The Purge: Anarchy - Movie Review

If there is a term for me when it comes to movies, I'm essentially a Franchise Man; I love the A Nightmare on Elm Street films, the Friday the 13th flicks, and the Halloween chillers. I've made YouTube reviews for a good majority of the Children of the Corn movies, and then reviewed all of the Hellraiser movies.

 

I'm a Franchise Man.

 

Tonight, I went with a few friends to see The Purge: Anarchy, and, to my surprise, I really enjoyed the film, even at its most shockingly stupid moments (specifically anything the daughter of one of the characters says is a slap in the face of the number one rule of thumb for writing anything: Show, don't tell). To add to my review, I'll say this: I wasn't head-over-heels in love with the first Purge film, but this film really did a fine job of showing us the actual street activity during a Purge sequence, which--if you haven't seen the first film--is when the government essentially goes into a shutdown mode nation-wide to allow any acts of terrorism (murder, rape, you name it) to be performed within a twenty-four-hour period. This time round, we get a bit more in depth with how the rich typically treat the Purge nights, and it's pretty interesting, in my opinion.

 

Needless to say: if you hated the first film, you'll hate this one, as well--even if it is a bit better (by my own standards).

 

The actors do their very best with what they are given in this script, but the daughter I mentioned earlier needs to be removed from the screenplay. She is the worst flaw in this whole flick, I s**t you not, readers. This girl says everything that should be left for subtext and thought. I actually got to the point one-fourth into the movie that I was practically chant-whispering for her to be brutally disemboweled by this insane Lost Boys-esque group of twenty-somethings with absolutely horrifying masks. One of the masked murderers is my favorite imagery from the film (which is a hard statement to explain until you've seen the film, as well) due to his absolutely quiet mojo. The guy can simply stand at the end of a street, swinging a machete back and forth to taunt his prey, and bricks of s**t will explode from my trousers. Oh, and he has "God" written across the forehead of his mask. Very intriguing. We also have another character that is practically chapter-and-verse Frank Castle, the Punisher from Marvel comics. The lead actress and the white couple with completely forgetful names do fine with what's inked onto their pages.

 

The film has a ton of violence, and if you're a squeamish human being, you might want to avoid it. But, for everyone familiar--even faintly--with the genre, the gore isn't too revolutionary in its attempt to be an exploitation film.

 

I must also admit that the film's political message is identical to the first film's, yet I feel like the handling of it here, with "God", is a decent improvement over the former movie. Yet, this is just as much of a popcorn summer movie as the original flick.

 

The Purge: Anarchy was a very fun, worrisome, other-side-of-the-coin film compared to the first film, and I must say that I had a good time. The reason I brought up the whole Franchise Man mantra was to state this, on a firm record: I want another one. Mostly, I want a trilogy, but a series could be fine, too, even if it looks impossible to achieve. With this film's trailers, I felt like there was no hope for it, but it managed to shock me, and I must give credit where credit is due.

 

So, filmmakers, give us one more.

 

My rating for The Purge: Anarchy is a solid 6/10 stars.

 

Thank you for reading.

 

Do you agree with my review? Let me know!