ELECTION YEAR is the third and final instalment of the initial PURGE trilogy, set two years after the events of ANARCHY. It's a similar film in quality to ANARCHY too, with Frank Grillo's assured lead carrying us through another fraught and frenetic journey through the dark and murderous streets as his security specialist tries to protect the life of a crucial anti-purge politician. Once again this is a lean, pared-down thriller with plenty in the way of graphic violence and little in the way of extraneous sub-plots or characterisation to get in the way. It's a film filled with action and twists, gritty violence and characters both good and bad; I enjoyed it as a popcorn movie, a watch-once kind of experience.
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Leofwine_draca14 September 2018
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The original film in this franchise had a great premise but failed to do anything with the concept and I wasn't expecting anything with the sequel but was stunned by how much the production team developed the idea , so much so that I was genuinely excited to seeing the next film in the series which is a rare occurrence for me to get excited about upcoming film . As the trailers were released earlier in the year I did feel my excitement being negated and felt we'd be getting more of the same from a concept that with hindsight might not have much in the way of legs . Yeah the promos did feature some very topical satire about a female Senator and a right wing nutjob battaling for the future of America but seemed a little too obvious
The bad news is that's exactly how THE PURGE ELECTION YEAR plays out . You could say the studio has been honest and constructed a trailer that is refreshingly accurate and what you see is what you get but is a backhanded compliment really a compliment ? Worse than that the trailer is edited in chronological order and there's no surprises . One great thing about ANARCHY was that the story revolved around the mystery and the enigma of the mysterious violent anti-hero who had his own motives for trawling the streets during purge night . Here there's no mystery or character development . Here Sgt Leo is a knight in shining white armour saving the Senator from the fascist establishment and purgers thereby trying to save America from its extreme elements . Everything is black and white and painlessly simplistic . Everyone is good or bad with no in-between and no ambiguity involved
Being positive about this at least the dichotomy of the characterisation means no one is going to confuse the noble and genuine Senator Charlie Roan with any female politician running for President in 2016 so at least the film can't be accused of being cheerleaders for present American party politics . It also contains the occasional haunting image such as a body lying burning in a street , but there's nothing here that matches the impact of a burning bus driving along a road or the nail biting heart stopping tension of the hunting ground we saw in the second movie . Don't get me wrong ELECTION YEAR is still better than the original film and if you loved ANARCHY you'll probably like this one . The downside is that you had hoped for something a bit better and are left feeling rather disappointed by a rather predictable movie -
"The Purge: Election Year" (2016 release; 105 min.) brings the continued stories of the Annual Purge, set somewhere in the not-too-distant future. As the movie opens, we are treated to a "Purge playlist" (T. Rex; George Clinton). and we witness how a family is being purged by an evil-doer. We then are told "18 Years Later--2 Days before the Purge", as we get to know US Senator Roan, the sole survivor of the family massacre 18 years ago, and now campaigning to end the Purge. That is not to the liking of the ruling NFFA, a white supremacist-trending party. With Roan just 1 point behind in the polls, the NFFA decides that Roan must be 'taken care of' in the upcoming Purge. In a separate story line, we get to know Joe, owner of Joe's Deli, who confronts some teenage women trying to shoplift candy. We're 10-15 minutes into the movie at that point, but to tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.
Couple of comments: this is the third movie in the Purge franchise, again written and directed by James DeMonaco. The sole returning character from the second movie is Barnes (played by Fred Grillo), who now has become the head of security and trusted right-hand man of Senator Roan (played by Elizabeth Mitchell, still best known for her role in the TV series Lost). While DeMonaco cleverly picks up on certain undercurrents in the political scene as we know it today, as well as mixes in other current themes (the use of drones), the movie takes a dangerous turn by playing up the racial card to the max, with the NFFA clearly patterned after the South African ANC's Apartheid regime. Political considerations aside, the movie does a good job of raising the tensions but for me the movie is also too predictable and frankly a bit too long.
