Movie Review: ‘The Purge: Anarchy’

The Purge: Anarchy Movie Review
Leo (FRANK GRILLO), Cali (ZOË SOUL), Eva (CARMEN EJOGO), Liz (KIELE SANCHEZ) and Shane (ZACH GILFORD) in ‘The Purge: Anarchy’ (Photo © 2014 Universal Studios)

Duct tape. That’s what immediately comes to mind when I think of (which isn’t often) 2013’s The Purge. Duct tape sums up for me just how sloppy that dystopian horror thriller was and why it was that checking out the press screening of The Purge: Anarchy was about as low on my list of things I was looking forward to as having a root canal performed without anesthesia.

For those of you who haven’t the slightest idea what this duct tape talk is all about, let me fill you in. There’s a key scene in The Purge in which Ethan Hawke as the film’s ‘hero’ screams for his wife, played by Game of Thrones Queen of Mean Lena Headey, to get some rope so they can tie up a stranger who’s made his way into their home. So, off Lena goes to get the rope and then, shocker, in the very next scene, the poor guy is tied to a chair with duct tape. That’s just laziness on the part of the filmmaker, and it’s not as if it would have altered the storyline had Hawke yelled to get duct tape or had Headey come back with a rope. And while I admit that pointing it out is a bit petty, the duct tape/rope bait-and-switch was simply the straw that broke the camel’s back when it came to what was wrong with The Purge.

So, yes, I went into the screening with little in the way of expectations. Fortunately, The Purge: Anarchy isn’t an actual sequel, doesn’t have anything to do with the characters introduced in the original Purge, and turned out to be not only a decent thriller but one of the better action films of 2014. Sure, there are occasional leaps of logic, but there weren’t that many times when as a member of the audience that it was necessary to roll my eyes over the stupid behavior of the characters being hunted down. The Purge: Anarchy was a pleasant surprise and a completely unexpected treat.

The Purge set up the premise of a world in which one night each year all crimes (including murder) have been declared legal by the government as a means of keeping crimes down the other 364 days of the year. The original film set the action basically inside the upper-class home of the owner of a security systems firm and focused on the night’s criminal behavior as it related to just his family. The world of the Purge expands exponentially in Anarchy, with roving groups of hoodlums killing anyone unfortunate enough to be outside when the 12-hour Purge period begins.

What The Purge: Anarchy gets right that The Purge got so very wrong is in following a small group of people the audience can actually get behind and root for throughout the film. Rescued by Leo (Frank Grillo) – a well-armed, well-trained mystery man who keeps his legitimate reason to be on the streets during the Purge a secret through most of the night – the ragtag group consists of a mother and daughter (Carmen Ejogo and Zoe Soul) whose home was invaded first by the building supervisor bent on rape and then by what appears to be a military group that’s targeted their building.

They’re joined by Shane and Liz (Zach Gilford and Kiele Sanchez), a couple whose car breaks down and leaves them stranded minutes before the Purge begins. Leo doesn’t want to serve as guardian and protector of these unarmed strangers, yet he reluctantly steps into that role as they attempt to survive the night with the odds stacked against them.

The Bottom Line:

The Purge: Anarchy is brutal and bloody, with the lawless 12-hour period taking on a darker, more lethal tone than the first film. Those partaking in the Purge do so inside buses made over into killing machines and from rooftops with sniper rifles, with no regard for who their killing. However, as with the first film, The Purge: Anarchy does touch upon the differences in classes and further puts forth the idea that this annual Purge is actually a means of ridding communities of their lower class citizens.

The names of the lead actors aren’t as recognizable as those of the first film’s stars – Ethan Hawke or Lena Headey – however, their performances are a vast improvement over the leads from The Purge. The action sequences are gritty, the dialogue isn’t half bad, and the film’s swift pace makes the 104 minutes fairly fly by. A better film than the first (and a better film than the trailers would have you believe), The Purge: Anarchy far exceeds expectations and delivers some decent thrills.

Grade: B-

The Purge: Anarchy was directed by James DeMonaco and is rated R for strong disturbing violence, and for language.