The Purge: Anarchy (2014)

The Purge: Anarchy has a lot more to offer than The Purge. It possesses a compelling main story; a broader view of the violence and mayhem going on in the city of Los Angeles on the night of the purge; scary, suspenseful moments; complex political elements that currently exist in the modern-day U.S. (government corruption, revolt of the poor, etc.); and a good mix of people to make up the main characters. This film puts its predecessor to shame and that is no exaggeration; you will be on the edge of your seat and engulfed in the story-line from beginning to end.

I'm going to try not to give away too much as I summarize the plot for the movie because if I tell you too much, the movie will not be enjoyable. But when we start out, it is about 2 1/2 hours before the start of the annual purge. We are immediately introduced to Ava and her daughter Kelly, the first two main characters. They are African American and are poor and living with Ava's father. Next, we are introduced to a man named Sergeant Leo Barnes who appears to be arming up to do some damage on purge night. Then finally, we are introduced to Shane and Liz, a couple who are separating as can obviously be told by the fact that they are arguing all the time. The purge starts. Unfortunately, one thing that the rich people do during the purge is buy off poor people to kill. Thus, in order for Ava's father to leave something valuable for his daughter and granddaughter, he sells himself to a rich family for $100,000 that will get put into Ava's and Kelly's bank accounts after the purge has ended. At the same time, Shane and Liz are being chased by a truck full of masked people after their car breaks down and they must abandon it. Leo is simply driving around and we have no idea what his plans are (until the end of the movie of course). The paths of all these characters will cross on this fateful night and they will have to work together to survive. That is all I'm giving away about the story.

Now, the first thing that is obviously super better about this sequel is its more complex set-up. It's a lot more intriguing; first, we are introduced to a couple, two African American women, and a man who have no bearing on each other's lives whatsoever. At this point, I was curious to whether they were going to flash back and forth between three separate stories the whole time, or whether the characters would connect. Fortunately, the connection happens and something like this is always excellent in a thriller because you have people who have never met each other before and in order to survive the night, they have absolutely no choice but to work together. It's very hard to trust people you don't know. You never know when someone might betray you. This sufficiently adds to the level of suspense and an environment of tension as the characters battle trying to figure out whether or not they can trust Leo (in this movie, he is the hero basically, the leader of the group). Besides that, the five people are stuck outside where all hell is breaking loose. They must find a place inside where they will be safe (even after they do it still doesn't work out but not saying anything about it!) so while they are going through the city, they are attacked by purgers multiple times, including the masked people in the truck who were chasing Shane and Liz early on. The audience (and the characters for that matter) have no idea when someone might strike- they are always in danger. This adds more tension and suspense and there are even a few scenes that made me jump. Plus, the audience will be forever curious about what the intentions of the masked people in the truck are. The main plot is full of action and thrill.

Another thing that sets the sequel apart from the first film is the setting. The Purge took place in a house the entire time. This simply isn't that suspenseful. Being out wandering the city of Los Angeles is a hell of a lot more dangerous and it allows for change of scenery to keep the background from becoming too dull. Also, being out in the city allows there to be a much broader and vivid display of the chaos and violence going on. There are several points in the movie where we see random guys getting shot and stabbed, random people turning up dead, an insane woman shouting off a rooftop and firing a machine gun at anybody who just so happens to pass by on the street below. You can always here shooting and explosions in the background. There are fires being lit, it just never ends. It truly is hell on Earth. Shooting the movie in the city allowed the producers to create a much more unsettling and dynamic atmosphere than in the first film. Also, this allowed the producers to show more criminals rather than just the one group of criminals that attacked the house in the first film. There are tons of purgers and perpetrators that show up throughout the film. this broadness is better. There was also a lot more usage of heavy weaponry which adds to the thrill of the environment. This was not true in the first film either.

The broader political elements conveyed in the film also portray the idea that the purpose of the purge is not really what it seems. It becomes apparent as the story moves along that the government is involved somehow. So the purge isn't simply about citizens cleansing their souls; there's a lot more to it. I'm not giving away what the government has to do with it, but another thing I liked was there was a bit of a revolution of the poor people against the rich, headed by protest leader Carmelo Jones. I was a little disappointed because we don't see much of them and the idea of an all-out war between rich and poor on purge night is very aspiring but I was thrilled that the idea was there at least. The political elements just add so much to the film. It's not just about five random people that we couldn't care less about like in the first film pretty much (although there is a subtlety of politics in the first film as Henry and his group of killers are hunting a poor man in the house; so the idea is there, but it is expanded upon much more in the sequel). I can't wait to see if more of these political issues are brought into the third film (if there is one) even more so than this one!

The acting in this film was sensational. Frank Grillo did a fantastic job playing the sergeant; he played him off well as being brave, heroic, and a good leader for the group. He did a good job of portraying his attitude to the other 4 characters after he just meets them as well. Zoe Soul was my next favorite; she was inquisitive about Leo and why he did what he did to help them, she was emotional (very good and convincing facial expressions) and she, like the others was scared when she needed to be. Carmen Ejogo was good playing Eva, the mother; her love for her daughter is apparent and convincing. Getting into character development a little bit, which was monumental throughout this movie, Zach Gilford and Kelie Sanchez who play Shane and Liz are convincing with their bickering in the beginning of the film, but as the story progresses and they are fighting for their lives, they come to love each other once more. Leo's character also changes monumentally, as he begins to care and trust about the other 4 he has taken under his wing for the night. great job everyone! You all performed excellent and your characters were well-written and well-created!

I have no real complaints about this film. It takes a while to get to the government involvement and the poor revolting, which to me was a little annoying because I'm all about conveying and expanding upon complex ideas and values, but the main story contains enough action to keep you entertained until the end where everything is explained by a man who actually works for the government on purge night. So my suggestion, watch this film! When it comes out on blu-ray/DVD, buy it!!

BaD BiRdS: EXCELLENT MOVIE!!



~MJ Aufiero