"The Purge: Election Year" opened wide this weekend (to coincide with July 4, of course). The Saturday evening screening where I saw this at here in Cincinnati was PACKED, and close to a sell-out. Seemed like the audience was enjoying the movie, hollering and hooting at all the bright moments. I sorta enjoyed the movie, although something bothered me about playing up the political and racial undertones. As a social experiment, the idea itself of an annual 'approved' purge, remains fascinating to check, although I believe that if the Purge franchise is to go on, some new ideas are badly needed. Bottom line: this is till worth checking out if you liked the first two Purge movie. If you are new to this franchise, I'd still recommend the first one as the standard bearer of this franchise. -
rgkarim1 July 2016With the holiday coming up, the movie industry is doing its best to rope people into the theaters. You would think something patriotic like a war story, a biography of a founding father, or some type of political coming of age movie. But my first review is on a horror instead that has to due with politics. My review is on The Purge: Election Year, the third installment in a series I never expected to have this much ground. Yours truly heads into the trenches to provide you another review and help guide your thoughts on how to spend your tickets in the theaters.
The GOOD: Comedy Semi Decent plot Suspenseful
The first point has to be a surprise, but yes the Purge: Election Year has some decent comedy to lighten up the aggressively somber mood. I mainly laughed at the commentary from Joe, a local deli shop owner with an interesting background on his own. Joe's lines are a menagerie of one- liners, quips, and racial banter that had the audience laughing. Despite some of the intense moments, the writers made the lines very tasteful, making sure to add a fun edge that hopefully won't insult the masses. Some of the other characters have their moments as well, timed equally well to maximize the laughs.
But you didn't come for laughs, you came for suspense that the night of legalized murder has provided in the past. You might think that a third installment has lost its edge, but surprisingly Election Year keeps the same on the seat moments as the last one. Like its predecessor, this movie takes our characters onto the streets, each forging their own path through the chaotic forest of crazy violence. I was pulled into the movie not by the mindless killing, but by the wonder of which member of the merry band would bite the dust. Part of what helped this was a semi-decent, albeit rushed, plot that had a little more backbone than mindless murder. Election Year's plot brings us further down the rabbit hole as to the point of the Purge and fills into those pot holes left at the end of the second movie. It's nothing special, but the character profiles were what kept my interest and fostered a bond with all the characters.
The BAD Pointless cursing/overacting Violence substituted for plot All the political issues it can drum up
No surprise, but a Rated R movie is going to have cursing, I get that I do. But as always the case, our writers get a little overzealous with dirtying the mouths of characters. Election Year unfortunately is not spared that fate as characters, mainly extras, fill their roles with overacted, dramatically-emphasized cursing that is more annoying than anything. I know it is to make you hate the character who will certainly die in the end, but they could have done it without such grandiose tactics. The silver lining of this, it is for limited run times so yay for that.
A second weakness for me, is substituting the violence for the plot. Now don't rip my head off, it is the Purge, a holiday that is only about violence and celebrating death, of course there will be violence. However, the Purge really needs to drop the glorified torture scenes and disturbing dances of craziness to provide more kick to their tale. That doesn't mean get rid of it all, after all there were plenty of jump at you moments where the violence was perfect, but Election Years tangents showing mask-wearing extras dancing or setting an elaborate trap that really doesn't work. This is another example of editing not eliminating all unnecessary scenes.
But perhaps the biggest weakness for me is the political issues this movie is sure to spark. Back in the day, you could make a movie like this and not start a revolution, but modern times have left our people a little more easily offended these days. The Purge's overdramatic antics, dialogue, and factions are certainly going to divide people and perhaps incite their own revolution on some level. All of the excessive violence, racial slurs, and political issues are over glorified, and I saw these effects take fruit in my theater with a few overzealous fans. So why did I bring this point up? Two reasons. The first is the political rants and corrupt speeches are cheesy, overdone, and eye rolling. The second is that if you are easily offended, no matter how much you like horror, you should not see this movie.
The Verdict
Despite being a third installment, The Purge Election Year certainly brings the same bite it always has. Yes, it is overdramatic and glorifies violence, and at times is certainly reflective of a mad man's mind. However, as far as horror movies go, it is surprisingly decent in terms of plot, action, and suspense that will entertain many of this genre. With interesting characters and a fast moving pace, you certainly won't be bored for the 105 minute run time. Necessary for a trip to the theater? Not really, but those who love the dive into the mad realm of murder, will certainly enjoy this tale.
My scores:
Action/Horror/Sci-Fi: 7.0 Movie Overall: 6.0 -
I thought the first movie was unsettling, and a great thriller. The second still delivered the goods, although it wasn't quite unsettling. But this one is a lackluster effort. Except for the climax in the church, there's nothing to recommend "The Purge: Election Year" With that girl attempting to shoplift, you can sense the movie is headed for an opportunity to be something, but alas, it is not to be. I have a feeling part 4 (and I read somewhere there will be) will be even less interesting than this one. There either needs to be an improvement, or just retire this franchise altogether. Any more mediocre efforts like this, and it might have to be retired anyway.
