Announcing the commencement of the 3rd installment in The Purge franchise…
The Purge is one of the most original ideas in recent horror history, with three films under its belt it’s continuing to grow. The term “Purge” is already cemented into our culture, whether you have seen the films or not, you know they are about all crime (Including murder) being legal for one night.
Though they got an A for creativity, the first two films were all but underwhelming as I left the theater feeling like they had much more to give. The trailers had me sold yet the films themselves were massive underachievers.
The Purge Election Year is what I wished the other two films were. Rarely does the 3rd installment in any series ever “save” a franchise, but in this case I’m willing to count this as a standalone film.
We follow an actual realistic storyline this time about a female senator who watched her family slaughtered on Purge night 18 years ago. She is running for President and her main motivation is to end the yearly bloodbath. This rocks the boat of the group who invented The Purge, The NFFA (The New Founding Fathers Of America). What follows next is a cat and mouse game on Purge night and simply trying to survive.
In the first two films the audience is never really drawn to any character, making their demise rather unemotional and dull. This film changes that narrative as the audience actually is rooting for the Senator and her help to make it out alive.
While it feels more realistic touching on many topics and issues that we face today (Political corruption, economy, and unaffordable insurance), the major shortcoming is the depiction of The Purge itself. In each film they spend only about 10 minutes showing the crazy antics going on outside. These segments are really well done and seem to only get better with each film, but in my opinion they need to be longer. The film drags on near the end for a little bit and some extra scenes with destruction outside could have made the audience feel more in that setting, while also cutting out some of the dead weight.
ROASTED RIPPER SCORE = B- (7.5/10 Victims)