THE FIRST PURGE: What worked for me?

I've been a big fan of the Purge series since its inception, catching all of them in theatres except for the first one (the original film from 2013, not The First Purge (2018)). I'm not into it necessarily for the thrills, or the satire, or its themes (all of which are interesting), but I am into it for the world building. It is both a foreign and familiar one, packed with enough lore for me to think about for weeks over.

I almost feel that the film was made for people like me. The First Purge will satisfy your every craving for more information about this universe. The characters are interesting, the plot follows along seamlessly as the stakes become ever increasing, and it's all gushing with lore and gore. The soundtrack is superb, reverberating and grimy, with memorable cues. 

The film has lots of characters from somewhat different walks of life. The event takes place on Staten Island, NY, and focuses on male gangster Dimitri (Y'lan Noel), a female community leader Nya (Lex Scott Davis), and her brother Isiah (Joivan Wade), among some other characters. From the other perspective, the government, we have the woman who "creates" the Purge Dr. May Update (Marisa Tomei). Dimitri's story is excellent, and his character experiences some real changes throughout the ordeal, as does Isiah. On the other hand, Nya, as important as she was, plays it a bit stiff, and her delivery sometimes didn't match the danger and intensity of the scene.

Source: Universal Pictures

Additionally, Dr. May's portrayal is confusing. She's not exactly sympathetic, so the conclusion to her arc doesn't make much sense. She stresses that The Purge is merely a scientific experiment, and hopes that people participate in the violence, but is surprised and disappointed once she figures out the government intervened. 

We see how the American people are being shown the Purge through the TV, versus what is actually happening. The film portrays the media almost like another character, with the goal to subdue the world to what's happening. I suppose it's about how fake news can be a real problem, and how a free press is important, since the media in this world is so obviously controlled by the government.

There's some great scenes in here, like one o

f the Purge parties near the beginning of the event. I really wanted to be there, it just looked like so much fun. It turns out that most people's ideas of purging was just a big, fun party. Violence is not the catharsis of the original purge, but instead, hedonism. An interesting touch, and it confuses our strange Doctor as they watch from above. There's another great scene, as Dimitri's gang unravels the mystery of new combatants into the arena that has become Staten Island. It's filmed with heavy fog (from a smoke grenade) and they come out, guns blazing (I'm talking massive guns in both hands). What follows is essentially a sword fight, with sound effects lifted straight from your favourite Medieval-period movie, and it was just so awesome to watch. 

Source: Universal Pictures

Despite all that, the film is padded with some extra characters that actually detract from the world-building and narrative. Two characters are added for our sympathy, but having them dead I think would have made the story more tragic, thus making the ending more satisfying. There's one scene at the beginning I would remove entirely, an interview with a potential Purge candidate. She never comes up in the movie again, and I assume they cut her murders or something from the movie but forgot to cut her introduction.

Altogether though, my complaints are minor to the film. It's short at just over an hour and a half, and its problems are easily forgotten from the rest of its awesomeness. If you're a fan of the series you'll love this movie.