I vaguely remembered these films and couldn't recall any of them outside of the original so I ruined the last five evenings by watching them.
Turns out the same guy wrote all 5 of them. He directed the first three but you can tell as he got more freedom the woke shit began multiplying.
The arc is actually incredibly stupid if you take a moment to think about it. The original was successful for one reason: it was a basic 'home invasion' film with an interesting concept to set the film in motion.
That interesting concept is why people came and checked out what is essentially a soulless copy paste of a plot. It is the SOLE REASON for the success of the entire series.
This must have pissed off the writer because every sequel he chips away at that interesting concept, making it lamer and lamer. Instead of film sequels that add onto the mythology he manages to destroy it and make it all less interesting each film, which in itself is astonishingly arrogant of the writer.
So Purge 1: watchable but is the usual white = bad guy black = good guy. Purge 2: Minorities everywhere, purge more about race and less about social status, white guy still bad. Purge 3: election purge, meaning all about white guys in politics, white woman in politics = savior.
I'm going to take a moment here to point out what is by far the most annoying thing about Purge 3: it is set in Staten Island NYC. That place is like 90% white Italian guys. Even now it is by far the majority. It is the whitest area of NYC and the fact that they set the Purge 3 in Staten Island is actually believable because that place is a shithole. What is NOT believable is that you have 50-80 black gang characters who all hang out with black people in black establishments in STATEN FUCKING ISLAND. Holy shit it was so sad to see, the writer is either a true hack and didn't even look up the demographics or didn't give a shit.
Also in Purge 3 all the black gang members end up being the good guys and are only helping the community and each other which is a hilarious cope. This guy is writing his delusions into his films. Funnily enough Purge 3 ends with the white savior female politician winning the election (of course) and banning the Purge.
Writer fucked up and wrote himself into a corner right? Nope, PREQUAL TIME! But at least they don't let the same hack who wrote/directed the first 3 direct again, so they get a black guy with basically no experience to 'direct' it.
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2618764/?ref_=tt_ov_dr
"The First Purge" is really just painful to sit through. It totally destroys the entire concept of the Purge making all three original films pointless and stupid. It tries to show black people as kind and nonviolent and the Government Nazi far right exclusively white goons as the 'purgers' and essentially blame the entire thing on Republicans. It is BAD.
But what comes next is something awe inspiring.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10327252/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_q_purge%25205
"The Forever Purge". If you showed me this film and didn't tell me it was the same writer I'd tell you it is satire mocking the first four films. It is so amazingly over the top, so incredibly stupid, so unbelievably woke...everything is so bad that it feels intentionally done like a mockumentary of the entire series.
Everyone should watch this movie (don't pay a fucking cent for it). It really is a pinnacle of just how terrible and woke horror films can get. There are so many tremendously huge plot holes in it that I can't even begin to list them. It's one of the worst things I've ever seen.
Don't watch this series, but if you do watch The Forever Purge and marvel at just how low a film can sink.
I never watched the Purge but I still always got the impression that the setting was a liberal's idea of right-wing revenge fantasy, even though purges are strictly a revolutionary communist tactic.
To be fair, The Purge 2: Anarchy is a pretty badass movie all thanks to Frank Grillo and his character's arc.
Even though Purge 2 still has its woke elements, it also has some pretty based elements, too.
Frank Grillo's character is literally a ripoff of the Punisher (I mean, practically in everything but name). His character has a souped up Dodge Charger that he armours up and purposely goes out during the Purge. He's basically seeking out the guy who killed his son (the twist at the end is that the guy got off on a drunk driving charge and Grillo's character was going to carry out the justice that he feels the court's failed to).
Grillo cruising the streets looking at the mayhem while laser-focused on his task was some awesome piece of cinema. His character was also armed to the teeth and was ready to kill anyone who got in his way.
Despite its woke elements, Purge 2 was the only one where the White guy (Grillo) was the saviour (just until the end), and had to help a bunch of people navigate to safety. I loved Grillo's no-nonsense, shoot-first, never-ask demeanour and approach to their situation.
OP is right about the others, though. I watched the third one, once again, because Grillo was in it, but man was it too woke to even remotely enjoy a little bit. Grillo did what he could and they obviously brought him back because he was the best part about the second film, but the third film was just stupid all the way around.I can only imagine how much worse the others got.