THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
We all know some laws shouldn’t be made in the first place, but are they worth abolishing? The Purge: Election Year will have you second guessing.
PLOT
The 2016 sequel takes place 17 years after the events of Anarchy. Former police sergeant Leo Barnes, having found a new lease on life after forgiving his son’s killer, now works as head of security for Charles Roan, a US Senator running for president. Having lost her family on a purge night, she plans to end the event for good should she win the election against Minister Edwidge Owens. He and the NFFA see her as a threat and decide to revoke immunity on government officials during the event. On purge night, Roan chooses to wait it out at her home believing she’ll secure votes. That plan gets derailed when neo-Nazi Earl Danzinger leads a paramilitary force to assassinate her on behalf of the NFFA. This was possible thanks to a mole on Arian’s security team. Barnes helps her escape her home, only for them to encounter Russian tourists who take part in purging. Thankfully, they get saved by local deli owner Joe Dixon and his assistant Marcos who were outside protecting their deli since the purge-coverage is now unaffordable for the former. They get cornered by a group of teenage schoolgirls who want to purge by breaking into the deli out of spite. Thankfully, that is stopped by Joe’s friend, EMT Laney Rucker who used to purge annually. Despite the assistance, Danzinger catches up to them due to leaving a tracker bullet on Barnes before he escaped. When the group moves together, Laney extracts the bullet and get safe passage from the Crips after rendering medical aid to an injured member. As this diverts Danzinger, the group tries to lay low in a ‘Safe Zone’ for anti purgers led by Dante Bishop. However, Barnes discovers his plan to assassinate Owens hoping it can end the purge for good. This discovery bothers Roan because can’t let her rival die a martyr as it will build her election off of murder the way he would. When another paramilitary group assault the base, Roan & Barnes have to hit the streets again which only makes her vulnerable enough to be captured by Danzinger. She gets taken to a cathedral where the NFFA plan to execute her so they can keep the purge going. Thankfully, Barnes leads a rally to save her. Joe, Marcos & Laney rejoin when originally planning to resume protecting the deli. Owens gets captured by the anti purgers, but Roan convinces them to spare him as she believes she can beat him in the election fair and square. As reinforcements arrive for the NFFA, Joe and Bishop get killed in the crossfire whereas Barnes defeats Danzinger before the sirens blare. Two months later, Marcus & Laney renovate Joe’s deli in his honor, having survived another purge. They watch the news and witness Roan achieve a landslide victory. The film ends in a cliffhanger with the news reporting NFFA supporters sparking violent uprisings as a result of the election.
THOUGHTS
For the third time in the director’s chair, writer James DeMonaco sets the bar high in this action horror flick by showing the moral fiber in this fictional setting. Knowing this came out on an actual election year and takes place in DC instead of LA gave an emphasis on how close to reality this movie is depicting American society. The fact that determined neo-Nazis, like the way actor Terry Serpico depicts Danzinger, are involved in wiping out the needy shows how the country is both classist and racist simultaneously. It’s further proving that those in power would rather keep all their money to themselves than spend it for a better purpose. The costumes on the purgers were on point with the said themes like the tourists wearing patriotic costumes to reflect irony that the American dream is not a perfect idea for everyone. We’ve seen those take part of purging because they think they’re making a difference. This time, we see those embrace it as a jail free pass for their psychotic tendencies. With Kyle Secor depicting Owens to be an openly shameless member of the NFFA, it comes to show how anyone can fall into power if they play their cards right. And talk about irony when a priest named Harmon James (Christopher James Baker) does his own cleansing with him. At the same time though, spoiled schoolgirls like the way Brittany Mirabilé portrays Kimmy, who wants to vandalize the deli just to steal a candy bar proves how far people create undeserving entitlement. Considering how the corruption is up in our faces, the characters that still have natural morality bring enough morality to show playing fire with fire isn’t the ideal way to handle a solution. Elizabeth Mitchell does a great job portraying Roan as a true leader who hates the religious murder the NFFA and wants