SHORT TAKES by LL Soares
THE FIRST PURGE (2018) – the most political franchise in recent horror films delivers a prequel this month, and there’s an upcoming television show version as well. The movie tells the story of the arrival of the New Founding Fathers, the ultraconservative party that steps in when the U.S. has suffered massive economic collapse. One of their big ideas is to have one night a year where all crime, including murder, is legal, called the Purge. The first Purge one takes place on Staten Island, where people are paid money to stick around during the Purge, and even more money if they partake in the violence. When it begins, and things don’t get violent quickly enough, mercenaries are pumped in to turn it into a bloodbath. As usual in these films, the low-income citizens are the ones who suffer the most, and are the ones who have to fight back when the mercenaries come in, turning it all into an overnight war zone.
It stars Lex Scott Davis (of the series TRAINING DAY, and the recent remake of SUPERFLY, 2018) as an anti-Purge activist named Nya; Joivan Wade (from the British series EASTENDERS and DR. WHO) as her younger brother Isaiah, a good kid who has fallen off the straight and narrow and uses Purge night as a chance for revenge; Y’lan Noel (of the shows THE HUSTLE, 2013, and HBO’s INSECURE) as Nya’s former boyfriend and local drug kingpin Dmitri; and Marisa Tomei (MY COUSIN VINNY, 1992, and THE WRESTLER, 2008) as psychologist Dr. Updale, who dreams up the Purge and puts the first one togethere together. There’s also a facially scarred psychopath named Skeletor (Rotimi Paul, also in DUTCH KILLS, 2015, and MAPPLETHROPE, 2018) running around. It’s directed by Gerard McMurray, who previously made the college hazing drama BURNING SANDS (2017).
I like the PURGE movies, and this one was okay, if predictable. I give it two and a half knives.
****
ANT-MAN AND THE WASP (2018) – Paul Rudd is back as Scott Lang, who can shrink to the size of an ant or grow to the size of a giant thanks to a cool costume created by scientist Henry Pym (who was the first Ant-Man, and played here by Michael Douglas). In this sequel, several plots intertwine as Lang tries to stay out of trouble his last two days under house arrest involving the events of CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (2016). He hasn’t seen Pym and his daughter Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly of LOST) in months, but they pop up and he suddenly gets involved in an attempt to reach Pym’s lost wife, Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer) who shrunk so small she disappeared into the sub-atomic world. Meanwhile, Lang’s sidekicks from the first movie (Michael Pena, Tip “T.I.” Harris, and David Dastmalchian) try to go straight with a security company. There’s a slimy weapons/technology dealer named Sonny Burch (Walton Goggins of the shows THE SHIELD, JUSTIFIED, and VICE PRINCIPALS), who has been supplying Pym with equipment and wants in on whatever he’s working on now; and Hannah John-Kamen as the “Ghost,” a villain who has a lot of trouble controlling her atomic structure, constantly alternating between solid and, well, being ghost-like. Judy Greer plays Scott’s ex, Maggie, now married to a guy named Paxton (Bobby Cannavale), and Maggie and Scott’s daughter, Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson) has a lot of screentime, as Scott tries to prove he’s a good dad, despite all the shenanigans. There’s also Randall Park of TV’s FRESH OFF THE BOAT as an FBI agent who keeps trying to catch Scott doing something illegal so he can send him back to jail. Also along for the ride is Dr. Bill Foster (Laurence Fishburne), an old colleague of Pym’s who was once part of an experiment called Goliath.
It’s all directed by Peyton Reed, who directed the first ANT-MAN movie from 2015.
There are too many plots going on this one (the one about the Ghost seems especially expendable), but it moves fast, has great big/small special effects, and cast is good. It’s far from the best Marvel movie, but it’s entertaining enough. I give ANT-MAN AND THE WASP two knives.
Also, there’s not much in this movie to tie it into the recent events of AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR (2018), but if you stick around for the closing credits (which is practically obligatory for all Marvel movies), you’ll find a special scene that ties that up nicely after all, and brings Mr. Lang and Company up to speed.
© Copyright 2018 by LL Soares
L.L. Soares 