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    The Purge: Election Year

    Reviewed by
    adamwatchesmovies@

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    With each installment of the series, we’re getting closer to the “Purge” film we’ve been waiting for. Of the three films released, I think this one is the best. Maybe it’s that by now, I knew what I was getting into. I think that’s part of it, but it’s also that the film has genuine tension, manages to make good use of its characters and is still founded on a solid premise.

    Set a significant amount of time (at least 18 years) since the Purge has been established by the New Found Fathers of America, the picture focuses on Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell), a Senator campaigning for the Presidency. If she wins, the Purge will be abolished. When America’s new favorite night begins, her political opponents decide to eliminate Charlie. She finds herself on the run with her bodyguard Leo Barnes (Frank Grillo, playing the same character in the previous film), banding with fellow anti-Purge sentimentalists to survive.

    Like the previous film, “The Purge: Election Year” explores this social science fiction world in an interesting way. We learn about the people who go out to murder and loot, and the ones who decide to make a stand and oppose the cruel hobby instilled upon the country. This is where I have to give the film a lot of points. While it doesn’t (perhaps thankfully) delve into some questions that I have been asking since the premise has been introduced, “Election Year” nonetheless fills you with dread as our heroes roam the streets looking for shelter. There are some images in this picture I found absolutely chilling when I first saw them in the trailer and they’re even more effective in context.

    With Charlie preaching over and over that the Purge is not the solution to the country’s problems; that it’s needlessly cruel and inhumane, the film risks being hypocritical. It’s a thriller/horror film about one night where people can go crazy and do whatever they want, be it vandalize, torture, or kill. But movies aren’t about just telling you, they’re about showing you. How can you show people reveling in orgies of sadism while still condemning it? The answer, at least for me, is to show the murders taking such glee in their actions that it becomes disturbing. I still can’t shake the images of bodies hanging from trees while masked teenagers dance underneath them, or the sound of hysterical college-aged boys chanting as a helpless victim begs for his life while strapped inside an old-fashioned guillotine. This film isn’t really about celebrating the Purge anyway, it’s about people wanting to escape from it, to disband it. To me, it manages to both deliver what horror movie fans will want, but also show how awful it would be if this were to happen in real life.

    I am somewhat disappointed with the series overall. When the premise was pitched back in 2013, I figured the writers and the directors were on board with the idea, at least in terms of their story. I assumed that it was going to be like “Brave New World” in that we have a human society where the morals are completely different, that we’d explore the world without necessarily tearing it down. Sure, sanctioning murder is insane, but I went in that first film thinking “I’m suspending my disbelief, in this world, a yearly release is what is saving the society”. It turns out that’s not the case, not in the way that I envisioned it anyway. If they make more pictures in this series, I’m still holding onto the hope that we won’t have characters that are opposed to the Purge, that have qualms about killing etc., etc. I want to see a story that tells me that this principle “works”. You can still get plenty of material out of that.

    This is undoubtedly an action movie. Picture “Assault on Precinct 13” except without the police station to defend, and with lunatics ripped right out of Arkham Asylum. As a picture with shootouts, chases, sequences of hand-to-hand combat and multiple opponents around every corner, it’s effective. Some of the action could’ve been shot in a manner that’s easier to tell what’s going on exactly, but it’s exciting nonetheless. I like the characters that are placed in this plot (I’m sure you will too), and as far as stories, this is a clever premise for Purge night. Not a whole lot of character development, but do you really expect people to change within just a day, particularly when they’ve been through this kind of thing before? This movie is about the suspense, the thrills, and the action. It’s what it does best and I have to give it credit for that.

    When it comes to “The Purge” franchise, I say keep ‘em coming. Maybe the next story is about a bunch of bank robbers who are forced to run through the streets with their backpacks full of money when their car breaks down. Or the main character is a celebrity who has just accidentally dropped an offensive remark during an interview and now the whole country is out to get her. What about a chase film with hostages being held in both cars, or a story about a mother looking for her son to try and prevent him from making a big mistake on his first Purge night? Even if we don’t get any more, this is a good entry in the series and if you’re a fan of the first two, you’ll be pleased with “The Purge: Election Year”. (Theatrical version on the big screen, July 3, 2016)

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    adamwatchesmovies@  6.7.2016 age: 26-35 2,867 reviews

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