MOVIE REVIEW: The Purge: Election Year

The Purge: Election Year (2016)

Horror, Action, Sci-Fi

Directed By: James DeMonaco 

This weekend the third installment in the wildly popular Purge franchise hits theaters and is appropriately subtitled Election Year. Not only playing off of what's going on in our own lives right now but also playing upon the story established through two films already, making this flick jam packed with social and political satire. Is that satire subtle or nuanced? almost not at all but that doesn't take away from the fact that beneath all the wonderful ultra-violence writer/director James DeMonaco had an idea and a vision for this franchise and this third installment finally seems to take us to where he wanted it to be.

Picking up just two years after the events of the last flick Election Year has more connective threads to Anarchy than that film did to the original. We get to see at least the tiniest shred of  continuity with Frank Grillo's character Leo Barnes, who stole the show last time around. His character returns after almost succumbing to the purge two years ago and he is doing what he can to end this day and for him that means playing bodyguard to the new front runner for the presidency, Senator Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell). After watching her entire family get taken from here on purge night eighteen years ago she is now set on destroying the awful event all together.

Based on the knowledge we have of the super elite gathered from the past two films it's easy to see why a presidential candidate like this would be seen as a huge risk to them. That is exactly the case and with this year's Purge night they have plans to change the rules and do some "cleaning up" of their political opponents. Leo Barnes is now her only chance of surviving the night and once they are forced from their home and onto the streets, all bets are off.

When the story is boiled down to bare bones it appears fairly similar to the last movie, but that's not really a problem. The formula of throwing a random group of people out into the purge is kind of perfect for summer horror movies. They bring us heavy violence, fun and creative characters and the added bonus of discussing with your friends how you would handle the Purge if it were real. So even though this film seems to wrap up a trilogy for DeMonaco this franchise definitely shouldn't die as it is ripe for spinoff stories of purge nights all over the country.

When the second movie came out just a few years ago it delighted us fans that they were able to improve immensely from the first flick, so I was hoping for similar growth between the second and third. Though the bare bones of the story share many similarities with each other this latest story improves on a lot of the things the second fell short with. For starters we have a group of characters we actually care about.

In the first movie the biggest problem was there wasn't really a likeable character in the entire film, and then with the second Frank Grillo was really the only one to grab audiences, but with this third movie it seems DeMonaco finally hit that sweet spot. Aside from bringing back audience favorite Frank Grillo they also add a whole cast of fun and interesting people. Most notably deli owner Joe played by Mykelti Williamson who adds a whole lot of comic relief throughout and his relationship with the two people that hang around the deli elevate this story to a level the other two don't come near to.

Election Year also aims to satisfy its audience entirely, I don't think I have ever fist bumped and muttered "hell yes" under my breath so many times in one movie. The story sets up pins just to be knocked down with its "bad guys" but it's an after thought once we get to see them meet their deserved ends in wonderfully twisted ways. This brings us back to the beginning of the movie as well, when the Purge first begins, we get another great montage of the "purgers" and how they celebrate. 

One of the most interesting parts of all three of the films is seeing how different kinds of people take to the purge and how those who go out that night do their thing. From giant guillotine's to golden AK-47's we get to see it all this time around. This all adds to the further world building of this universe, I have loved seeing how the night has progressed since the first movie. How have people changed the way they purge and how is it seen in society are always cool questions to see answered with each new movie. By the time the events of this movie take place the Purge has been happening for nearly twenty years so the night has become seriously organized in both the ways the purgers and anti-purgers use the event. 

This movie seems to be the end of a trilogy for James DeMonaco and as a whole I think the series plays incredibly well. There is true growth from the first film to this one and not only in storytelling, the filmmaking is significantly better now than it was in the original film. He has honed his craft quite well and after being tied up in this franchise for the past four years I'm interested to see what he decides to do next, who knows, maybe I'm all wrong and he's got a fourth movie cooking up in his head, you won't hear me complaining if that's the case. Regardless all genre fans should be at the theater this weekend, this is another wacky and satisfying entry in a series some of us never thought would progress past the first movie.

As always, thanks for reading and I am Zach Who Watches Movies. You can find me anytime on twitter @ZachWWMovies, smell ya later!