to find a harmonious America. She had the right to take advantage of the night to allow Owens to die, but didn’t because she knew people wouldn’t differ her from him should that happen and that is what was needed to help her win. Even though her plans weren’t permanently effective as shown in The Forever Purge, you can’t hate on her good intentions. If it wasn’t for her, she wouldn’t be protected by people who shared similar goals. Frank Grillo’s return to the series as Barnes was a good choice because it’d feel wrong to not see where his growth took him. Luckily, he’s shown to be a guy who uses whatever power he’s got for good use. He supports Roan due to how he knew he wouldn’t find solace of his own when he last attempted to purge and related to personal loss. After her victory fallout, I hope they’re still in touch because I’m sure they’d need each other for whatever happens next. I thought it was great to see Edwin Hodge have his own arc in the franchise as well when returning as Dante from the first film. When Anarchy showed him to be a follower in the right cause, it was cool for him to be his own leader too. Since he almost died on a purge night, we know why hates it and is willing to do whatever to get rid of it too. Even he does the right thing in sparing Owens because even he wouldn’t differ from previous oppressors should he have pulled the trigger. At the very least, he got to die fighting for his life instead of running. Resuming in new characters, I totally dig Betty Gabriel as Laney who has her own regret in actual purge participation. With her past actions not beneficial on her end, she chose to give back by helping the innocent. It is only when her friends are in danger where she embraces her alter ego ‘La Pequena Muerte’ to do what was the absolute on her end. Speaking of friends, Joseph Julian Soria was also good as Marcos who had the most optimism about the election besides Barnes. He knew what direction had to be done to have a possible better tomorrow and once he gave Roman advice that she took, it proved anything is possible if you set your mind to it. However, I don’t think he and Laney would’ve not lived to have their heads up without their eldest of friends putting them under his wing. Mykelti Williamson was awesome as Joe because he’s a guy who has a lot of pride to embrace since he grew up with nothing and the deli is all he has to fight for. Marcos & Laney appreciate him for giving them a chance to be prosperous when he has doubts on what’s going on around him. He gave Marcos a job when other places weren’t hiring and Laney has adored his kindness since she was a kid. Ironically, it was meeting Roan in person that led to him broaden his horizons when needed thus protecting her longer than he planned. It was also a bummer when he died because of how he meant so much to his friends and don’t imagine being without him. Thankfully, they rebuild the deli in his honor. Due to how the outcome of the election foreshadows grim consequences, I do hope they can overcome it as well. While this movie is good on its own, there are still a few things that hold it back from being better. Like if the NFFA want to ensure the purge sticks around so that the rich get richer, why haven’t done things already such as getting rid of an electoral system that’d help them engage in election fraud? If they don’t want people like Roan to abolish purge nights, it’s a surprise they didn’t do this sooner. And why would Kimmy try to frame Joe of rape when there’s cameras in the deli? It’s pointless tension and she should know her motives make no sense especially since she chose to kill her parents on purge night not knowing what to do next. And where she did and her friends get the guns? Did she steal them or buy them? They may not be the main characters, but it wouldn’t hurt knowing a minor detail. Honestly, not knowing bothers me more than her not hearing Laney coming in at full speed before running her over. And then we get an irritating continuity error where her boots are boots flying off only for her to still have them on before Laney shoots her face off. That’s like making us think she had the time to put them back on when that can’t be true. Moving on, Dante’s room should’ve been guarded if he didn’t want anyone like Roan or Barnes to know he was planning to kill Owens. Hell, he could’ve gone to the cathedral sooner once hearing he got there because I’m sure he was there all night. Ignore this, then you’ll still dig it for what it is. In short, The Purge: Election Year is another interesting horror action film for giving another dip at changing the scenery and giving new stakes to maintain investment. If you’ve enjoyed the previous films, I don’t see a reason to skip it.
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