"Judgment Night Forever" is an action movie in the best traditions of the franchise, which is spoiled by social slogans

On July 1, another film of the franchise about an alternative version of the United States was released on Russian screens, where any violence is allowed once a year for 12 hours. The history of "Doomsday" started back in 2013 with a chamber film by James Demonaco, which paid off more than 10 times. Further, the series developed and changed, turning into a large-scale dystopia.

The fifth film, dubbed "Judgment Night Forever" (although literally "Eternal Purge"), was originally planned as the finale of the franchise. It does sum up some of the history of alternative America. Although this time the authors decided not only to show a brutal action movie, but also to add a lot of social statements to it. And they did it so rudely that they almost ruined the whole impression.

The logical part of the franchise

Connoisseurs of "Doomsday" will remember that in the finale of the third film, Senator Charlie Roan won the election and abolished legalized violence. However, the ending hinted that this only increased the discontent of the population and the problems in the country.

In the opening scene, "Doomsday Forever" superficially talks about further events: the level of religious and racial hatred in the country increased, which once again led to clashes. Then the New Founding Fathers seized power again, which immediately returned the practice of “doomsday”.

The plot of the new film focuses on a pair of refugees from Mexico Adela (Ana de la Reguera) and Juan (Tenoch Huerta). She works in a butcher shop, he trains horses on the ranch of a wealthy Tucker family, regularly facing attacks from the owner's son Dylan (Josh Lucas).

During the next "judgment night" all the heroes hide to the best of their ability and seem to survive it without loss. But the next morning it turns out that some terrorist groups continue to kill people, promoting the "cleansing" of the country. Now Adela and Juan must team up with the Tuckers and get to the Mexican border. After all, only there you can be saved from violence.

The Doomsday franchise is amazing in its structure. Most often, long series of films from a certain point start repeating the same plot. A striking example is slashers like the tape “Friday the 13th». But the creator and permanent screenwriter of "Doomsday" James DeMonaco each time comes up with not only a new story, but also changes the genre itself. The franchise started as a thriller, filmed for a paltry $ 3 million. The second part turned into a tough thrash-action movie, and the third already talked about politics. Then the authors filmed the prequel “Doomsday. Beginning ", and in TV series told not only about the annual event itself, but also about the following days.

The authors explicitly answer questions that viewers might have when watching each movie. At first, everyone was curious to step outside of a single home and see massive violence. Then it became clear that “Judgment Night” could not work in the form of uncontrolled anarchy, so the viewer was told about a political conspiracy and a desire to arrange a massacre among the poor.

The fifth part seemed to be born from the numerous critical statements of the audience. Many people couldn't believe that people who are allowed to be cruel one night a year would stop there. Indeed, “Doomsday Forever” shows just such a bleak development of events. And it is ironic that the very time of "cleaning" here takes no more than 10 screen minutes: everyone has seen enough of this in previous stories. It's time to move on.

Dynamic action movie with horror elements

After the release of the prequel, part of the audience was unhappy, since the authors left the dystopian action movie towards social issues, forgetting about the action. "Judgment Night Forever" partially corrects this flaw, returning the atmosphere of the second film.

Here again, crowds of people are shown in the most creepy and insane masks and costumes and an incredible amount of weapons. The first third of the film accelerates, but then almost all the action continues with shots and explosions. Alas, most of it happens only in the background: there is clearly a lack of a cool action hero like Frank Grillo. But towards the end, the surroundings will become almost apocalyptic: not only street gangs, but also military men in tanks will go into action. Well, the final battle is built in the most classic style: a small group of heroes against the superior forces of the enemy.

This approach has only two drawbacks. First, the villains are shown as impersonally as possible. In order to somehow add drama, the authors literally out of nowhere introduce an antagonist into the plot, who is given ridiculous motivation and a minimum of time for disclosure.

And secondly, do not forget that "Judgment Night Forever", like the previous films of the franchise, is produced by the Blumhouse studio, which does not like to invest a lot of money in its work. The film's budget is $ 18 million, which is very little for a large-scale action movie (for comparison: it is about 12 times less than that of "Dovod"). Therefore, on the general plans, computer graphics are too noticeable, and there are almost no brightly set chases and shootings.

From the second half of the film, it will become clear why the action of the previous parts took place exclusively at night: battles in the daylight sometimes look ridiculous. When it gets dark in the picture, everything becomes more contrasting.

But you can remember that the same studio became famous for its horror movies. Much of the encounter with villains here resembles a typical horror movie arrangement: they pop out of nowhere with loud sounds. And one very ingenious trap even reminds of the franchise "Saw».

Annoying sociality

The actual component was not forgotten either. And it is with this part that the picture has a lot of problems. Of course, "Doomsday" has always raised controversial issues. The films told about the stratification of society and political provocations. The new part takes on some of the most important topics for the United States: racist clashes and the country's obsession with weapons.

Sounds like a good idea, especially the part where Mexico turns out to be the safest place. That is, Americans themselves must become migrants in order to be saved. But the embodiment is so deliberate and rude that sometimes it is simply uncomfortable from it. The number of clichéd evil slogans in the style of “Let's cleanse our country” by the middle of the picture goes beyond all permissible boundaries. And the scene where Adela looks at the signs of the gun shops can be cut and run as a public service announcement.

The authors try to uncover a good idea of ​​manipulating the opinion of the masses, showing that those who themselves suffered from humiliation themselves become murderers. But they do it very primitively. So, the father of the Tucker family is needed in the film to make an inspiring speech and disappear forever.

Comes to the ridiculous: the black hero and Native Americans turn into typical "gods from the machine." They show up, help the heroes and just leave. They don't even try to tell at least something about these characters.

It is clear that for the United States these topics have been very relevant in recent years, and the plot draws clear parallels with real events. Perhaps, at home, the film will hook a larger number of viewers with its sociality. But from the outside it looks too superficial and intrusive, as if the authors came up with an allegory, but did not understand how to develop it.

"Judgment Night Forever" turned out to be more successful than the previous part. With its action, the film returns to the brightest moments of the franchise, and even expands the boundaries of events. But still, an overly deliberate social component sometimes spoils the impression. From an ambiguous thriller with a gray morality, the picture turns into a set of stereotypical slogans. But if you take the story as a grotesque fantasy, you can get a lot of fun from an action movie.

By the way, James DeMonaco, who has repeatedly stated that "Judgment Night Forever" will be the end of the franchise, in recent interviews is no longer so categorical. He saysPurge 5 Might Not Actually Be The Final Film In The Franchise / Screenrantthat one more part can come up with. Apparently, everything depends only on the interest of the audience.