The Purge: Anarchy

Dustin: 2 of 5 stars Nick: 3 of 5 stars Average: 2.5 of 5 stars (Woozy canary)

Nick: After reading Canary Movie Reviews’s review of The Purge the filmmakers listened and gave us something closer to what the premise had promised. It’s the same idea: One night a year crime becomes legal and blah blah blah. The difference is this time around we are out on the streets following, of course, two sets of people who didn’t want to be out there and one guy with a vendetta.

Dustin: This movie is an improvement on the first in that it actually delivers what the trailers promised. The first one had an interesting concept, but didn’t live up to the potential. It was a home-invasion suspense film treated like a paranormal horror film. I went into this one with lowered expectations, admittedly, but I think the feel of the movie and delivering on showing the Purge out on the streets was more in line with what these movies should be.

Nick: A premise like ALL CRIME IS LEGAL FOR ONE NIGHT A YEAR deserves to be out on the streets! In the first one we are forced inside a home of the rich shuckster who sold every one of his neighbors faulty home security. And then they let a black guy inside and the whole white family is scared shitless of him besides the innocence of the kid. This film gets a worse cast and a better storyline, which is exactly what it needed. A B-movie plot needs a B-movie cast. Though the film could have been more in the B movie range.

Dustin: This movie definitely had more of the world building the first one lacked. We both complained about that in the review of the first. I sort of think they should have done this one first and gave the second a more narrow, but sequels always need to be bigger than the first, which is often a shame.

This movie had some nice details in the world building part. For example, they are in the financial district, and our hero mentions, “It’ll be quiet down here tonight. The banks move all the money.” That answered our unasked question of why most people just don’t rob the banks.

Nick: The dialogue between the characters was abysmal! One would say something in the way of, “Did they see us?” How the fuck would the other person who is just as scared and inexperienced as you know any more about tactical questions than you? There are a lot of these moments, and only one that worked.

Dustin: There were definitely a few unintentional laughs with the bad dialogue. In one scene, a man has just been shot and his girlfriend is holding him as his life is slipping away, saying, “It’s going to be OK.” Uhm… no it’s not! Look, he’s already dead! We couldn’t help but laugh at that. But then again, you don’t go into a movie called “The Purge: Anarchy” expecting to hear Shakespearian dialogue.

Nick: For sure. But when I first heard the dialogue I thought it was going along with its B-movie premise, but as the film continued on its journey, it felt more as if the creators were actually taking it seriously. The film sets up so many potential bad guys, and hardly a thing is done with them. The first movie had the better bad guy. His grin is still locked in my memory. Creepy guy.

Dustin: The bad guy in the first was unrelenting, here our focus is divided between baddies, so none of them quite live up to the first. That’s pretty common with sequels when the first had a great villain, the sequels make up for the lack of a charismatic villain by throwing in several villains. The first Tim Burton Batman movie had the Joker--that’s all it needed. By the time Joel Schumacher took his second cinematic turd in the series, they had Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy and Bane, and no one gave a shit.

Nick: You could have just stated the second Tim Burton film had Penguin, Catwoman and Christopher Walken.

The character could still be made as menacing if they are used more and more violently (if we are going B-movie). The only B-movie bad guy was the General, who sits in the back of a semi with some pretty heavy artillery. His accent, look and overall demeanor is classic B-movie, but sadly he was hardly in the film.

Dustin: True. There were also plants in this movie that never paid off. At the beginning we see a sniper on a rooftop. We never see him again. I kept him in the back of my mind, figuring if they show a gun in the first act, it’ll be used in the third. Nope. The female lead’s bitch boss keeps her servers to the last second on Purge night and wouldn’t give our protagonist a raise while knowing she needs money to pay for her father’s meds. I figured she would be purged. But she doesn’t figure in the story after that segment.

Nick:  If you are shown a sniper, then we should at least see one character, whether major or minor, sniped. Even the main character tells his crew to stay up against the wall because of snipers. If he is that prepared for snipers then why were there no snipers. The film was stuck between two ideas: making a serious movie or a B-movie. This could probably work under either standard, but since it tries both it’s ultimately convincing to people who wanted one or the either.

Dustin: I’m convinced this should have been a B-movie. The first one was disappointing because it should have been more serious. This one tried to have some social commentary about class warfare that felt more comical than thought-provoking.

Nick: I will say that I enjoyed Frank Grillo’s character. He does a good job with what he has to work with. He made me think of the Punisher, and I realized later on it could have worked as a Punisher movie. I thought a Marvel credit was going to pop-out and be like, “Got Ya! It’s a superhero film!”

If all crime was legal for one night, you’d figure most people would leave the city and/or country depending on the money you had. This does only take place in America, right? Land of Opportunity, right? Land of the Free, right?

Dustin: I thought the same thing. That could have tied into the world-building segment. Maybe airfare to leave ‘Murica triples for that night. I certainly wouldn’t wait around my house waiting for the producers of all the movies I’ve given a bad review to to come and torture me to death. And why only focus on violent crime? If ALL crime is legal, wouldn’t that mean white collar crime is as well? If you wanted to embezzle money from your employer, that would be the night to do it.

What crime would you commit if you had one night to do it without repercussion?

Nick: Jaywalk while smoking crack.

Dustin: I’d tear the tag off a pillow.