Bullet Points: The Purge: Anarchy
Late one evening I stayed up way past my bedtime and watched a movie called The Purge. I knew it wasn’t really an action movie so I didn’t watch it for writing purposes but instead because after seeing Frank Grillo in Warrior and Captain America: Winter Soldier I thought that he could make for a solid action star. Well, he’s no Jean-Claude Van Damme or anything but I’d say that he definitely has the look and attitude to pull off the rough and war-torn look that made Michael Biehn a star in the 80’s. Hollywood could use a new go-to guy for those types of roles. If that is what Grillo is going for then I would say this movie is a good start for him. But is it any good…
The Gist: It’s time for the annual Purge once again and people are securing their homes and trying to last the night. Others, however, are filling the streets; armed to the teeth with machine guns and sharp objects. Three different groups of people’s lives will intersect as they try to escape gangs of murderous thugs and wealthy hunters who kill for pleasure. Many citizens in this new America are growing tired of the Purge and the power the New Founding Fathers have over the lower classes. But will that stop them from Purging?
The Cast: Frank Grillo plays Sergeant who is actually given a name at the end but it didn’t really matter what his name was cause he pretty much played the “nameless hero” and you know how much I love me one of those. Giving him a name at the end only made it less mysterious. They left out about 10 minutes worth of backstory for him and I think it probably streamlined the movie and let the action speak for itself. Who really cares who these people are? Hell, the guys on the poster are only in the film for 3 minutes but damn do they look cool or what. The other four people with Grillo are pretty much useless. There was a married couple who were separating whose car had broken down and they were stuck out during the event. The guy was a whiney little bitch the whole movie and don’t even get me started on the fact that they were out grocery shopping an hour before The Purge started! Why would you even be traveling on the day of The Purge? I would think shit would be closed like it was a holiday. Here’s an idea, save one vacation day so you don’t have to go to work that day. As far as I’m concerned, if you’re driving around the hour of the commencement of the Purge then you’re part of that bitch. The other two were a mother/daughter combo who keeps trying to talk about feelings and politics and shit. They’re like that annoying person who always gets drunk and starts talking about Ron Paul. “Dude, shut the hell up and let me Purge!”
The survivors is your usual mix of young, diverse, and attractive people.
The Villain: There isn’t really on villain here to speak of unless of course you say “society” or some crap like that. No…as much as this movie tries to cram this political haves vs. the have-nots down our throat the villain to me is still the guy wearing the pig mask trying to cut my head off with a machete. That is what I want to see anyways. I don’t watch The Purge: Anarchy to hear some liberals talk about how horrible gun-owning people are, just give me more crazy people riding on skateboards with flame throwers. This movie works best when it doesn’t try to be anything more than that.
To say that the purgers are the villain is kind of unfair. The real villain is the system that allows them to exist.
The Action: This movie succeeded where the first Purge film failed. My biggest complaint from The Purge was that it spent way too much time setting up the fact that there were some crazy people coming into the house instead of just showing them do that. I give Anarchy all the credit in the world for just bringing on the action from the start. I know that the story is incredibly simple and all the major stuff happened in the first film but this movie felt like an action movie instead of just another home invasion flick. Frank Grillo does look like a hard man. I would much rather see him getting success in this genre rather than that sissy Channing Tatum. I know people are clamoring for Grillo to play The Punisher but he’s already playing Crossbones is pretty much a evil Punisher so people just need to calm down. If I had my choice he would be playing in the Escape from New York remake. I could definitely see him wearing an eye patch and kicking ass in the Big Apple.
This is my usual Monday morning….
Take it Home:
- Progress: In the first film they said that the unemployment rate was at 1% now they’re saying it’s below 5%. You would think that a system put in place to eradicate the poor and jobless would push it the other way.
- History class: I would like to see more on how the New Founding Fathers came into power. That sounds like it could make for an interesting story. I hope they don’t just turn this franchise into another Paranormal Activity where they do the same crap each movie.
- Product placement: Grillo’s character must have been planning this for a while cause he is driving a pretty rad Dodge Charger covered in armor.
- Latino thug #1: It was nice to see Noel Gugliemi. He was the Latino guy who tried to rape and murder the girls in the apartment building. Gugliemi has made a pretty good career playing that kind of character. He’s exactly the type that we look for in our Know Your Role series.
Rating: 3.75/5
