The Purge: Election Year (2016) Review!!

Synopsis – 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.

My Take – Get ready once again for this year’s annual purge. From Universal Pictures, Michael Bay and Blumhouse, the third installment of this very likable and evolving franchise is here. Honestly, I had initially felt the 1st installment (starring Ethan Hawke & Lena Headey) of this series even with its insane plot never reached its full potential before the end credits rolled in. But things changed with its sequel film, Anarchy, the production team seemed more confident with a larger scaled backdrop while exploring wider and more grasping ideas. Staying within the framework of those successful ideas, the third installment right from its 1st teaser to its obvious subtitle, appeared to be on the political side. It’s pretty topical and The Purge franchise has always worn it’s politics on it’s sleeve so you have to accept that going into it. With the election in the U.S.A. coming up, there is a lot of good material to tap into so I was eager to see where it would go. Cinematically, or from a technical perspective, the movie is fantastic.! Yeah, a little campy at times but that is par for the course. Contains just the right amount of comedy, albeit dark, to balance out the darker or heavier elements. The fact that this movie is truly prompting me to think about its content is fascinating. Despite being a third installment, the film certainly brings the same bite it always has. Yes, it is over dramatic and glorifies violence, and at times is certainly reflective of a mad man’s mind.

However, as far as horror movies go, it is surprisingly decent in terms of plot, action, and suspense that will entertain many of this genre. With interesting characters and a fast moving pace, you certainly won’t be bored for the 105 minute run time. The story follows Leo Barnes (Frank Grillo); a former police sergeant, who almost murdered the man who accidentally killed his son (on a previous ‘Purge’ night). Who is now, following the events of The Purge: Anarchy, the head of security, for Presidential nominee Senator Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell), whose family was also killed (on a previous ‘Purge’ night). The two have made it their obsessive mission, to end this annual ritual. Although there is a growing anti-purge movement, including a group led by Dante Bishop (Edwin Hodge, the only actor to appear in all three of the films), there are a lot of powerful people who want the purge to go on. On this purge night, the usual ban against killing high-ranking politicians is lifted. That puts Roan’s life in danger. It also exposes the NFFA (New Founding Fathers of America) to being targeted themselves, but they have the money to hire plenty of security with plenty of firepower. When the NFFA turn their considerable resources against Roan, she finds herself on the run in the streets of Washington DC, trying to survive the night with the help of deli owner Joe Dixon (Mykelti Williamson) and his loyal employee, Marcos (Joseph Julian Soria) and purge night triage vehicle operator Laney “Little Death” Rucker (Betty Gabriel) so she can (hopefully) win the election and make this the last purge night ever. This third entry swallows basically the same premise as the previous two films. However, this is the first film that finally makes further use of the concept introduced in the first outing. Rather than relying on solely on the survival of a band of individuals, this film spawns a political premise centering on the lead character running for presidential election against another candidate with opposing ideas relating the Purge, a concept that coincides with this year’s presidential tug-o-war between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Does the film succeed in making the political elements of the plot work? In some degree, it does. But politics are not the only subject that grip the spotlight here, the film also employs some psychological elements in the mix. The film has a lot of the same creepy (and highly disturbing) thrills, and high-energy action scenes, as the previous two films. It hasn’t lost any of it’s strengths, impressively, this third time around. It’s also added some pretty insightful political commentary, to the already impactful social commentary, and it’s very effective (and timely) as well. Senator Roan does show a lot of strong similarities to Bernie Sanders; and you can argue that her opponent greatly resembles Ted Cruz. The controversy over ‘Purge’ night can also easily be compared to the heated debate over gun rights. There’s a lot of interesting parallels, to modern politics, that can be found in this movie. The biggest surprise this film offers is the amount of decent comedy offered to lighten up the aggressively somber mood. I mainly laughed at the commentary from Joe, the local deli shop owner with an interesting background on his own. Joe’s lines are a menagerie of one- liners, quips, and racial banter that had the audience laughing.

Despite some of the intense moments, the writers made the lines very tasteful, making sure to add a fun edge that hopefully won’t insult the masses. Some of the other characters have their moments as well, timed equally well to maximize the laughs. But you didn’t come for laughs, you came for suspense that the night of legalized murder has provided in the past. You might think that a third installment has lost its edge, but surprisingly this film keeps the same on the seat moments as the last one. Like its predecessor, this movie takes our characters onto the streets, each forging their own path through the chaotic forest of crazy violence. I was pulled into the movie not by the mindless killing, but by the wonder of which member of the merry band would bite the dust. Part of what helped this was a semi-decent, albeit rushed, plot that had a little more backbone than mindless murder. The film’s plot brings us further down the rabbit hole as to the point of the Purge and fills into those pot holes left at the end of the second movie. This franchise expands the mythology and keeps expanding it’s world with each passing movie which is impressive. Sometimes when it comes to sequels, the studio and the creative team are just content to just repeat the same formula. Not in this franchise. In this one, people are traveling to the U.S. to be part of The Purge, people are trying to make money off it with elaborate costumes and offering services for money like body removal. It’s cool that James DeMonaco and his team aren’t just content to coast on what they’ve built and try something different each time. Three years ago, writer and director James DeMonaco (who has also directed all three films) introduced us with a wildly compelling idea that lead to box office success, high enough to spawn a sequel the following year which manage to score a nice feed at the box office as well. Though the franchise didn’t start off on a high note, it was strong enough to establish more than just a stand alone thriller flick. The first film answered the question of what would happen if the government legislated an act known as The Purge, an act where the law enforcement becomes suspended for 12 hours and citizens are allowed to commit any crime without the fear of arrest or prosecution. The sequel supplemented the idea and took at a wider scale rather than the home invasion type plot we saw on the predecessor, and the results showed a quality improvement. This film however, takes a more ambitious and compelling direction with a plot energized with political themes and psychological elements. This film also represents a change of genre. The first Purge was a straight bottle horror film. The Purge: Anarchy brought more action in but still was survival horror. While, this one is an action movie with horror aspects. There’s a few cheap jump scares but anything that’s meant to be scary is more through the imagery. Though not all the characters are likable or particularly developed, the performances the cast delivers stand strong. The crude racial stereotypical dialogue Mykelti Williamson‘s character spits out often alternates between very funny and out-of-place but serves as the dark humor counterpart. Elizabeth Mitchell, Joseph Julian Soria, Betty Gabriel and Edwin Hodge play their parts well. But without doubt its Frank Grillo, who reprising his role from the previous film, who is running the show excellently. Grillo has become the face of this franchise. With the right amount of films behind him, we have an action star in the making. Aside from a few flaws in the plot and characters, there are plenty of effective heart-pounding thrills and tense action sequences including bloody shootouts that are pulse-pounding to watch, while occasionally tainted by some jerky camera work. On the whole, ‘The Purge: Election Year’ is an intense, thrilling third installment that pulls off a rare task of improving upon both the first and second entry, by giving us a cinematic roller-coaster of action, revenge, campaigns, and of course the trade mark unbridled violence. Fans of the series won’t be disappointed.