** out of **** -
a_chinn3 August 2018I have real mixed feelings about The Purge films. I've greatly enjoyed each one and am always excited for the next one to come out (I can't wait for the TV series!), but at the same time I've also always found each film a huge disappointment. This third installment does a better job than the previous films of delving more into the social-political context and ramifications of The Purge (an annual 12-hour period where the US government declares all crimes, even murder, legal). The story here is connected to the prior films in that the excellent Frank Grillo is now head of security for a US Senator fighting to end The Purge, who finds herself the night of The Purge being hunted down by The New Founding Fathers of America, the proponents of annual event. Another interesting story element is a former Purger, Betty Gabriel, who now drives a militarized Red Cross ambulance of sorts around the streets during The Purge to help innocent victims, who ends up helping Grillo and the senator. There's also Dwayne "Dante" Bishop returning again as a resistance moment leader fighting a Black Panther-like overthrow of The New Founding Fathers. Thematically, the second film did address issues of class and economics, which was lacking in the first film, including storylines about wealthy folks having poor folks pulled off the street to be murdered in the safety of their mansions, with poor folks starting to push back. Election Year continues those class warfare themes, but also brings in politics and how wealthy powerbroker and politicians collude to use The Purge for their own financial benefit, scheming to kill off wide swaths of the poor (really disappointed they didn't use The Dead Kennedys on the soundtrack). Also better than the previous films, writer/director James DeMonaco fills the screen with more memorable images of chaos in the streets. Some of the best are the Lincoln Memorial on fire and vandalized, a group of teen girls cruising around in masks, with guns, in a car covered in Christmas lights, and a then there's a enjoyably throwaway scene of an alleyway pit and the pendulum-like guillotine. DeMonaco also continues to worldbuild, besides introducing politicians debating merits of The Purge, there's "murder tourists" coming from other countries to the US to participate in the anarchy. The downside to this third installment is that it felt nowhere as lawless and frightening as the earlier installments. The first film was a more traditional of home invasion horror film, which lent itself to making The Purge something very scary on a small scale, but the two subsequent sequels felt more like action films, which somewhat muted the film's terrifying premiss. Also, these worldbulding elements, although interesting, felt more like throwaway ideas that were just tossed in and never fully explored. It's not bad that they were included in the the film and they certainly add to the world of The Purge, but again, they feel like missed opportunities. Overall, I was never bored by "The Purge: Election Year" and was in fact quite entertained, but I still feel like the film should have been scarier, with more horror elements, and although it did delve more into the subtext of the series original premiss, it felt like it was playing things too safe. Maybe the new TV series will be scarier and more incendiary in it's subtext.
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Sleepin_Dragon7 September 2018Films don't always do so well when they mix stories with politics, particularly horror films, but in all fairness this one did the job surprisingly well. This feels like a good conclusion to the Purge series, with the upcoming first Purge explaining how it all started. This one had a story as well as the usual tales of hate and revenge. This was visually very good, some of the scenes looked great, the shop under attack scenes in particular was expertly staged. It was well acted once again, and the story was rather intriguing. It lacked some of the subtleties of the first film, and at times it did feel like we've been here before many times, but overall it was very watchable, I got the impression all involved were taking it very seriously. 7/10
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Fella_shibby15 July 2021I first saw this in 2016 on a dvd which I own. Revisited it recently with my family.
This is the third installment in the Purge franchise.
A young Charlene Roan is forced to watch as her mother, father, and brother are killed on a Purge night. Fast forward eighteen years n Roan, a U. S. Senator is campaigning for the U. S. Presidency and promises an executive action to end the annual Purge nights.
This one gets a bit stale but i am generous with a 7 cos of Grillo.
In this one there are no psychopaths or creepy stuff.
It also has lots of clichés moments.
It was easy to predict that apart from Grillo's character, all other security personnel will be traitors.
Also the tunnel stuff are all too far fetched n predictable. -
So I'll start off by saying that I actually liked the original Purge, I know many people were expecting it to be a bit bigger and to expand more on the premise but I still enjoyed it and thought it was a pretty fun Horror/Thriller. Then the second Purge (which really wasn't a sequel, more of just a separate movie set in the same universe apart from one little tie in) came out and I enjoyed that one as well, however I thought it was a bit more cheesy than the original and it was really more of an Action/Thriller than a horror movie. I was pretty set with those two, I didn't think there was any need to continue on with the franchise, but we rarely ever get big release horror movies anymore so I decided to just suck it up and give The Purge: Election Year a chance.
