The First Purge (Part 2 of 2)

Given that modern narratives tend to lay social justice on thick, normal things like characters and plot progression fall by the sideline. The social commentary about an uncaring government wanting to wipe out the lower class groups under the guise of The Purge is a nice little idea.  So, more of the killing is done by the organization than random people going about and killing people.  I also like that the movie shows us it is a pilot program first that rolled out to the rest of the nation.   

The entire notion of the Purge is still dumb, but they took the idea from the last two movies of the Purge being a method of the government sweeping away unwanted people more believable.

-Grab em by the Pussy:  Yes, this 2016 meme does come back and it a rather funny and creepy moment.  It does seem odd that it popped up here.  I did like the bash toward Trump.   

-Why does Y'lan Noel remind me of 50 Cent?:  He has that 50 Cent vibe with the beard and the streetwise attitude. I like this actor and does a good job turning from heel to face during the movie. He also handles the action scenes well. It is believable that he has had some military training.

-Grounded in more reality:  Given the movie is set before the other movies in the franchise, it feels a bit more realistic. The character behaves in a grounded reality than the other movies.   

-Marisa Tomei : Even after watching this movie a few times, I had no idea Marisa Tomei was in this movie. She even plays a key role. I guess it is a change in hair. I always saw her as a dark haired lady. Her character is the mother of the Purge. I had some issues with this character, but she does play her well.

-Skeletor : Yep, this character is clearly a throwback to the first movie. He's just in it to rip up things and kill people for the thrill. The character is pretty neat and that he is a random force. The problem is he disappears from the narrative for a while. He does a good payoff toward the end.

The movie does retcon the other films by grounding it a reality.  Thanks to social media, we are more divided than before.  People are sick of the two party system and would be willing to give a third party a try.  While the acting isn’t as good as other modern action/horror movies, but it is a step above.  While there are three types of movies jammed into one, the makers do a pretty good job changing between the two.   

I can't say the movie is flawless, but it is far more entertaining than the first and second movies. With fair to subpar acting, the movie does fall into the mode of the other movies to a degree. The First Purge is a fair action/horror movie.

Grade: C+

 When you see in the club...

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