What is scarier than a dystopian future where people are allowed to kill anyone they want one night a year? How about the fact that it mirrors todays political climate in terrifying proximity and that certain big government are becoming a hyperbolic church for the masses. The Purge: Election Year, continues its onslaught of thinly-veiled metaphorical satire in spades.
“…the best Purge yet”
These films have always been over-the-top, zany and cartoonishly-violent, the third installment raises the bar on all the things that you either love or hate about the series to an 11, and for me, becomes the best Purge yet.
This time around, Senator Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell) promises that if she is elected, she will make an executive order to put an end to the yearly purge. The rest of her running mates do not agree with her position and decide to send a hit squad after her on purge night in order to stop her from being elected. Badass, Leo Barnes (Frank Grillo) is back from the The Purge: Anarchy to protect Senator Roan from any assassination attempts.
Meanwhile, deli owner, Joe Dixon (Mykeelti Williamson) is faced with a big problem when his “purge insurance” is cancelled forcing him to stay around and protect his store on purge night.
Grillo and Mitchell give this film its wings. Grillo is the badass that you remember him being in the previous Purge film and Captain America. He stabs, slices and blasts his way through the film and you are rooting for him for the long-haul. I still think this dude should have played The Punisher, but that is another story.
“an over the top escapade
of violence and
insane aesthetics”
If you have seen the other Purge films you know that Purge night is a chance to not only kill a shitload of people, but also to look your damned scariest. That, of course means that you shop for insane masks and outfits for your big night. The Purge: Election Year pulls out the big gold guns out in terms of the overall look of the film. Everything lights up from masks, to guns to cars. This movie is shiny right down to its golden AK-47’s. For the Purge this twinkling aesthetic is the shiny wrapper that contains the candy at the center.
This film is a throw back to the days of Canon films and the like. I can’t help but watch these Purge films and think of Death Wish or Assault on Precinct 13. They are violent funfests that aren’t trying to break any molds. They are exactly what the trailer promises that they will be, an over the top escapade of violence and insane aesthetics. These films blatantly offer up an hour-and-a-half of fun, rather you like it or not.
The Purge trilogy as a whole has kept that momentum growing. It manages to up the ante with each hand it deals. From a modest home invasion film, to a balls-out silly political 80’s throwback, I have been a fan of each and every-turn the series has made. I would be happy to see more of these movies in the future as long as they are always telling different angles and matching the insanity of these three installments.