So the premise was actually pretty interesting, a Senator whose family was slaughtered in front of her on Purge night is running for president in an effort to stop the Purge. However from there things start to get really really stupid. Since her opposition wants to keep her out of office they decide to disband the law that protects political officials on Purge night, thus making her fair game. When this news is shared with the Senator she decides that instead of locking herself up in a safe house (which would keep her and her dream to stop the purge alive) she'll just put the life of herself and the lives of her security team in jeopardy by just hanging out at her house on Purge night. This is one of many stupid decisions made by the Senator, and that is one of the main reasons why I found it very hard to root for her. Luckily she has a bad ass security guard (the main character from the second film) who is there to rescue her when things go south on Purge night, from there the film basically just becomes a rinse and repeat of the second film. There is also a sub plot about a extremely cookie cutter deli owner who will do anything in his power to protect his deli.
I think my main issue with the film is that the characters were just so cheesy and unrealistic. All the good guys who we are suppose to care for just ooze cheese and almost every line that comes out of their mouths is cringe worthy. The is one character in particular (the deli owner) who I found myself rooting against because he was just such a lame and unbelievable character, they actually tried to give this guy catch phrases. These felt like characters out of a bad action movie, and that's really what this film was at it's core, a lousy action movie in a horror setting. The villains weren't much better, at one point they try to pass off a group of obnoxious teenage girl as villains, the scenes with these girls were drawn out and extremely irritating, these characters belonged in a teen comedy not a R rated "Horror" film.
All in all I thought this was a lousy sequel and that the Purge Franchise would have been better after just being two films. They basically just repackaged The Purge: Anarchy with worse characters and a little bit more of an expansion on the story. The worst part is they will probably make more of these, they will run this franchise into the dirt just like the Paranormal Activity franchise. My expectations were not very high, yet I was still pretty disappointed. -
Oberrated1 July 2016The third installment of The Purge series was the icing on the cake for me that solidified my enjoyment of this trilogy. Since the first came out, I have thoroughly enjoyed the brutality these films presented to the audience and myself. Being possibly the weakest of the three, the first still was memorable for me. With the second, DeMonaco broadened the scope, added more plot, and kept the brutality and insanity. Now with the third, the plot hits its climax and the terrifying imagery hits a new high as well as the brutality of the kills and sheer insanity that the purge night brings. I love Frank Grillo and his presence radiates badassery and this film lets him be just that. Elizabeth Mitchell played a convincing politician driven by passion to end the purge. Yet on the flip side of the coin, The Founding Fathers are as sadistic as the night they created. The supporting actors within the film, Mykelti Williamson, Joseph Julian Soria, and Betty Gabriel, carry the movie very well, in my opinion and are enjoyable to watch with their story and also their slight comedic relief at times.
Overall, 'The Purge: Election Year' brings back everything I love about this series with its intensity, brutality, and terrifying imagery. For a film that relies on brutal violence, The Purge does a good job at bringing in a plot that does not feel too forced unlike the first film where it relied solely on the horror thriller feel of it. If you love films with violence, profanity, and intense scenes, this is the film to see. If you love the series, this is the best one to see of the three. -
claudio_carvalho4 September 2016In Washington, Senator Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell) is disputing the Presidential election running against the New Founding Fathers' candidate Minister Edwidge Owens (Kyle Secor). She claims that the NFFA uses The Purge with economical purpose to get rid of poor and sick people and is the favorite to win. The BFFA leaders plot a scheme revoking the protection of government officials to kill Roan. Her chief of security Leo Barnes (Frank Grillo) uses his agents and snipers to protect Roan, but there is a breach in the security system created by two agents that betray Barnes and a paramilitary group breaks in the house killing the loyal agents and snipers. However Barnes and Roan succeeds in escaping but Barnes is shot on the shoulder. They are captured by a group of Russian tourists and rescued by two locals that are protecting a store. They call their friends and they decide to protect the Senator until the next day. Will they succeed in protecting Roan?
"The Purge – Election Year" seems to be the last chapter of this franchise; but the riot in the very end of this movie may be the beginning of another sequel. The idea of the dystopian society is too much imbecile and unrealistic. Therefore there are only funny and violent situations to entertain the viewers. My vote is five.
