by Austen Terry, Contributing Writer
There are certain movies that I see because they are in a series, I have watched the others, and I am a completist. So the three movies I have seen in theaters since they have been back open, I have chosen to see because I have seen the previous ones in the series. This is true for The Forever Purge. I was disappointed with the other two I saw and didn’t have much hope going into this one. I went in thinking this movie would be the same, and even started hating the movie as it started and built to its climax, but ended up liking it in the end.
Finally, trailers that actually do justice in setting up what the movie is about, meaning that if you see a trailer, you have an idea of what the story will be. The Purge movies always have a slow buildup to the action and what the story will be, and this movie is no different. What makes The Forever Purge different is that the story takes place after the annual Purge night has ended.
If you have never seen the Purge movies, the premise is simple. It’s set in an alternate reality where for one night a year, all crime, including murder, is legal for 12 hours in America. The government is run by a party called the New Founding Fathers of America, and their idea for having Purge night is that people will purge their anger and will be happy year around. In The Forever Purge,the NFFA have been reinstated, voted out after the events of The Purge Election Year, because of the rise of American extremists. The NFFA bring back Purge Night, but this time, these American Purest Extremists don’t think it should be limited to only one night. Instead, they say it should be called the Forever Purge. Once the night has ended, things go south pretty quickly and the country is driven into anarchy and Martial Law. We find our group of heroes banding together despite their cultural differences and backgrounds because they want to survive this new ever after Purge.
With what the trailers were showing, I thought that the movie would be pretty right-leaning, but surprisingly that was not the case. The film establishes and shows people of all political sides in this story, and shows how wrong each can be. The main stars even work and fit well together, even though I kept thinking Josh Lucas didn’t really belong because he needs to be chasing after Reese Witherspoon. This movie had a number of great aspects — the cinematography was on point multiple times as the camera followed the actors through the action and explosions.
One thing that did take me out of the movie was the group arriving in El Paso towards the finale. I have been to El Paso and knew immediately that where the sequence was being shot was not El Paso.
I have enjoyed the last few movies Blumhouse has put out and they seem to have brought a new light to the story of The Purge series. If you are a fan of the series, then The Forever Purge is a decent addition. This story will leave people discussing it because of the message it’s trying to send. You can pick up on that message from the trailers, and if you feel this movie is for you, then check it out. For me it’s both a recommendation and a warn.
Grade: B-