The Purge: Election Year: Hashtag 'Merica

The Purge introduced us to a futuristic world where once a year, for twelve hours, all crime is legal, including murder, during the annual Purge.  This "holiday" allows people to get out their aggression for the rest of the year so that crime rates go down and the lower class is cut down in favor of the upper class elite making some extra green. The focus in the first film was on a single family experiencing firsthand the negative effects of the Purge. It was a fantastic idea that was executed very poorly. So, we got a second one. The Purge: Anarchy took a wider scope on the night and brought us to the streets. There we follow several different people and see what this night looks like outside of one family's home.  It was an even better idea and was executed even worse.  The writing got worse, the dialogue was atrocious, and the acting was lousy. What should've been a massive improvement, somehow sunk the ship even faster. So, needless to say I didn't have high hopes for the third installment, The Purge: Election Year-- especially considering the same writer/director of the first two films was back to helm the part three.  And this is where I find myself pretty shocked-- The Purge: Election Year was actually pretty decent.  I don't know if I'm looking at it from a totally neutral standpoint of horror movies in general, or if it's good compared to the previous two.  All I know is that I actually enjoyed this movie.

Still the same set-up: twelve hour Purge, people gettin crazy and killin mfs, innocent people trying to avoid getting snuffed out, some do, some don't.  The difference now is that it seems the majority of America isn't too keen on this once beloved day anymore and are asking for a change. This is where Senator Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell) comes in-- she's running for President on a totally Eliminate-The-Purge campaign-- and she's got a decent shot at winning.  So, the Founding Fathers, threatened by this, take advantage of this year's Purge to try and take her out-- legally. She's aided by Leo Barnes (Frank Grillo), who was one of the main characters in the second film, as well as the protective owner of a Deli (Mykelti Williamson), his protegee (Joseph Julian Soria), and a former Purger-turned-vigilante (Betty Gabriel).  This group has to keep the Senator alive throughout the night and away from the excessive forces out to kill her idea of ending our "right as human beings to Purge".

To be honest, there really isn't anything different in the set up of this film as there was in the previous two. Each one had a great idea that just tanked before it had the chance to succeed. However, what this one does well that the other two didn't is that there are actually characters you give shits about. The first two movies don't provide much in the way of character development-- and I know what you're thinking: it's a horror movie, who cares? But, trust me, it matters.  In the first two films the characters and motivations and dialogue was so poorly written and executed that there was no emotional connection to anyone and therefore nothing that happened mattered. In this one, director James DeMonaco spends a little extra time letting you get to know these guys so that you can actually care if they live or die. And even that little bit of extra information works wonders with the rest of the film.  These are actually pretty decently fleshed out characters. The problem DeMonaco had with his characters in the first two was that no one was believable.  They weren't real people.  They were props used to move the story forward in a way that didn't make them real, but caricatures.  And yes, I'll admit, there is a small plotline in this movie about a couple of schoolgirls who get caught shoplifting and come back to Purge their revenge that was incredibly forced and poorly written/acted-- but it was very minute and the end result of the storyline was very satisfying.

What also works here is that, unlike the first two, there is actually some semblance of a political commentary.  Not a lot, mind you, but enough that it's not just a who-can-we-kill-and-how-gruesome-can-we-make-it horror movie-- it actually has something to say. And, what's even better, and pretty timely right now, is that it's essentially a huge indictment of the Republican Party. Advocates for The Purge, while never directly stated, are very clearly ultra religious conservatives. And the way this year has been going-- it's not too far fetched to see a scenario like the one in The Purge movies played out. Purgers are just as upset about the threat of taking away Purge night as current gun advocates are about "taking our guns away". It's done in such an over-the-top way that liberals are probably going to laugh at it and conservatives probably aren't going to get it.

As far as the horror aspects of the movie go-- it's pretty tense.  I wouldn't go so far as to call it a horror movie (though there are a couple of cheap jump scares that'll probably get you), but it's more of an intense thriller that'll keep your heart pounding.  It's a dark action-ish type movie.  I was a little bit surprised to see the gore factor decreased a little bit. I figured it being the third film the gore factor would be further amped up, but it's generally pretty modest. Overall, I was very impressed with the level of sophistication in this movie-- compared to the others.  The dialogue was improved, the acting was much better, the characters were much more fleshed out (I mean Bubba from Forrest Gump is in it-- and he provides some much needed humor to the overall darkened feel of the movie), the story was solid, the commentary was just enough to hint at a point, and the talent of a third time writer/director has finally given us a thriller that exceeds expectations.  If you even kinda liked the other two, then this one will legitimately blow your mind. #Merica

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