The Purge, Election Year - 2016 - Movie

The Purge - Election Year

2016 

R - 127 min

Thrill ride for socialist adrenaline freaks, definitely not serious filmmaking.

From the previews so carefully edited to grab you and not let go, and buildup via the other 2 films of this trilogy, I was expecting something a bit more….overwhelming as far as scope.  Something along the lines of different locations across the states, interconnected webs of intrigue from those in power with ties to other countries, or quite possibly more of the inner social circles of those of the NFFA, the New Founding Fathers of America.  Instead, this was once again battle lines drawn between tightly controlled areas, characters, and personal focused drama on a limited scale that I would estimate demonstrated a smaller budget, studio execs not wanting to pour money into the incendiary series for fear of controversy or backlash, or quite possibly a look at the demographics of the previous 2 films and deciding it would not be worth it.  Only adrenaline junkies go see this stuff after all, in large part.

Contrary to that, however, we know that focusing on a particular group of people and subject in a story that has a large scope is one of the ways to effectively demonstrate the crux of the matter without making an epic that could end up being another Water World.  The hard part then is believability and impact. Convincing performances by all, and great editing tension and continual moving action kept this alive and made it the “thrill thing” that people go see most killer and chiller film, splatter films, or other pump-action flicks for.  This is really no different when it comes to that, as expected.

As far as bad guys, and girls, that was also limited, but well-played and came down to inept mercenaries working for the big guys with money, and some bad girls in the street who just wanted their candy bars.  Rather colorful group.

So getting past the cinema aspects and looking at the agenda, there is the socialist/moralist/idealist triangle of big private government interest taking advantage of their situation and providing a platform for extinguishing poor people that do nothing but suck resources from the economy, and also getting their kicks in a near-satanic kind of way by personally purging themselves in a private ceremony.  Conspiracy isn’t quite the word any longer at this stage, it’s more like outright legalized plans by white supremacists to rid themselves of social “vermin”.  Of course, to not make it seem like a white/black issue, the first person they sacrifice is a white drug addict.

The troubling aspect of this is the filmmaker’s almost overeager willingness to make this a vendetta against Christ.  No, I don’t mean Christianity, as in the church, but Christ himself (and consequently the images and hierarchy of church authority as well).  The name of Jesus was put front and center as the “excuse” that these twisted conspirators and control freaks used to justify their genocidal/sociopathic plan.  The church and state duo that is so often decried as an incorrect alliance by left swinging idealist and ACLU fans is seen firmly rooted here as the core of the NFFA’s justification, just as Christ and the Church have been used countless times as axe-swinging material over issues like slavery.  There was of course the underground group, mostly African American that included the token white guy who is our hero of the film, starring Frank Grillo, who come to the rescue in the end, and save the senator.  I’m not afraid of a spoiler here, because those of you who would actually bother to go see this will guess this is going to happen anyway.

Predictable, plot driven, and juvenile, the entire series is based on the old fashioned horror convention of “who’s gonna get whacked, and how bad, and do we get to watch?”.  

I repeat: Thrill ride for socialist adrenaline freaks, definitely not serious filmmaking.  HOWEVER, having said that, I’m betting that privately Mr. Obama and cabinet members got a screening, and enjoyed every gun-hating minute.

- Agitatus