on THE PURGE: ELECTION YEAR (2016, 105
minutes, R)
"This is your Emergency Broadcast
System announcing the commencement of the annual Purge. At the siren all crime, including murder,
will be legal for twelve hours. All emergency
services will be suspended. Your
government thanks you for your participation."
ELECTION
YEAR has come and gone. The true
problem is this fictional election year seems more authentic and grounded than
the current US predicament. The story
continues for Leo Barnes (Frank Grillo, from THE PURGE: ANARCHY, CAPTAIN
AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER, THE GREY, and WARRIOR) as he is now head of
security for Senator Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell, from the TV show 'Lost'
and FREQUENCY. Senator Roan is determined
to end the Purge by running for the presidency, as she lost her family on a
previous Purge night. The New Founding
Fathers of America (NFFA) see this as a threat and use this year's Purge to rid
themselves of her aggressive agenda.
I have always been a fan of this horrific
concept. It does seem telling of my
darker side, but we won't go there...
The potential is always there for some great Purge scenes, and this
movie delivers some creepy and demented ones.
They show the Capitol marred with the night's reckoning. A crowded hanging tree. A body-refuse pickup service circling the
neighborhoods. To add to the chaos,
they briefly bring in the concept of 'purge tourism', people from other
countries flying in to purge with the rest.
One strength of this film was the music (Nathan Whitehead) and the accompanying
sound mixing. It set the visceral tone
and heightened the Purge experience.
But, for me, this one was not living up to my
internal hype. The style harkened back
to the 90's, with inserted pieces of levity that seems forced, over-the-top
debauchery when not really needed, and a moral compass that pushes the plotline
forward. It felt like this could have
been a campaign stop gone horribly wrong at one point for the Senator. I think director/writer James DeMonaco could
have put a little more time in the plot and dialogue to make this a much stronger
final product. I also spotted a number
of editing goofs or poor choices in cuts.
I will say this does not discourage me from wanting more sequels, though.
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