The Purge: Anarchy

The 2013 movie "The Purge" left a bad taste in all of our mouths as nothing more than a pseudo-slasher with a hamfisted plot, poor pacing, and a desperate attempt at "horror." Upon seeing the first trailer for "The Purge: Anarchy," my first and most immediate thought was "we really don't need another one of these." The first film was self-contained and didn't leave any opening for a reasonable sequel. But after seeing a few more commercials and looking into it some more, I decided to give this film the benefit of the doubt and I am NOT disappointed.

The film stands on its own feet much better than the first film did, and mostly because of what it's going for. Instead of trying to be a Horror movie, it becomes a fantastic Thriller/Action film set in a pseudo-apocalyptic future about a group of people trying to survive on a night where it's all-out war on the streets.

A lot of themes are explored -- Human Nature, Fear, Anger, Revenge, Heroism -- in ways that many other movies don't really explore it. And more than that, every small detail is kept in mind throughout the film.

Compared to everything else I've seen so far this year, this is by far the best thriller film to come out. It holds its own and it has a message instead of just being a movie about wanton violence. The action scenes are done well, and the tension is enough to keep interest even in the low parts of the film. Every moment you think is safe leads directly into the next moment of pressure for the main characters, and you can't help but sympathize for the characters who (all but one) don't even want to be stuck out here on this horrid night.

I very highly recommend this film to anyone who likes thrillers or action films with a little bit of psychological horror thrown in.

And a little bit of a tip? Forget everything from the first film. "The Purge" doesn't set up or explain anything that this film doesn't, doesn't add anything to this film, and isn't even worth watching beforehand.

The Purge: Anarchy is a great film in its own right and it's worth watching. My only issue is that the first film couldn't have been more like this.

The first film was a generic home invasion flick with a gimmick that reduced the 'all crime is legal for 12 hours' concept to essentially a narrative countdown clock device - a family must survive for such and such more time and the film wasted a decent premise. The Purge:Anarchy rights the wrongs of its predecessor and delivers on the high concept. The characters are thinly written, but played with adequate skill by the actors and a more than decent performance by Frank Grillo as the lead. The satire is about as subtle as a round of bullets to the chest and the film never feels comfortable during the few moments the story calms down to spend time developing the characters, but this was made for visceral thrills and B grade enjoyment. The mayhem is relentless and while the low budget certainly reduced the amount of arson to a few fleeting glimpses, the violent set pieces are staged with enough wit to make this sequel a nice surprise.

In 2023, the Purge Night is about to start for the next 12 hours. A stranger (Frank Grillo) leaves home and drives his car with a mysterious purpose. Meanwhile, the couple Liz (Kiele Sanchez) and Shane (Zach Gilford) are provoked by a masked man. They drive in the highway and their car unexpectedly stops. Soon they find that it was sabotaged by the group of masked man that are waiting for the beginning of the Purge. When it begins, they are hunted down by the masked man. Meanwhile, Eva (Carmen Ejogo) and her daughter Cali (Zoë Soul) find that Eva's father sold himself to a wealthy family since he is a burden to Eva and Cali sine he is sick. Out of the blue, an army invades their building and breaks into their apartment. They are taken to the leader but the stranger decides to save them and kills the soldiers. Meanwhile Liz and Shane hide inside the stranger's car and he decides to help them to survive. However his car is hit by the bullets and he needs another car for his mission. Eva tells that her friend Tanya (Justina Machado) lives a few blocks away and he would borrow her car. Soon the stranger gets involved by the four survivors and helps them during the dangerous night.

"The Purge: Anarchy" is better and better than the first movie since it is an action film in the style of "Warriors", "Escape from New York" and "Hostel". The premise is still stupid, but there is an ironic criticism to the America Society together with lots of action. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Uma Noite de Crime: Anarquia" ("One Night of Crime: Anarchy")

As far as purges go, this was a fairly well developed storyline with decent acting. There was some forced dialogue and odd plot points, but on the whole a good movie. Frank Grillo killed it, he could save me any day.

Much better could ever expect! Originally saw in the theater I just wasn't reviewing then, happily enjoying this glorious action/thriller with lots of great madness and creepy gestures. James DeManco's Purge films might not be appreciated much but Anarchy, Election Year and his writing for The Negotiator is so damn good! Such a great concept that is perfectly executed in this adaptation.