"The Purge: Election Year" Review
It’s been two years since we last saw America purge in The Purge: Anarchy. This time it’s 2025 and America is on the verge of either electing a new president who wants to get rid of the purge, or a president who wants nothing but to see the annual 12 hours of all crime being legal continued. This weekend at the movies, I vote you save your money and wait for this one to hit your favorite streaming program!
Eighteen years before the present day in the film, Senator Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell) watched her family be murdered before her eyes on purge night. Since then, she has been on a mission to end the purge. Let’s not kid ourselves, her opponent is a Donald Trump-like character who believes in violence as the American Way. Frank Grillo reprises his role as Seargent Barnes but this time he’s the head of the Senator’s security.
We’re introduced to new characters in the beginning of the film, and it’s noticeably less than Anarchy’s cast. Bishop (Edwin Hodge) is a revolutionary fighting the NFFA (a trivia note, he's the only person who has been in all three films but he's at the forefront in this one), Joe (Mykelti Williams aka Bubba from Forrest Gump) is a small deli shop owner with the worst afro-centric stereotypical one-liners, and Laney (Betty Gabriel) is an ex-gangster who may have traded in violence for being a triage nurse but still has a shotgun near by. The character development is a little rushed, and the only new person I cared for was Laney as she had a great stamp of approval from a teenage hell-raiser (who comes back later in the film) in the beginning of the film.
The franchise hasn’t changed from its baseline since The Purge. The characters still have to survive the night. This time the goal is to protect the senator from the NFFA members and hired henchmen trying to take her out. The intriguing development this time is the culture and technology of the purge. Foreigners from around the world come to America to participate in the purge as a form of leisure, coined “murder tourists”. Purgers use drones to track people, set up sophisticated traps, and have fight clubs. You get a true sense that this America is fully realized throughout the film.
Writer/director of the trilogy, James DeMonaco, visually taps into the terror of the purge by taking what’s typically harmless and making it horrifying. A car wrapped in christmas lights, bumping Taylor Swift, and filled with teenage girls dressed in lingerie becomes a psychotic gang you don’t want to mess with. Unfortunately, this film seems to have lost its steam at the script level. DeMonaco has slowly brought a political/class undertone further to the forefront with each film, and Election Year clearly wants to speak on gun violence, the Black Lives Matter movement, religious fanaticism and our current election season. The subtlety in eluding to modern issues is tossed out for either on-the-nose dialogue, or long scenes that run its point into the ground.
I’ve been a fan of this franchise up until this point from a guilty pleasure perspective. The internal time clock on the films keep things moving, and its entertaining to see how the characters will survive. While The Purge: Election Year has its moments, overall it feels rushed and the characters are caricatures of their stereotype. I’m sure there will be another purge film, but this franchise’s clock may get punched if it doesn’t work on better character development and presenting issues in a more subtle way.
Rating: C-
"The Purge: Anarchy" Review
Yes, “The Purge” franchise has an outlandish premise that would never happen in real life (I hope), but in the cinematic world of this America where all crime is legal for 12 hours once a year- I get invested in the story. It’s the “what would you do?” type moments that had the audience I saw it with laughing at implausible actions/decisions or cheering when the underdog gets a kill. It’s the moral dilemmas that the characters face that allow the viewers to take sides and the ride of the annual Purge.
In the first film, the story focused on an affluent family who tried to bunker down in their secure home through the night. Forces inside and outside of the house caused them to have to fight for their lives, and thus made it a home invasion film. “The Purge: Anarchy” takes us out into the city of Los Angeles to get a more expansive view of what happens during Purge hours, and a deeper look at the depraved mentality of Purgers. The movie also puts together a rag tag team of strangers who unite for the common cause of survival, which makes for an interesting mix of characters to watch.
The film’s central characters are Eva Sanchez (Carmen Ejogo) and her daughter Cali (Zoe Soul) who are a lower middle class family trying to make ends meet. After narrowly escaping a neighbor’s attempt to rape them, a mysterious Sergeant (Frank Grillo) saves them from being taken by a highly trained tactical team. During the brief moment it took the Sergeant to abandon his Purge ambitions to play good Samaritan, his unlocked car becomes a safe haven for young couple Shane (Zach Gilford) and Liz (Kiele Sanchez). With two groups of Purgers converging on the bunch, they don’t have time to argue, and are forced to work together to try and get across town to a save place.
With time ticking away for the annual Purge, the journey for the group to get across town is reminiscent of “The Warriors”. Although this film could never be a classic like the aforementioned film, it does have a similar suspense value. Suspense is the key to the Purge. The beginning of the film is leading up to commencement, and once the annual Purge commences your in suspense until it ends. Where the first “Purge” film was very reactive, the sequel allows characters to be proactive and make decisions to try and enhance their survival.
The one issue I have with “The Purge” is some of the violence within it. There are plenty of shock value kills that only further desensitize our already diminished reception of gun violence. Moments after The Purge starts we see a couple armed with guns mowed down by a man with an even bigger gun with sound effects and blood squibs to emphasize the impact of the armor piercing bullets’ devastation. Perhaps this franchise is making a statement on our society’s insane gun culture, but I don’t think it’s smart enough to do that. I do think it’s smart enough to continue to crank these films out as long as they’re making 30 times the amount it cost to make. So while some of us can appreciate this being a fictional film, it starts the age-old debate of whether films like this hurt our society more than entertain it.
“The Purge: Anarchy” is an entertaining popcorn flick. Even though it has some of its’ characters making stupid decisions in intense situations, the built in suspense keeps you entertained and engrossed in its world. Be sure to purge yourself of the deviance when you walk out of the theater!
Rating: B