The Purge: Anarchy Review

RYAN: This is the sequel to The Purge and I liked that one much more – primarily because it’s so much more layered and intense, with twists and a better story.  The first one took place in a home, with one family trying to stay safe on Purge night.  I feared this one would be a free for all and while it’s organized, it is farfetched and all over the place, indeed.  It’s a sequel slump!

MICHAEL: Do you think it’s the kin of sequel that got made because of the first one and just misused its budget?

RYAN: Yes, they’re playing on the concept of the “annual purge” and cranked it out.  They obviously went more ambitious in scope, taking to the streets, but they story is lacking and the characters are much less dimensional than in the first film.  Sequels have to be as good or better.  This one is thin and predictable.

MICHAEL: And they brought it out into the world instead of keeping it intimate.

RYAN: It’s basically three converging stories – a fighting couple, a mother/daughter, and a vigilante.  All such caricatures – they wouldn’t have lasted five minutes in the night, LBH.

MICHAEL: Yeah they were all sitting ducks quite often.  It reminded me of the movie Judgement Night with Emilio Estevez and Cuba Gooding Jr. on the run from a gang.  The Purge: Anarchy involved a lot of politics, though, which made it a lot less believable.  The class battles were interesting but the resistance seemed much less believable.

RYAN: Near the end is a scene that’s blatantly ripped off from or inspired by The Hunger Games. I liked that scene though.  Nowhere near as good though.  I recognize one of the actors in this – Carmen Ejogo.  She played Jordin Sparks’ sister in the movie musical Sparkle. I really like her but it’s sad she’s left to roles like this.  She isn’t allowed much reality as the mom in this movie – but worse than even the main characters in this film are all the bit parts.  They were so wooden and cheesy with lines like “Get over here! Shut up!” and it was so unnatural and lame.

MICHAEL: A huge missed opportunity was they didn’t have any people you didn’t expect to be purging, purging, you know?  I don’t understand where all of the victims come from in this movie, all the people who didn’t shut themselves in versus the people who were out with intention.  This movie is holier than swiss cheese but some of the suspense is decent.

RYAN: Yeah there are some parts that are not completely a waste of time but generally, this is pretty schlocky for a horror film.

MICHAEL: Yeah and all of the big jumps or startles in the film were preceded by audio cues of silence, which really cut the intensity of the moment because you just knew that someone was gonna pop out then.  They really messed that up – like, every time.

RYAN: Totally.  This isn’t one to run out and see.  And there was a random dude who jumped up in front of the theater at the end as the credits began, waving his arms, and shouting, “Don’t purge tonight!” But at first I thought he was saying “Purge tonight.”  Not smart – for his own safety and for others.  I was freaked that he was gonna pull out a gun or something.  It was crazy.

MICHAEL: Yeah that was stupid.

RYAN: This just in – don’t be an obnoxious idiot in the theater.

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