The Purge: Election Year (R)

“The Purge” franchise keeps getting better with each film. Perhaps writer-director James DeMonaco designed it that way – debuting the franchise with a disappointing original that executed its concept poorly, with a huge focus on the politics. The one-house setting with a focus on one family was restricting and damning. 

Now DeMonaco has a formula set where the politics are briefly recapped and then gets right to the carnage. “Election Year” suggests he’s now realized the franchise’s fullest potential, delivery the most focused tale yet.

Election year is upon us in 2025 in a very different America, where any crime is legal for 12 hours on a night a year in the Annual Purge. It was introduced by the New Founding Fathers of America (NFFA) to let Americans unleash anger and cleanse their souls, which also reduced crime rates.

It was also a way for the government to put more money in their pockets by thinning the herd and letting the rich kill America’s lowest classes who can’t protect themselves – meaning the government saves money because there are less people on welfare.

Senator Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell) is a voice for those impoverished, running for president to abolish the Purge, largely because her entire family was killed in 2007’s Purge Night in a darkly amusing scene.

The NFFA fears she’s gaining ground in the race against their candidate Minister Edwidge Owens (Kyle Secor), so they use the Purge for some “spring cleaning” as their leader eloquently puts it and take out their enemies, specifically the Senator. To do so, they take away the protection of Level 10+ government officials, so now it’s perfectly legal to kill them, too.

On the politics side, learning more about the New Founding Fathers is intriguing. The Washington, D.C. setting is opportune to give them more characterization, and they just seem to be people following a crazy cult leader, but all the followers are nuts.

Dante Bishop (Edwin Hodge), the only actor appear in all three films, has taken over the role of Michael K. Williams’ Carmelo Johns as the main voice against the NFFA. Frank Grillo returns as Leo Barnes, the head of the Senator’s security detail and her main hope of survival through the Purge. I like his ability in combat more than the character himself, as he’s just a badass protector with little depth. Mitchell is also great as the Senator, though her morals getting in the way of certain events can be irritating.

New low-class characters include Joe (Mykelti Williamson), a long-time deli owner who is protecting his store himself after his insurance company raises the price the day of the Purge. Also new is Laney Rucker (Betty Gabriel), who drives around on Purge night helping those who can’t protect themselves. It’s noble and one of my favourite concepts in the feature, and her character’s just super cool.

“Election Year” still has horror in its veins thanks to creepy masks and a healthy dose of jump scares – and it would be scary for the low-class citizens who can’t defend themselves on Purge night. It also feels like “Anarchy” in terms of great action and violence. The action sequences are fresh enough to satisfy fans of the franchise and newbies alike. For newbies, it’s just a different film tonally than the original. The deaths are cool, especially one by guillotine.

The characters are some of the best yet and the story is the strongest, the film still can’t recreate the great villain, the Polite Stranger, from the 2013 original. Rhys Wakefield was great as the character and was superbly creepy, and he was what helped make the original scary.

The NFFA are cool villains, even though their beliefs are baffling. Neo-Nazi mercenaries are also kind-of cool and the main guy, Earl Danzinger, is menacing but still feels like a caricature. That’s what all the villains in “Election Year” feel like – caricatures of bat-shit craziness of the America portrayed, just bloodthirsty animals wanting to purge.

A main villain, Kimmy, who sports puffs of hair on her head, definitely won’t outdo him. She’s like a bratty senior in high school whose dad gets her everything and she’s pissed when she can’t steal a candy bar. She’s over-the-top, exaggerated and deliriously annoying, but she’s a total miss at a competent villain with a bedazzled rifle – her motivation is lewding and getting her chocolate bar – but she’s also written in such a way that we just want to cheer when she dies.

There was an opportunity to create strong villains within the concept of murder tourists. They’re people from different countries coming to experience the Purge, and their scene is stylish and frightening. They could have been great; they stand out in a crowd, decked out in American themed masks like Presidents and the Statue of Liberty. Their potential was squandered when they start babbling about how much they love America and they just really want to do violence.

That was a big disappointment, plus, they have the wrong idea: If the Purge ever became real, and it feels like it could if Trump gets elected, they should leave America on Purge night, not to go to it. I’m super glad I’m holed up in Canada.

– by Daniel Prinn