The Purge franchise is one I've had very little interest (and even less investment) in at any point in its existence. Perhaps I was most intrigued by the series when the first film was announced. The trailer for the original Purge film in 2013 didn't exactly convince me the movie would be good, but the premise—however ridiculous—struck me as unique; in a world where crime has overtaken the American public, the government has sanctioned an annual "Purge" event in which citizens have 12 hours to commit any crime they can imagine without risk of legal consequence, in an attempt to relieve people's alleged need to be violent all in one sitting. Despite the premise's traces of originality and feigned philosophical musings, however, it admittedly just sounded like a pretentious excuse to makes movies with a lot of senseless killing... which is exactly what Blumhouse Productions has done so far with the series. The original Purge film entirely failed its own interesting premise by opting for a simple home invasion thriller. The sequels, Purge: Anarchy and Purge: Election Year, sought to rectify this by focusing on the goings-on out in the streets and in political offices during the Purge event, but they lacked characters who were compelling enough to really get me invested in the story. By the time Election Year came out, I felt the series pulling a Transformers, and it needed to be put to rest.
But by golly, the madmen actually did it. Fourth in the series, The First Purge is the first entry that's actually deserving of its premise. It enjoys the ridiculous violence when appropriate, but manages to juxtapose it against sociopolitical queries (some admittedly more successful than others) that actually give the film some meaning beyond the drug-addled bloodbath. Is it a great film? No. There have been and will continue to be countless action movies better than it even in 2018. There will also be better social commentaries, I'm entirely sure. But First Purge executes both better than it has any right to, and better than this stale series deserves.
The First Purge focuses on, you guessed it, the first instance of a Purge event in the franchise's timeline. In the original film, Purges are a familiar annual ritual. But here, they are a new and divisive political maneuver by a recently emerged political party known as the New Founding Fathers of America (NFFA). The NFFA enlisted sociologist "Dr. Updale" (Marisa Tomei) to conduct an experiment based on her theories that a group catharsis—a sudden, intense release of violence and anger—could help cure Americans of their needs or desires to commit serious crimes throughout the year. Through unexplained means, the NFFA has been allowed to choose Staten Island as the location for a trial run: an overnight Purge event in a single community area. How a brand new political party gained federal clearance to subject a community against their will to an experiment that would inevitably result in significant death, injury, and vandalism is beyond me, and apparently also beyond this movie's attention span. Regardless, the film quickly marches past this "minor" detail and begins to focus in on its greatest strength: its main characters.
I should be clear; the characters are not model examples of powerful, resonant character development in a screenplay. But they are relatable, conflicted, and (at least sometimes) fun to watch, which is more than any of the other films can say. During the first half of the film, siblings Nya (Lex Scott Davis) and Isaiah (Joivan Wade) struggle to make ends meet in their crappy high-rise apartment amidst a community riddled with crime, violence, and poverty. Despite his older sister's vehement disapproval of the "Purge" movement, Isaiah is enticed by the NFFA's promised financial compensation for participating in the event and secretly signs himself up.
Meanwhile, Dmitri (Y'lan Noel), Staten Island's most powerful drug kingpin, opposes the Purge from the security of his self-funded community center—see, Dmitri fancies himself a provider for his neighborhood, rather than a menace, as he uses some portion of his drug millions to give back to his people. He sees the Purge as a new weak spot for his crime organization; an opportunity for the government or anyone else to swoop in a blow his empire to kingdom come.
The film takes its time setting up its three main characters' daily lives, and while it may feel slow for the first third of the film, it ultimately ends up feeling worth it. By the time the action of the movie comes around, you legitimately want to see how—or if—these characters will get out of it. Dmitri gets all the fun parts—it turns out his time as a crime lord has allowed him the resources to become a John Wick-level badass capable of wiping out SWAT teams and KKK gangs singlehandedly. It may sound stupid, but it's surprisingly badass to watch, and Noel carries the role with a charmingly hard-edged swagger. It's the first time in my recent memory that I've felt such a strong impression from an action hero played by a relative no-name actor. Props to Noel, director Gerard McMurray, and Blumhouse just for that.
The First Purge still employs more than its fair share of lazy tropes, jump scares (I counted 10, all enhanced by ridiculous audio-level spikes), and just plain stupid setpieces, especially as Isaiah makes his way around town during the Purge; how many elaborate, haunted-house-style traps can this kid walk into, just minutes after the start of the Purge? And also, why are people creating such goofy, detailed funhouse scares to kill people when they could just be shooting each other? And why is there a character named Skeletor?
But B-movie tactics aside, The First Purge has some moments of surprisingly fun and kinetic action, and a somewhat relevant sociopolitical message, albeit one that's a bit confused and at times seems somewhat at odds with itself. McMurray and crew show some impressive skill with lighting techniques and choreography, though in some of the more intimately violent scenes, the shaky, chopped together camera work can be a bit hard to follow. In the end, First Purge is fun. It's not always good, and it's quite often stupid, but if your goal is to have fun with an indulgent slasher-action movie, I have a hard time imagining you'll be disappointed. I can't say The First Purge makes me want more Purge films, but it's satisfying to know that we finally got one worthy of the concept.