The Purge: Election Year

The Purge is one of those series that has been getting progressively better with each iteration, yet it still seems like it can't quite touch greatness. 

And there's a lot of greatness to be had here, especially this year. With The Purge comes a highly unique and thought provoking idea -- one with an insane amount of movie creation potential. 

The first film squandered this considerably, but the second one upped the ante a bit and it resulted in a solid, but hollow, guilty pleasure. The Purge: Anarchy seemed like it might be as good as The Purge got, and I didn't expect much more from the series. 

But behold, now we have a Purge the third and it's one during a very tumultuous time in not only American, but world politics. Debates on several issues rage right and left (pun intended), ISIS sucks a big one, many are discontent with just the general direction mankind is headed, and most believe that we're screwed either way when it comes to Presidential candidates -- I'd be inclined to agree with them. Soooooo my hope was that, with all this potential coupled along with the fantastic central idea around these Purge films, that they'd deliver a real gem with this third film. 

I won't leave you in suspense: they don't. It's unfortunate that the film, almost stubbornly so, decides to stay on it's thriller rails, but it's also still got some underlying commentary that is applicable to today. It's not the greatness that I think was possible, but it's the best Purge yet as it doesn't totally forget to frighten us about this not-so-far-off reality. 

No thank you.

Election Year picks up after many years of the Purge have occurred -- at least 18 -- and America is financially healthy but run by a basically white supremacist group that are the New Founding Fathers and the original creators of the Purge. They've established a bit of a dynasty and been in power for a long time, until they're threatened by Elizabeth Mitchell's Senator Roan. Her family was slaughtered during a Purge years ago and she wants this night gone. It seems the Purge has truly elevated since we saw it in the first couple films as there are claims now that it's used to cleanse the poor population and line the rich's pockets with more money. I can't quite remember if this controversy was present in the previous two films, but it seems new and fresh here and the political mistrust and conspiracy theories about the Purge are interesting. I think the race cards that are thrown around are a little misguided and ineffective, but either way these ideas are presented and mildly explored. I would have liked a little less action because by the end it gets a bit tedious, and a deeper dive into these ideas, but alas, this is not the Purge film that will blow our philosophical minds.

And here they remained for the entirety of Purge night,
at an impasse at this corner...

Regardless of that, Election Year is still a well-paced and thrilling ride through Purge night as the current regime tries to assassinate Senator Roan. Her protection is none other than series regular, Frank Grillo as Leo Barnes so you know some people are going to die. There's much more weight to this entry than past ones because more is at stake. If Senator Roan dies, the Purge will live on. If she makes it through Purge night, she could win the election and rid the nation of the annual night. This helps this entry tremendously and it adds some context to the violence (somewhat). The action scenes are pretty standard and competent as are the horror scenes. I think it's amusing that the Purge films continue to market themselves as almost straight horror since they definitely aren't but hey, they make good trailers and they get butts in seats. Where Election Year is almost unrivaled is with its masks. That sounds like an odd thing to praise a film for, but the movie knows how to chew its own scenery, much to the film's success. A neon-lit Statue of Liberty mask is terrifying, as is a "Kiss-Me" bride, among several others. A pair of scenes with woman wearing masks, dressed in white dresses, driving Christmas-light covered vehicles, and bumping Miley Cyrus' "Party in the USA" is nothing short of brilliant and strangely terrifying. It comes to a head with one of the more bad ass scenes of 2016 and was easily my highlight of the entire movie. 

Well OK then. My day is ruined!

Whereas The Purge: Anarchy was a mere guilty pleasure, Election Year represents another step forward for the series into "good" territory. It may be a baby step, but regardless it's in the right direction. It's an enjoyable romp that will make you think somewhat more than the others, but still not nearly enough as a film with this idea begs for. 

They definitely dropped the ball though without any Clinton or Trump masks...but maybe those would have just been a little too scary. 

CONS:

• Overlong by about 10 minutes
• This series still refuses to dive as deep into this idea as I'd like them to. They're on the cusp of something great but seem to be resisting it for a B-movie
• Decent handful of forgettable or useless scenes
• Wraps up just about like you'd expect

PROS:

• Solid cast. Frank Grillo, Elizabeth Mitchell, and Mykelti Williamson are the ones who carry it
• Solid, well used humor
• Does a fantastic job at admiring its own craft and making Purge night super creepy
• The masks are phenomenal
• Crazy masks + Christmas light cars + white dressed woman + Miley Cyrus = memorable but frightening. Who knew?
• Dives deeper than previous films into the Purge and its consequences. There are some really interesting aspects briefly mentioned in this film
• One really bad ass scene with a handful of other solid action sequences
• Has a weight to it  given the Senator that's involved. Seems to make the film worthwhile

Rath's Review Score: 7/10