Years after sparing the man who killed his son, former police sergeant Barnes has become head of security for Senator Charlie Roan, a Presidential candidate targeted for death on Purge night due to her vow to eliminate the Purge.
Starring: Frank Grillo, Elizabeth Mitchell, and Mykelti Williamson
Directed and written by: James DeMonaco
“The Purge” ends up being just another home invasion type horror movie missing out on all of the chaos that’s happening in the streets. “The Purge: Anarchy” takes a hold of what the Purge really means, and lets the audience in on the chaos and violence in the streets. It almost seems like the two movies would have worked better in reverse order. With two movies down, where would “The Purge: Election Year” take this story?
Well early on it almost seems like the movie is going to follow the original. Senator Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell) has taken a hard stance against the annual Purge, and her opponents are looking to stop her one way or another. Leo Barnes (Frank Grillo) is back, and this time he’s in charge of protecting the Senator. They hunker down in her house with as much protection as possible, but audiences can guess what happens next. Audiences are saved from a repeat of the original!
With that said, the story hits the streets where it truly belongs, and starts to feel more like the sequel. Instead of trying to purge, Leo is protecting the Senator from dangers around every corner, and running into different characters along the way. Also, the movie gets more into the storyline of the lunatics who support the Purge versus the people who want it to come to an end.
It’s nice that they continue this storyline, but the meat of the Purge is the chaos and violence in the streets. There are several decent moments of terror including a crazy bunch of girls. They try to terrorize a local store owner, who puts up a good fight with the help of some friends. Also, Leo and the Senator all run into to few interesting traps along the way. However, it’s hard not to feel like they could have done so much more to hit on the violence of the situation.
Here’s an example of a franchise that seems to get a better feel for what they’re trying to accomplish as the story goes on. They found a good lead character, and put in him in the middle of a political war that has taken to the streets. With that said, there’s still more they could do to please horror fans like focusing more on the violence instead of just getting quick moments of it. While the story seems to wrap up well, they do leave the door cracked for another movie. In the end, “The Purge: Election Year” does a good enough job of following up “The Purge: Anarchy,” so I give it 3 pools of blood. Oh, and don’t forget about this movie while you’re voting for Hilary or Trump!
HorrO
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