The Purge: Election Year (2016) Universal/Action-Horror RT: 103 minutes Rated R (disturbing bloody violence, strong language) Director: James DeMonaco Screenplay: James DeMonaco Music: Nathan Whitehead Cinematography: Jacques Jouffret Release date: July 1, 2016 (US) Cast: Frank Grillo, Elizabeth Mitchell, Mykelti Williamson, Joseph Julian Soria, Betty Gabriel, Edwin Hodge, Kyle Secor, Raymond J. Barry, Terry Serpico, Ethan Phillips, Adam Cantor, Liza Colon-Zayas, Brittany Mirabile, Juani Feliz, Christopher James Baker, David Aaron Baker, Jared Kemp, Naeem Garcia. Box Office: $79.2M (US)/$118.6M (World)
Rating: ***
So much for the Curse of Three. The Purge: Election Year, the third installment in the dystopian action-horror series, is the best one yet! As you can tell by the title- subtlety isn’t one of the series’ strong suits- it’s intended to push the buttons of American voters who will no doubt easily draw a parallel to what’s currently going on in the political arena. The storyline is eerily (and likely deliberately) timely with echoes of Trump’s Let’s Make America Great Again and Black Lives Matter. We’re supposed to see the Purge movies as social satire in how it envisions America if the 1% (of which Trump is a charter member) assumed leadership. I didn’t hear anybody laughing at the showing I attended.
If you’ve seen the previous two movies (if you’re interested in Election Year, you probably have), then you know the premise. In the very near-future, the NFFA (New Founding Fathers of America aka the 1%) rebooted the country. Crime and unemployment are way down. How? Once a year (March 21), everything including murder is legal for 12 hours (7pm-7am). Americans are urged to “purge and purify” as a way of showing their patriotism. Basically, it’s a night of chaos, bloodshed and death. Citizens take to the streets to hunt down human prey. Of course, there’s an agenda behind the government-sanctioned holiday. The ones most targeted during the annual Purge are the poor, homeless and marginalized, most of whom are minorities. By reducing their numbers, certain rates are kept low, the government spends less on welfare and those in charge have more money with which to line their pockets.
In The Purge: Election Year, the NFFA has good reason to be concerned. It seems that Senator Charlie Roan (Mitchell, Santa Clause 2 & 3) has an excellent chance of defeating Edwidge Owens (Secor, Homicide: Life on the Street) in the upcoming Presidential election. If she wins, she plans to do away with the annual Purge for good. 18 years earlier, she watched as her family was slaughtered on Purge Night. Naturally, the NFAA can’t risk such a thing so they lift the ban on killing government officials for the upcoming Purge and arrange for Charlie’s murder at the hands of a paramilitary group led by a vicious neo-Nazi (Serpico, Hannibal).
Not one to be intimidated, she decides to spend the night in her own home even though her chief of security, Leo Barnes (Grillo reprising his role from Anarchy), is dead-set against it. Of course, somebody betrays her and the house is attacked, sending Barnes and Charlie on the run.
Meanwhile, deli owner Joe Dixon (Williamson, Forrest Gump) and his assistant Marcos (Soria, Max) must protect his store from looters after his insurance company raised his rates the day before the Purge. Unable to afford it, he’s on his own. Eventually, the senator and her protector find their way to the store. Joining them in their fight for survival is Laney (Gabriel), an EMT who rides around in a makeshift ambulance on Purge Night rendering aid to the wounded. They must stay ahead of the neo-Nazi and his men. At one point, they cross paths with Dante Bishop (Hodge reprising his role from the previous films), an anti-Purge activist with a plan to put Charlie in the winner’s circle come Election Day.
The Purge: Election Year is great, violent, bloody fun. It reminds me of early John Carpenter; all that’s missing is the pulsating synthesizer score. You can read into it what you will. I heard somebody say that it’s a representation of America under President Trump (should he actually win). That’s one way of looking at it, I suppose. The events of the last couple of years- e.g. Ferguson, terrorist attacks, etc.- lend context to the movie. But one need not consider such weighty matters in order to enjoy The Purge: Election Year. I won’t lie. I loved the violence. LOVED IT! There are shootings, stabbings and beating galore. In one scene, a character runs down a couple of looters with her vehicle. Axes, machetes and chainsaws are wielded. Blood splatters, oozes and flies. The death toll is pretty high. It’s thrilling to watch the disenfranchised heroes fight back against the system that works hard to oppress them. And yes, I can see the irony in cheering on the very same behaviors encouraged by Purge supporters.
Like I said, it’s the best Purge movie yet. Returning writer-director James DeMonaco goes all out for this one. In addition to the lift on the government official ban, foreigners are coming over to take part in the festivities. The Purge: Election Year is as close to a 70s/80s exploitation flick as we’re likely to get. Despite its satirical aspirations, it’s pure cinematic trash. By that, I mean the good kind of trash, the kind that’s entertaining. Its modicum of intelligence is a bonus. The acting is about what you’d expect. It’s no better or worse than any movie of this ilk. The bad guys are slimy; the good guys have mad fighting skills. What more do you need? In a summer movie season marked by one disappointment after another, The Purge: Election Year delivers on what it promises. It is what it is, exactly. It’s the type of movie that brings out viewers’ psychotic sides. I had a blast.
