475: The First Purge

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_00]: 182 Let's get to the fourth film in the Purge franchise which is The First Purge.

[00:00:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Came out in 2018, is directed by Gerard McMurray, written by James DeMonaco.

[00:00:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Stars Yolan Noelle, Lex Scott Davis, Jovan Wade, Steve Harris, Patrick Dara, Mercedome,

[00:00:25] [SPEAKER_00]: May, and the synopsis is America's third political party, the new founding fathers of America, comes

[00:00:31] [SPEAKER_00]: to power and conducts an experiment. No laws for 12 hours on Staten Island, no one has to

[00:00:38] [SPEAKER_00]: stay on the island but $5,000 is given to anyone who does.

[00:00:44] [SPEAKER_00]: So I remember having really not liked Election Year, I thought this one was very interesting

[00:00:51] [SPEAKER_00]: for a number of reasons because it did show you how the Purge got started, which is interesting

[00:00:58] [SPEAKER_00]: in its own right to me. And then also it was being directed by somebody else and actually

[00:01:02] [SPEAKER_00]: had seen this director's first movie back when I was at Sundance the year before, I think

[00:01:07] [SPEAKER_00]: which I enjoyed. I was like okay, pretty unconventional choice there, I'm definitely in, I would

[00:01:13] [SPEAKER_00]: love to see anyone direct these movies besides James DeMonaco just as a different vision,

[00:01:18] [SPEAKER_00]: even if it's still written by him, just someone who has a different eye for things. And I've seen

[00:01:23] [SPEAKER_00]: it probably three times over the years and this is definitely right below or right on par with

[00:01:31] [SPEAKER_00]: the Purge Anarchy for being my favorite of the franchise. Some people really rag on this one

[00:01:36] [SPEAKER_00]: and seem to see it below a lot of others. I don't really get that. I think that this

[00:01:41] [SPEAKER_00]: movie by far is one of the smartest in terms of the direction, the storytelling,

[00:01:46] [SPEAKER_00]: it has way more ideas going on, not to say anything is crazy deep, but this is by far the one that

[00:01:53] [SPEAKER_00]: gives me the most impact from a thematic level. And it also really does give you a good perspective

[00:02:01] [SPEAKER_00]: into having seen the first Purge movie and how things began. And of course these rich

[00:02:08] [SPEAKER_00]: white politicians are wanting to do the Purge in order to get rid of the poor minorities

[00:02:14] [SPEAKER_00]: and whatever other groups that might be inhibiting them from getting power or whatever else it might

[00:02:20] [SPEAKER_00]: be. So that sadly is very much a reality in a variety of ways in the real world.

[00:02:27] [SPEAKER_00]: But purely from how the story is being told, who's being told by really helps. And I also like

[00:02:33] [SPEAKER_00]: it being in this Staten Island neighborhood, it's fairly contained but it's open enough

[00:02:39] [SPEAKER_00]: to where it's not too boxed in like the Purge, the first one is. So I don't really have like

[00:02:48] [SPEAKER_00]: anything crazy to say about this movie in terms of wanting a one scene that blows me away or whatever.

[00:02:52] [SPEAKER_00]: It's more so it takes something like anarchy or election year all the same pieces,

[00:02:57] [SPEAKER_00]: but it just does it way better to me and the performances are better. The score is good.

[00:03:05] [SPEAKER_00]: I think the designs of the Purgers are very effective considering the situation. I mean,

[00:03:10] [SPEAKER_00]: there's the KKK Purgers with gas masks. It's really they just go all out in these really

[00:03:16] [SPEAKER_00]: horrifying character designs but it's very effective in that way. And even the action itself is

[00:03:24] [SPEAKER_00]: way more intense, more suspenseful, more cleverly put together like the drone attack

[00:03:30] [SPEAKER_00]: is really good. The street party sequence with the I mean the maniac guy is a little overdone,

[00:03:39] [SPEAKER_00]: but I think it's still pretty vicious effective sequence. Also the sequence at the end in the

[00:03:46] [SPEAKER_00]: I think it's an apartment complex with the purgers coming in and there's that cat mouse

[00:03:51] [SPEAKER_00]: sequence. I think that is really good, very solid and it's a very good ending. I think this

[00:03:56] [SPEAKER_00]: is probably the only one even more so than anarchy that ends really well. I think it ends in a very

[00:04:03] [SPEAKER_00]: satisfying way. So really almost no big issues. It's maybe a little too long, but I really wish

[00:04:13] [SPEAKER_00]: that they would find a little bit more to do with some of the sequels if they make more in

[00:04:19] [SPEAKER_00]: terms of this way. Oh and also another reason why I wanted to see it was and it was pretty

[00:04:25] [SPEAKER_00]: surprising is to see Marissa Tomei in this in a big lead role and so I think she is awesome

[00:04:31] [SPEAKER_00]: in this. I love her really in everything and that definitely added a little bit of

[00:04:37] [SPEAKER_00]: star power, a little bit better acting chops. So I really appreciate her for choosing to be in

[00:04:43] [SPEAKER_00]: this because not honestly not a lot of people would I feel like. So I really think she's a

[00:04:47] [SPEAKER_00]: good fit in this and I wish they would get more big actors like this because it's not so bad

[00:04:52] [SPEAKER_00]: of a movie or so bad of a franchise that you couldn't get a few bigger stars to really add a

[00:04:57] [SPEAKER_00]: little bit more class I guess to this series but really do enjoy her. The probably one of the most

[00:05:06] [SPEAKER_00]: well done sequences or wise is the Star Spangled Banner montage I guess you could call it where

[00:05:14] [SPEAKER_00]: there's the baseball field and there's the police officers who are really maybe I'm wrong,

[00:05:19] [SPEAKER_00]: who are seem to be dressed up as 60s police officers in the civil rights and all the riots where

[00:05:26] [SPEAKER_00]: police were wearing all the masks you know because of the tear gas and all that stuff.

[00:05:30] [SPEAKER_00]: It seemed very very 60s to me intentionally so. Oh and one random thing I do remember when this

[00:05:37] [SPEAKER_00]: movie came out as well that was intriguing is it was a big deal because one of the posters

[00:05:42] [SPEAKER_00]: or the first poster that they used was the pretty iconic Trump red hat,

[00:05:50] [SPEAKER_00]: MAGA hat but it said the first purge across it and that definitely caused a little bit of a stir and

[00:05:57] [SPEAKER_00]: you know it's very much a marketing visual tease but stuff like that it can add something. I

[00:06:03] [SPEAKER_00]: appreciate that that they were a little bit more daring with what they were trying to

[00:06:07] [SPEAKER_00]: communicate but besides that the guys with the horn masks and like helmets and stuff that's a

[00:06:15] [SPEAKER_00]: very very good visual and so I think that this guy this director Gerard McMurray really did add

[00:06:22] [SPEAKER_00]: some very memorable parts to this movie even if it's not perfect it's very much I mean for

[00:06:32] [SPEAKER_00]: that one is a heavy four out of five