space
head
head head head
Home Contact RSS Feed
COMICS   •   MOVIES   •   MUSIC   •   TELEVISION   •   GAMES   •   BOOKS
Movie Review: The Purge: Anarchy
space
The Geeks of Doom   |  @   |  

The Purge: Anarchy review header

The Purge: Anarchy
Written & Directed by James DeMonaco
Starring Frank Grillo, Carmen Ejogo, Zoe Soul, Michael K. Williams, Zach Gilford
Universal Pictures
Rated R | 103 Minutes
Release Date: July 18, 2014

Review by Yasin Lago

The first Purge film was a concept and box office windfall that took folks by surprise, so much so that it seemed to demand a sequel. True or not, here it is with The Purge: Anarchy. The original played as the suburban-style stuck-in-the-house-with-strangers scenario. This time out the story is told throughout the city, with downtown L.A. as an open set location. Of course that means expanding and expounding on violent crimes committed by seemingly demonic-like phantoms strolling from murder to murder, as well as the class war, slightly hinted at in the previous, which is the focus of this film.

For those not in the know, let’s give a rundown:

Once a year, every year, the United States holds what is called the Annual Purge, a ceremonial nationwide event set by the New Founding Fathers, in which all citizens are given the right to indulge completely in one night’s lawlessness. Absolutely everything is accepted, aside from using certain weapons and harming certain people with high ranks. This purging of one’s sins, or rather the crimes someone’s always wanted to perform, is rationalized as the reason the crime rate is down along with unemployment and that the system works.

Unlike the last movie, where the story followed one family, this one picks up ten years after and intersects three different plot lines: A mother and daughter surviving the inner city; a couple just passing through on the verge of separation; and our anti-hero, packed with guns galore, a steel-plated car, and a dark agenda. There is also a shadowy network of what looks like soldiers in riot gear storming into certain low-income places, collecting poor citizens for the Purge. It’s this situation that requires all five to reluctantly band together to survive the night.

What most have come for, suspenseful action, is in abundance here. The pace is much more relentless than the original, which was set up more as a horror flick. It is very effective in this way, except the pleading for life some characters will do that goes on too long for me. The other problem I have is its representation of the class system. Dated interpretations of the one percent and the online militant revolutionists come off like blaxploitation throwbacks, with snotty, insensitive (to the point of sociopathic) whites and angry, violent blacks ironically purging themselves of the purging party. Michael K. Williams, leader of the revolt, comes off as a cartoonish Samuel L. Jackson angrier than usual.

Who stands out as most capable is Frank Grillo. Fresh off this summer’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Grillo has stepped up to the lead. His cold introduction will have the audience wondering if he’s friend or foe. So when his point-of-view is understood, we’re willing to follow him into Hell. And we do. Frankly, Gerard Butler should start watching his back because his action roles are in jeopardy with Frank around. Here he carries the whole movie, cast and all, on his back. He has me wondering what’s next for him in Hollywood.

The Purge: Anarchy movie poster

1 Comment »

  1. My girlfriends teenager wanted to watch the first one “The Purge”, so we bit the bullet and picked it up via Redbox. What a steaming pile of rancid monkey chunks. I see zero reason to go see this sequel. The first one was so horrible, we even received free tickets to a preview screening to the sequel and threw them in the trash. Free.

    Comment by Ben Lutgens — July 18, 2014 @ 10:12 am

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Leave a comment

space
space
Previous Article
space
Next Article
«
»
space
space
space
Amazon.com
space
You may have noticed that we're now AD FREE! Please support Geeks of Doom by using the Amazon Affiliate link above. All of our proceeds from the program go toward maintaining this site.
space
Geeks of Doom on Twitter Geeks of Doom on Facebook Geeks of Doom on Instagram Follow Geeks of Doom on Tumblr Geeks of Doom on YouTube Geeks of Doom Email Digest Geeks of Doom RSS Feed
space
space
space
space
The Drill Down Podcast TARDISblend Podcast Westworld Podcast
2023  ·   2022  ·   2021  ·   2020  ·   2019  ·   2018  ·   2017  ·   2016  ·   2015  ·   2014  ·  
2013  ·   2012  ·   2011  ·   2010  ·   2009  ·   2008  ·   2007  ·   2006  ·   2005
space
Geeks of Doom is proudly powered by WordPress.

Students of the Unusual™ comic cover used with permission of 3BoysProductions
The Mercuri Bros.™ comic cover used with permission of Prodigal Son Press

Geeks of Doom is designed and maintained by our geeky webmaster
All original content copyright ©2005-2023 Geeks of Doom
All external content copyright of its respective owner, except where noted
space
Creative Commons License
This website is licensed under
a Creative Commons License.
space
About | Privacy Policy | Contact
space