Title (Brazil): "12 Horas Para Sobreviver - O Ano da Eleição" ("12 Hours to Survive- The Election Year") -
CANpatbuck36643 July 2016I think it's cool that this franchise seems to be evolving to what the fans want. I didn't like the first Purge movie but I did want to see where the idea would go. So the movie going public seemed to collectively say "make another one but go bigger, show it on a national scale." That's exactly what they did with The Purge: Anarchy and it was much better. The Purge: Election Year is more about the political side. It's pretty topical and The Purge franchise has always worn it's politics on it's sleeve so you have to accept that going into it. With the election in the U.S.A. coming up, there is a lot of good material to tap into so I was eager to see where it would go.
*Minor Spoilers Ahead* We actually start the movie pretty far back in the past. A family is tied up on their couch, they are bloody and bruised and have obviously been tortured already. The villain has a mask on and is rocking out hard. He's enjoying himself and talking about how careful he was in selecting specific songs for his Purge playlist. He tells the family that they have arrived at the final purge game, he tells them only one of them is going to survive the night and that the mom gets to choose.
We then flash many years ahead of time (approx. 15-20) where the NFFA (New Founding Fathers of America) are running into problems. The word is out about the Purge, how the government is using it to eliminate the lower class. A political candidate running as an independent Senator Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell, Charlie was the same little girl from the opening) has gained enough of a following that she is threatening to win the election and to topple the current regime being led by Minister Edwidge Owens (Kyle Secor) and the NFFA. Leo Barnes (Frank Grillo) is the head of her security team. He supports her completely but he's annoyed by her disregard for protocol. Meanwhile, the NFFA are less than pleased for sure and decide to have her taken out on purge night.
In the spirit of the previous film, we don't just follow Charlie and Leo. Also in Washington D.C. a shop owner Joe Dixon (Mykelti Williams) and his hired worker Marcos (Joseph Julian Soria) are anxious about the upcoming purge. Joe's purge insurance has been raised exponentially and he cannot rely on their protection. To make matters worse, there's a couple of teenagers with attitude to burn who are trying to shoplift from his store. If not from some help from Laney Rucker (Betty Gabriel) they might have got away with it. Laney is already busy on Purge night running a triage van, Joe and Marcos resolve to come back and protect the store.
This franchise expands the mythology and keeps expanding it's world with each passing movie which is impressive. Sometimes when it comes to sequels, the studio and the creative team are just content to just repeat the same formula. Not in this franchise. In this one, people are travelling to the U.S. to be part of The Purge, people are trying to make money off it with elaborate costumes and offering services for money like body removal. It's cool that James DeMonaco and his team aren't just content to coast on what they've built and try something different each time.
The Purge: Election Year also represents a change of genre. The first Purge was a straight bottle horror film. The Purge: Anarchy brought more action in but still was survival horror. Election Year is an action movie with horror aspects. There's a few cheap jump scares but anything that's meant to be scary is more through the imagery. I have to commend the people who designed the sets, the costumes and even the cinematography. The designs are more freakish and the costumes while outlandish are very creative and are creepy as hell.
So while I want to keep heaping praise on this, I'll get into the more mixed aspects here. Starting with the plot, the direction they decide to take it in is interesting with the fight against the purge actually forming. The character development hasn't been the deepest throughout the franchise but I think this one takes a step back with the exception of Charlie and Leo. I just didn't care as much for guys like Joe, Marcos and Dante compared to the characters of the previous entries. I also thought the dialogue was pretty bad throughout. I felt bad for Mykelti as so much of his dialogue is very hokey and cringe-worthy at points. So while there's some new and interesting stuff in the writing, it's not all great and not every aspect of Election Year is exponentially better.
I think that with the acting you get 2 really good acting jobs and the rest are a mix of okay to bad. Frank and Elizabeth carry the movie, they're the most believable and you want to follow them. I don't want to blame Mykelti and Joseph too much , they're saddled with some lacklustre parts of the script. The villains (the NFFA and the evil purgers) were overdoing it but in a weird way it fit the movie. This movie is far from subtle and their performances were consistent with that.
