The First Purge is everything that is wrong with America rolled up into one ridiculous Hollywood caricature. In an effort to cobble together every social justice stereotype, this film managed to reach the pinnacle of activist tripe. It is Black Lives Matter meets Occupy Wall Street conceived by Media Matter in association with DailyKos. Of course, none of those hot button names are actually in this film, but they may as well be. This is a social justice warrior wet dream. The ultimate revenge against the deplorables. I would call it a thinly veiled attack against American exceptionalism, but there is no veil. The film should be sub-titled "Kill Whitey" for the way it stokes the flames of racial stereotypes.
In Hollywood, stereotypes are okay. As long as they are stereotypes against the "ruling class." This film manages to be overtly racist, anti-capitalist, anti-NRA, and anti-American while cobbling together stereotypes of white biker gangs, the Ku Klux Klan, wall street, and veterans. Yeah, you read that correctly. This film is anti-veteran, painting white veterans as mercenaries invading low class neighborhoods to kill as many poor people of color as they can. Because, you know, mercenaries will kill poor unarmed non-combatant civilians without a second thought. And let's not forget that the film elevates a kingpin drug dealer to the status of hero in spite of the thousands of lives his trade has destroyed in this same neighborhood (economically as well as physically).
Dmitri (Y'lan Noel) is a drug kingpin in Staten Island. He is unsure of what this new concept called The Purge is, but he isn't taking any chances. He plans to hunker down with his crew and wait things out. He could just move his operation to Brooklyn, but then, that might be seen as wimping out. His ex-girlfriend, Nya (Lex Scott Davis) is leading the charge against the purge. She is a community activist rallying people to oppose the experiment. But, of course, she doesn't want to merely cross the river into another part of New York, either. Her brother, Isaiah (Joivan Wade) is a wannabe drug dealer who has a score to settle with a creepy killer called Skeletor (Rotimi Paul). Isaiah realizes too late that he doesn't have the stomach for killing.
Because people are not as violent as predicted, the purge doesn't become quite as violent as expected. (Maybe they should have chosen Chicago...where the purge apparently exists in real life?) The token bad guys (the New Founding Fathers of America) have a plan for that. They release every white stereotype in America into the community to wreak violent mass murder. The Klan, bikers, wall street, veterans, a kitchen sink of perceived porcelain villainy is unleashed. The story goes from one of minor violence and robbery to a climactic building clearing at a housing development that is central to the community. Nya, Isaiah and their friends are holed up on the fourteenth floor and Dmitri alone must defeat dozens of paid mercenaries to save the day.
This film went from allusion to outright racism in very short order. It is a disgusting display of Hollywood activism and anti-everything. From engaging in gross stereotypes to promoting and affirming social justice stances, the film never attempts to temper the message with subtlety. The plot was weak to begin with. It is more of the same thing we have seen three times before. Without an original idea, the writer (James DeMonaco) went straight for the jugular. This film is an anti-Trump diatribe (complete with a pussy-grabber reference) that serves as a strawman for the left. It is an imaginary punching bag that allows the left to hit back after losing so soundly in the election. It is a feel good movie for the far left. Traditional democrats, independents and those on the right will likely see this film for the utter garbage that it is. It is divisive nonsense meant to further divide our country. To release it on the fourth of July (particularly while my son is in Afghanistan defending their right to produce this twaddle) is a slap in the face to the very veterans that this film makes light of.
For what plot this film has, there are major plot holes, such as would you make a spectacle of killing the scientist (Marisa Tomei) responsible for developing the purge concept and then order that the tapes be erased? Or, why would certain characters remain on the island when they had the chance to leave? Or why would you use a pistol to confront an army when you have a host of rifles at your disposal? The list is endless. This film is filled with holes and where there are not holes there is only contrivance. It is an excuse to vent. It is a left-wing hissy fit. If you are far left, you will love this film. It will give you catharsis. For everyone else, you have been warned. There are no redeeming qualities to this film.
Okay. A caveat. Because I am not trashing this film only because it is a political attack on conservatism. It is poorly written, the dialogue is weak, the actions are contrived and the concept is played out. It is hackneyed at this point. But I write movie reviews and I take that seriously. So I will say there is one redeeming quality to this film. The performances were decent. I liked Davis as a strong female lead. She was solid. I wasn't much a fan of Wade, but thought Noel had the chops to be an action star. This was his film debut and we will definitely see more of him. Once I forced myself to get by the idea that he played a hero drug lord, I admit that his performance was solid. There were a couple of decent performances. Not enough to counterbalance the negative aspects of this film.
The First Purge is a love letter to liberalism. It is the strawman of the Man. This film encapsulates every negative stereotype of those who might fit into the basket of deplorables. It is also hatred and division. It is sowing the negative seeds of activism that create rifts in our families and communities. It is the facebook of film. A place where a nasty message goes unfiltered. It is fake news posing as cinema. It is said that art imitates life and life imitates art. Some people will deceive themselves to see this as art. It is art in the sense that a crucifix in a jar of piss is art. It is intentionally vulgar and destructive. The R Rating was well deserved for graphic violence, drug use and language. Save yourself from polluting your mind with political messaging. Not recommended, this is propaganda disguised as cinema. 1/10.
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