Movie Review: “The Purge: Anarchy”

Photo: Universal

“The Purge: Anarachy” won’t be in theaters until next Friday, July 18, but lucky for me I got to see the film in an advance screening a week prior, so of course I couldn’t wait to give you all my Glamberous Review! And after seeing this film, I have soooo much to say about it, good and bad.

“The Purge: Anarchy” follows the same premise of the 2013 film “The Purge.” In a not too distant future one day out of the year is dedicated to “cleansing our souls” and wrecking havoc on society. For 12 hours, all crime, including murder, is legal, but there are a few guidelines. Government officials are said to be off-limits, no use of weapons above a class 4, i.e. bombs, are to be used, and it’s basically every man for himself, you can’t help anyone. Crazy right?

Contrary to the first film that focused on one family and centered inside their home, “The Purge: Anarchy” takes place mostly outside in an inner city with Frank Grillo, Carmen Ejogo, Zoë Soul, Zach Gilford, and Kiele Sanchez as the main five characters: Sergeant, Eva, Cali, Shane and Liz. Sergeant is out to purge, Eva and Cali, mother and daughter, get dragged into a purgers request and Shane and Liz are estranged lovers whose car breaks down less than an hour before the annual purge commences. The five link up, I won’t spoil how, and try to survive the night together.

Now let’s get into a little plot breakdown. This film really annoyed me and I’ll tell you why. I’m not sure how I would be in a situation like this but I feel I wouldn’t be dumb and do stupid things like some of the characters in the film. Like the first film, this one has a father figure character that is doing what he has to do to survive and is the smartest one out of the bunch. There’s a mother figure character that is hesitant and scared but steps up and gets things done when she needs to. There’s a dumb ass child character that doesn’t want anybody to get hurt, and wants to save everyone, and doesn’t listen when people are trying to help them, just being a grade A, excuse my language, fuck up. Then there’s a secondary younger character(s) that just does stupid stuff throughout the movie and it really bothered me. I’m thinking, do people have no survival skills. In the film, the year is 2023 I believe and the purge has been going on for 6 years prior, I mean have they learned nothing?

Another thing that bothered me about this film, outside of how some of the characters were acting, was how it was shot. It was so dark! If you want to see this on bootleg, forget about it because you’ll barely see a thing. I get that it was a film that took place at night but it’s still a movie and the audience needs to SEE. Maybe director James DeMonaco wanted to make it seem like we were really there trying to survive the night with these characters.

Bad,shaky shots, dumb characters, what else? There isn’t that much horror factor, at least not for me. You could tell “something” was about to happen from the soundtrack of the film, but there are a few moments that will sneak up on you and have you jump out your skin. The best part of this film for me was Michael K. Williams‘ character Carmelo. He played a Black Panther character per se, trying to overthrow the purge and what it represented. Carmelo and his crew knew how to defend themselves and gave me some relief from the idiotic happenings throughout the film.

The pace of the film wasn’t bad. A little back story on all the main characters then right into the purge! The ending definitely sets up for yet another film, let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that.

Chris Stuckmann, a movie reviewer, also made some great points about the movie. You should check his review out for a second opinion.

I give “The Purge: Anarchy” Two and a Half Glamberous Sparkles

Let me know what you think about “The Purge: Anarachy” when you go see it! Until then check out a clip from the film and the latest trailer below.

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