Spoilers!
Full disclosure I never saw the original "Purge" movie. It never interested me and I don't typically like home invasion movies for the simple fact that I actually want to sleep at night. That being said after watching Purge: Anarchy, from what I can tell you really do not have to have watched the first purge to know what's going on in the second one. They explain the whole "All crime is legal for 12 hours" thing very quickly and the rest of the film just goes which is good, so I won't sound completely lost when I do the review.
The Purge: Anarchy takes place in a dystopian future where all crime is legal for twelve hours, including murder. The film is about five people who in very different circumstances get trapped on the streets during the purge and must survive the night. Our characters are 'soon-to-be' separated couple Shane and Liz, single mother and her daughter Eve and Cali and last Sergeant Leo Barnes who is basically the punisher. I'm not even joking he is basically the Punisher he has a military background, his whole motivation is some guy killed his family and now he wants revenge, he has an entire arsenal of guns, and wears all black clothing. Heck throughout the whole movie I was basically calling him the Punisher or Frank Castle and their is a scene at the end that is a complete Punisher moment.
On that same note Frank Grillo is great in the role, he's an action hero (well anti-hero) who is badass in everyway without having to speak one-liners and yet he gives a good emotional performance especially at the end. If it weren't for the fact he was already cast as Crossbones I would be campaigning him to be the Punisher in a Marvel movie or Netflix series. In fact he's so good that he's really the only character you can give a damn about and is at all compelling. Don't get me wrong all these people are good actors it's just that their characters are very one-dimensional.
Carmen Ejogo is very good and likeable as Eve but her daughter Cali is so stupid and actually kind of annoying. For example in the film when she and Eve are hiding from a man who wants to rape them she yells at him not to come near them thus alerting their position. She also never shuts up and while Zoe Soul is a good actress she just came off annoying and a little stupid. Zach Gilford and Kiele Sanchez play Liz and Shane their characters along with their subplot could have been cut from the film and nothing would have been lost. Their good but they really add nothing to the film except for one of them to die ten minutes before the film ends.
On the same note as things that could have been cut from the film their is a subplot about using the purge as a rebellion against the founding fathers but for the most part it's just in the background until the finale fifteen minutes of the film and only shows up for about five minutes. I have feeling this is set up for the next film but it could have been cut completely or just hinted at. It was only their so that the characters could escape at the facility they were being kept it. I also got this weird, kind of uncomfortable Black Panther (not the superhero) analogy because all of the resistance people were black and their is a video with the leader that looks like a black panther video and stuff they would have said when they were at their high point in the 60's and 70's.
It also has one of the dumbest endings of the this year. I am in the camp that says if an ending is terrible it can ruin a film for someone because why watch a film when the end is near insulting. Why watch a film when the payoff is not worth it? Now that being said the ending to the Purge: Anarchy is not so dumb I give it four out of ten and certainly isn't the worst ending ever but it was still a little dumb.
On the bright side this film has some great practical action with no shaky cam needed. The whole concept of the purge is still very interesting and they do manage to sneak in great themes of gun violence, class differences and anger.
However what I found very interesting is while people who hated the last Purge or never saw the original actually liked it very well but people who did like the last Purge hated it. My parents watched the first Purge and really liked it- after they saw Purge Anarchy they said they hated Anarchy. That's kind of interesting and depending on how the box office goes it will be interesting to see where this franchise goes.
All in all I give Purge Anarchy a 6/10- It has the makings of a great Punisher film and has a great concept, I hope Frank Grillo and everyone in this film has a good career, but a lot of stuff could have been cut, I hated the ending and it's still kind of sloppily written. I overall liked it well enough myself and I am interested to see where this franchise goes.
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