This Week on DVD: The Purge: Election Year

For the third installment of the series, writer/director James DeMonaco brings us another unworldly view on the future of American society. 18 years after add night of terrible events, Senator Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell) is in the midst of running for president against an extremely Trump-esque candidate, Earl Danzinger (Kyle Secor), whom is an acting minister and backed by the New Founding Fathers of America (who are in charge of the purge, itself). One of the only things making the senator vulnerable is the new rule that eliminates the protection of all government officials from the purge, therefore making her an easier target. However, our senator is certainly not alone. By her side is Leo Barnes (Frank Grillo) from the previous entry of the series, Anarchy. Leo reprises his role as the bad ass he was before, ensuring nothing happens to Charlie on this fateful and hectic night.
Getting tied up in the antics is a convenience store owner Joe Dixon (a very funny Mykelti Williamson) who can't afford "purge insurance", his employee Marcos (Joseph Julian Soria), and a couple of friends who cruise the streets in search of people who may need their assistance. Pretty brave of them, huh? These characters understand what the purge is about (aside from "releasing the beast"): removing lower class individuals and minorities so the government spends less caring for their essential needs. It's true, and we learned this from the previous installment. All this does is add fuel to the fire for our team of misfit anti-purgers.
What I really liked about this film, and Anarchy, is that they explored all of the twisted possibilities of purge night. Election Year went into further detail to bring us more corrupt politicians, a plethora of psychos (decked out in practically anything patriotic you could ever think of), and most notably, European and foreign citizens boarding flights to America so they can "purge" and "cleanse" themselves. Nothing can interfere with Leo and the help of his crew. Whether that's white supremicists or the frantic nature of common purgers, they have the power, intelligence, and artillery to handle whatever crosses their path.
You're not going to find a stellar script, or even acting for that matter. However, I can assure you that these two things do not take away from your viewing experience. Frank Grillo is designed to carry a film like this, and with the support and comedic relief of a few others, this film doesn't drag for a minute. Sure, there are some events and story pieces that must be set up and approached rather meticulously, but once it gets going, there is no stopping the next twelve hours of madness that are about to ensue. I ended up enjoying the last 20 minutes or so of this film much more than I had anticipated.
It's taken me a while to get over how much of a flop the first installment was, but with this new addition to the franchise, I strongly feel that DeMonaco is taking the idea of the purge in the direction it should've went in the first place. We are making progress, but I'd certainly be interested in seeing some purge ideas that didn't focus solely on death, rather, other various forms of illegal activity. Until then, Election Year will make another fine addition to the collection of purge fans. Rejoice once more in the spilled blood of Americans, and go buy or rent The Purge: Election Year today.

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