Welcome one and all to my review of the newest entry into the wildly successful Purge franchise, The First Purge. Before I begin how about you go and check out my reviews of Phoenix Forgotten and Malevolent and my Shameless Promotion article about Pop In A Box.
If you are looking for any of my previous articles they are all available from the archive. If you have any comments about this or any of my previous posts leave a comment in the section below or by following me on Twitter and Instagram.
The First Purge is the 4 and penultimate entry in The Purge franchise that now includes the entertaining television series produced by Blumhouse and Universal Studios. Written and produced by James DeMonaco, The First Purge, as the title would suggest, covers the story of the very first Purge. Staten Island, New York has been chosen to host the very first Purge experiment as the NFFA have risen to power by over throwing the government. Residents are offered $5000 to participate in the experiment. The night quickly descends into a chaotic war zone as Dmitri, Nya and Isiah fight to save those they hold dear.
As with all of The Purge films, The First Purge has been met with mixed reviews but, I have to say I really enjoyed this more story driven take on the horror franchise. Like The Purge TV show, The First Purge revolves around the stories of those affected by the night rather than the costumes and kills of the second and third entries in the series. That's not to say that these elements aren't apparent especially with the demented Skeletor character but, I loved seeing the political message being a central focus.
The action scenes are fast and furious throughout with Y'Lan Noel assuming an almost super human level of hero. I loved how the action was concentrated to the one location, like in the original, rather than being spread out over a large area.
I feel that whilst I really enjoyed the First Purge there were a few problems, mostly the lack of character expansion for Nya and Marisa Tomei as Doctor Updale. Updale is referred to as the architect of The Purge however she is almost an after thought throughout the film and is under utilised in my opinion. Lex Scott Davis, whilst she has more screen time, is over shadowed by the anti hero Dmitri character and really deserves a lot more story development.
Overall The First Purge is a refreshing change of pace for the franchise, focusing more on story rather than gore. With the inclusion of this film and the television series The Purge franchise is ending in a strong way.
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