The Purge: Anarchy

Much better could ever expect! Originally saw in the theater I just wasn't reviewing then, happily enjoying this glorious action/thriller with lots of great madness and creepy gestures. James DeManco's Purge films might not be appreciated much but Anarchy, Election Year and his writing for The Negotiator is so damn good! Such a great concept that is perfectly executed in this adaptation.

In The Purge Anarchy the new founding fathers sanction another murderous cleanse.

The Purge Anarchy revisits the gruesome dystopia in the not so distant future where for twelve hours all sanctioned crime is legal and all rescue services are suspended. The nation is reborn, unemployment and crime are at record lows, all because of the annual night for decriminalized murder to unleash pent up American rage.

Five virtual strangers join together to survive when, after several unrelated but harrowing events, all find themselves on the street and in jeopardy on purge night. There is no security system, minimal defense and there is little hope.

Despite being marketed as a horror film The Purge Anarchy feels more like a thriller. The potential for a despicable act of inhumanity is imminent and occurs frequently throughout the film. Yet, its display is the antithesis of a masturbatory gore fest relishing in the suffering, evocative of torture-porn. Instead, the brutality is appropriately out of focus in the background, almost as an afterthought, consistent with the desensitized society.

The approach of James DeMonaco's direction is on point with the message of the film. He creates a disconcerting feeling with a deserted cityscape, seemingly lit at night by flickering yellow streetlights casting shrouded shadows. Certain scenes are realistically and deliberately shaky and imperfect to draw the audience into the character's peril.

One can not talk about a second installment to a franchise without returning to its predecessor, in this case The Purge. Acclaimed as a novel premise and potentially unsettling look into the primal aspect of human nature, it left something to be desired. The story had so many places it could go that were raw and savage; yet, The Purge was slightly simplistic and flawed but still enjoyable. Once again James DeMonaco took the helm as writer and director of The Purge's sequel Anarchy. This time DeMonaco's execution was able to address criticisms by delving further into concept, but from a different perspective: the working class. In doing so we see a harsher existence, far less idealistic and a more depraved purge night.

The difference between The Purge and The Purge Anarchy is that the active tormenters for this purge are not all unhinged closeted maniacs hiding behind masks. Anarchy takes the end of The Purge and goes more in-depth. Those participating are frustrated and exhausted but ultimately they are people. Most terrifyingly it proposes a hypothetical and disturbingly feasible purge experience for the upper class. The nefarious top 10% obligingly exercise their civic responsibility and now government granted right in style and comfort. The Purge Anarchy is a commentary on society and social inequality in the most gruesome of circumstances.

The film's ability to play into our inner fears, that deep within anyone there is a darkness capable of unspeakable evil, is pivotal to its success. While I wish The Purge Anarchy hadn't tried to tidy the story up and resolve everything I did find it far more realistic and thought provoking than the former.

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I almost didn't bother with this sequel . The first movie was close but no cigar down to rather lazy and ill thought plotting and since this movie was also written and directed by James DeMonaco we'd be getting more of the same except this time with an inferior and unknown cast . That said one thing that really intrigued me was the large shift in positive votes . The first movie had an average vote of 5.6 while its sequel had an average vote of 6.5 along with many of the comments stating just how different it was from the original film , a film which incidentally could hardly have been called original itself

The only real criticism I can level at TPA is that it's rather derivative and owes a lot to Anabasis by Xenophon , a very old story that Walter Hill made a career out of reworking and which recent Brit thriller '71 made use of . A good story never grows old whether you're a Greek army trapped behind enemy lines in 400 BC or a young couple trapped in a city centre where the laws of the jungle are about to be enforced the dilemmas facing the protagonists remain the same

I had to double check a couple of times to check if there were two different writer/directors called James DeMonaco because I had hard task to believe the film maker who wasted so much potential in the first movie was the same one who crafted this heart stopping thriller . Everything wrong with THE PURGE is corrected here . Gone are the idiotic choices characters make and in their place are simple acts of misfortunes . Okay some bits seem a little contrived such as cars breaking down at the most inopportune moment but it's the same sort of cinematic convention you see in every /any thriller or horror movie . The characters are unlucky rather than out and out dumb and boy does misfortune have it in for these characters that you actually get to care about

Another massive improvement is that you can almost believe this scenario might take place one day . I say almost because it's something of a stretch thinking Pat Robertson might be American president but this would be his ideal Utopian view of America and TPA does play up to all the more extreme elements of an outsiders view of America , gun culture , red necks ,the radical Christian right , rabid nationalism and corporate greed where money can buy you absolutely anything , all summed up by a very effective montage sequence at the closing credits . The politics of the film are not subtle but are superbly well done . There's perhaps a danger of taking it all this too seriously but TPA does deserve some credit for bringing this to our attention and wears its heart on its sleeve as to what's wrong at the heart of America

And so ends one of these very rare films - a sequel that surpasses the original and by a wide margin too . Okay let's be honest and confess THE PURGE was no great shakes but TPA is one the most effective and thought provoking thrillers I've seen Hollywood produce in a very long time and after seeing THE PURGE I thought I'd never say this but I am really looking forward to THE PURGE 3 when it's released next year

The 2013 movie "The Purge" left a bad taste in all of our mouths as nothing more than a pseudo-slasher with a hamfisted plot, poor pacing, and a desperate attempt at "horror." Upon seeing the first trailer for "The Purge: Anarchy," my first and most immediate thought was "we really don't need another one of these." The first film was self-contained and didn't leave any opening for a reasonable sequel. But after seeing a few more commercials and looking into it some more, I decided to give this film the benefit of the doubt and I am NOT disappointed.

The film stands on its own feet much better than the first film did, and mostly because of what it's going for. Instead of trying to be a Horror movie, it becomes a fantastic Thriller/Action film set in a pseudo-apocalyptic future about a group of people trying to survive on a night where it's all-out war on the streets.

A lot of themes are explored -- Human Nature, Fear, Anger, Revenge, Heroism -- in ways that many other movies don't really explore it. And more than that, every small detail is kept in mind throughout the film.

Compared to everything else I've seen so far this year, this is by far the best thriller film to come out. It holds its own and it has a message instead of just being a movie about wanton violence. The action scenes are done well, and the tension is enough to keep interest even in the low parts of the film. Every moment you think is safe leads directly into the next moment of pressure for the main characters, and you can't help but sympathize for the characters who (all but one) don't even want to be stuck out here on this horrid night.

I very highly recommend this film to anyone who likes thrillers or action films with a little bit of psychological horror thrown in.

And a little bit of a tip? Forget everything from the first film. "The Purge" doesn't set up or explain anything that this film doesn't, doesn't add anything to this film, and isn't even worth watching beforehand.

The Purge: Anarchy is a great film in its own right and it's worth watching. My only issue is that the first film couldn't have been more like this.

The first film was a generic home invasion flick with a gimmick that reduced the 'all crime is legal for 12 hours' concept to essentially a narrative countdown clock device - a family must survive for such and such more time and the film wasted a decent premise. The Purge:Anarchy rights the wrongs of its predecessor and delivers on the high concept. The characters are thinly written, but played with adequate skill by the actors and a more than decent performance by Frank Grillo as the lead. The satire is about as subtle as a round of bullets to the chest and the film never feels comfortable during the few moments the story calms down to spend time developing the characters, but this was made for visceral thrills and B grade enjoyment. The mayhem is relentless and while the low budget certainly reduced the amount of arson to a few fleeting glimpses, the violent set pieces are staged with enough wit to make this sequel a nice surprise.