one - a man led by the revenge, and in the third part - a very dirty policy, then this movie was about the poor black people humiliated by the white people? If it is so, then it's very sad.
Throughout the film, we see only black people who are trying to survive in the streets. Based on the images presented, there are apparently only poor black people living on the island of Staten. They all decided to earn some money while staying in the area, where the experiment was conducted.
Horror thriller THE FIRST PURGE (The Purge Series) - Photo credit: wall.alphacoders.com
The film has its own hard nut, although, this character was the most interesting part of the whole movie. I will not even talk about other heroes, because they were here for two reasons: to become a hunter or to become prey.
The film is structurally divided into two parts, but in the meanwhile, the first third is for characters and storytelling, and then the chaos begins. In many places, the film sacrifices the natural course and logic to show action scenes or commentary on political events, but filmmakers are well aware of what the viewers actually came for.
My goal was to keep the Purge violence feeling as real as possible so the type of mayhem and violence in my film echoes things that I fear, which I think makes this film have its own unique level of scariness and terror for audiences. I wanted my film to have a grit and a realness to it that makes people feel like “Wow, this could happen in real life.” - Director Gerard McMurray
Credit: ihorror.com
The Technical Side Of The Movie
Although this is only the second full-length piece by director McMurray, this is the highest quality movie in the series.
As in previous parts of the film, much attention is being paid to the visual part. First of all, I must mention the heroes costumes. They did not make any emotions here, because none of them had any extraordinary elements that could be frightening. Sometimes it seemed that the film was about the Nazis who carry out the Black Genocide. Secondly, I mention the makeup. It is the strongest part because the blood flows freely here, and the wounds are presented on a fairly realistic side. Thirdly, there are great decorations that made us feel like we were at a Halloween party or in the horror of a theme park. The streets, buildings, and environments look impressive, where everything looks real, but there is real chaos around.
The movie THE FIRST PURGE - Photo credit: twitter.com
Probably, the most improved was cinematography and lighting. Some of the action scenes look standard, but there are some exclusive ones that use interesting camera tricks, lighting, and special effects to differ from the standard. The camera work pleased me because it's definitely not a bad job compared to a creepy image through Escape Plan 2. Some of the scenes even seemed very artistic, when turning off the lighting, was carried out the justice in the corridors of the dormitory. On the whole, the image was not annoying.
Sound editing is OK. It was very intense in all shooting scenes, and the image was presented pleasantly, so watching the movie, no any extraneous elements disturb us. Maybe it's just the beginning was a bit boring, but they had to create an introduction to this whole thing, which was later called Purge. Music is simply a lot of trap rep songs that fit into the environment in which the film takes place, but when the film shows characters who do not live in the area, the music changes to show contrast.
Y’lan Noel & Lex Scott Davis Talk About Their New Movie THE FIRST PURGE
Video credit: BUILDSeries via Youtube.com
The Collective Work Of Actors
The actors did not fascinate me at all. Theatrical performance of some actors made you feel uncomfortable as if you were looking at an unprofessional movie. Worst of all, I'm talking about key performers like Lex Scott Davis, and Joivan Wade.
The acting in this film is very volatile, some actors simply comically exaggerate their role and emotions, while others simply were not able to show any emotions, but there are also people who simply did their job either bad or well.
Y'lan Noel
Actor Y'lan Noel plays the main role of a man. His character is a traditional drug trafficker with a golden heart. He stands out from all the actors and is an amazing actor of the action. His performance is physical, self-confident, and emotionally correct. I think, with time, this actor can become a big star because all the other actors of this film pale against him.
Y'lan Noel in the movie THE FIRST PURGE - Photo credit: verifiedtasks.com
Lex Scott Davis
Lex Scott Davis in a movie THE FIRST PURGE - Photo credit: tomhack.blogspot.com
We have a couple of main characters and countless secondary roles, which stories are interconnected and solved at one time or another. The time is dedicated to the presentation of all the characters but some of them are later forgotten, or their story is solved illogically. The only actress who seemed convincing was Marissa Tomei. But there is nothing strange here. She is an Oscar winner.
I could not say anything about any other actor who appeared in the film. They as quickly appeared as quickly disappeared, so it was impossible to notice the ability of actors' performance as they played a few minutes only.
On The Final Note - Verdict
Political thoughts are voiced out: our protagonists are black people, who are being punished by the old white people's party. If the undertone is not clear yet, look closer, because on their soldier's uniforms can see details such as Ku Klux Klan hoods, swastika, and Nazi uniforms. Also, there are some great jokes that are directly mocking the Donald Trump. Many motivations of the characters are defined in one sentence because there is no time for the nonsense, there are no stretched scenes about feelings, thoughts or something deeper in the film because there is no time for it, we need to show action and atrocities.
Maybe it's stupid, but it's nice to see how the filmmakers and everyone else who worked on this movie perfectly understands what the audience of this movie is, and what people have come to see. THE FIRST PURGE is a movie with modest technical advancements, but it well knows its audience and its desires.
The Horror Thriller THE FIRST PURGE - Photo credit: imdb.com
THE FIRST PURGE is a cinematic project full of violence. Although this is the fourth movie in this series, it's the most sincere and created from love and creativity. It was evidently being developed for one group of US citizens - black people who face injustice, racist attacks, and poor lives in disadvantaged residential areas.
If you are a fan of the first three movies of this series, especially the past two films, you will get a similar product, with better action, actors, and fewer details. People who are not fans of the series, who do not like the straightforward action movies, and who are looking for something more serious will surely not become fans of THE FIRST PURGE.
The First Purge still manages to capture that rush that makes us come back to the series again and again. - Kaylee Dugan
Credit: rottentomatoes.com
Have a fun watching!!!
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