31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN: THE PURGE: ANARCHY

WHAT THE PURGE SHOULD HAVE BEEN ALL ALONG

I always am excited to revisit, in my opinion, what the purge should have been about all along. Plenty of violence. Inner city setting rather than a home invasion. Crazy costumes and freaks out. And enough political undertones to keep you interested in the fact there is a bigger theme behind the day of chaos. You get a poor family to root for from the start by how the father sacrifices himself for money for his family, and Frank Grillo playing an antihero almost as he was planning to participate but is swept away to help them survive the night. This one also ramps up the action which is the much needed shot in the arm this franchise need. It establishes the Purge universe outside of the house that the plot was confined to in the first film.

THE PURGE UNIVERSE EMERGES

From the start we see there are several gangs, groups, and freaks out with plans to participate in the Purge that they’ve waited patiently all year for. The rich shine over the poor here as you can tell they have used their wealth for better weapons, defenses, and safety in the events. We get our first look at the rich watching a hunt occur as well that shows this is an elitist holiday to many to hunt and wipe out the poor and less privileged. Think of it as forced natural selection, which is a contradictory concept in my opinion. This movie also uses the skateboarding gang to show that the wild outfits and makeup for the purge night to hide your identity will become a staple in the franchise. Much better job of this than the original movie masks. While those were effective, these are more fun in the sequels. The city is riddled with hunters, those protecting their shops and homes, traps by psychos, and wildfire left and right. This is what the Purge always should have been. Tense and hectic in a city setting where you don’t know how they will survive the night.

THE FINAL ACT OF VIOLENCE

The ending of this film is a way better transition to the morning than the bullshit of the first film to end while they just sit at a fucking table quietly. How fucking dumb of an idea for an ending is that. This one had some suspense and internal conflict with Leo as the Purge was expiring. You assume Leo killed the man that killed his son while driving under the influence, but when Big Daddy attempts to kill Leo and Warren saves him by shooting Big Daddy at the last minute of the Purge. Showing that Leo was able to forgive and spare him and that he wouldn’t be the monster he set out to be on the beginning of the night. He had a lot of character growth in that way and I thought it to be a great ending for his character arc in this film. While they look to have the swat team showing up, the final alarm sounds signaling the end of the purge and that they survived the hellacious night. This movie was why I was in love with the purge craze and I can rewatch it over and over.

C. A. ROETHLE