When it comes to The Purge franchise, I think that Anarchy is still the best entry. Anarchy completely achieved what it wanted to achieve and was a deeper movie than you would think at first glance. The Purge: Election Year builds on the groundwork of the first 2 movies well even though it has some setbacks. With the heavy political message it conveys, it won't please everyone and I understand that. I'm up to see another entry though and watch where The Purge will go next. -
ma-cortes6 September 2019This thrilling picture results to be a futuristic yarn full of kinetic energy and amazing stunt work . It contains mystery , chills , noisy action , thrills , fights , social critical , and a weird atmosphere with dark with a surprising ending . The known and unrealistic premise of "The Purge" developing in the first installment is the following : The idea behind this whole futuristic America is that the Economy is down and Crime is up , as authorities put a lot of emphasis on murder being legal , that's why they believe assassinations would get better problems . It is just universally accepted that the cause of all these troubles is built up aggression within the human population. In order to correct this, the United States Government decides that it would be a good idea to give the public a day to "release the aggression". So, one day of each year, they will have an annual "Purge" where all crime is legal , including killing . Somehow, magically, this does help the Economy and Crime overall is down for the rest of the year. Because if people get out all that anger in one day, they will not feel the need to commit any more crimes for the rest of the year . This third outing is set some years later from first entry , it's been two years since Leo Barnes (Frank Grillo who reprises the character of former police sergeant Leo Barnes) stopped himself from a regrettable act of vendetta on Purge Night . Nowadays serving as head of security for Senator Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell) , who is promising to end the annual purge nights , she is competing at national election against another candidate , Minister Edwidge Owens (Kyle Secor) . The New Founding Fathers of America's (NFFA) leader, Caleb Warrens (Raymond J. Barry) and their candidate, Minister Edwidge Owens, view Roan as a threat; in the guise of regaining the public's trust, revoke immunity for rank 10 or higher government officials to kill her on Purge night . Charlie's mission is to protect her in a run for president and survive the annual ritual that targets the poor and innocent . They have to confront a really ruthless gang of masked killers led by Earl Danzinger (Terry Serpico) . But a betrayal forces them onto the streets of D.C. on the one night when no help is available . Along the way the security agent and the Senator are helped by a motley group of brave people called Joe Dixon (Mykelti Williamson) , Marcos (Joseph Soria) and Laney Rucker (Betty Gabriel) . As they must stay alive until dawn...or both be sacrificed for their sins against the state . I Purged . For one night only, America invites you to its annual tradition . Keep America Great .Purge for the People .Purge for the Nation . Purge for the Power .Purge for Your Liberty . Purge for the Glory. Witness the birth of an American tradition. Citizens, join the Purge. A nation reborn. It Changed Our Country. It Challenged Our Beliefs. Now, Witness How It All Began.
The film is a comic-books style story , set in a dystopian nearly future , plenty of energetic action , shootouts , extreme violence , thriller , surprise-filled entertainment and high body-count . The tale is a blending of ordinary Sci-Fi movies , such as : Escape from N.Y , 2013 : Rescue in L.A. , Doomsday , and even Mad Max series , taking parts here and there . Instead of attempting to be a terror movie , it turns a fantastic thriller/action film set in a pseudo-apocalyptic future about a group of people trying to survive on a night where it's all-out war on the streets . This exciting movie is packed with frenetic action , crossfire , unbelievable car stunts , tension , thrills , chills , and lots of blood and gore, including throating-slit , beheading and anything else . The nail-biting action scenes are uniformly very well done , and the suspense and intrigue are enough to keep you interested throughout the film runtime , even in the low parts of the picture . This Great Action Thriller was the final movie in the "Purge" trilogy (2013-2016) until a prequel was made : The First Purge (2018) . It displays a magnificent plethora of characters , pretty well drawn , giving exceptional performances by its entire cast .
This is a decent movie and well set in a post-apocalyptic D.C. , dealing with a valient group who will have to fight cruel disguised cutthroats , bands of depraved crazies ; packing frantic action , shocks as well as abundant violence, being professionaly directed by James de Monaco . And it even has earned more money at the box office than its predecessor . Monaco is a good writer/producer and director . He has written the Purge saga and Purge TV series ; and Assault on Precinct 13 , Skinwalkers , Negotiator , Hate , Staten Island , The kill Point series , Crash series . And he has directed The Purge films ; this horror/thriller franchise is formed by The Purge 2013 , The Purge: Anarchy 2014 , Election year 2016 , and The First Purge 2018 . All of them are set in different locations , as the first film takes place in a house , the second film takes place in the streets , and the third film takes place in official locations , as well as D.C. , and The First Purge takes place on Staten Island, New York , in which no character from any of the previous installments will be returning. This Purge Election is an acceptable film in its own right and it's worth watching . Rating : 6.5/10 . It is very highly recommend to anyone who appeals apocalyptic thrillers . -
whitefirethought17 July 2016This film was god awful. I expected it to be at least a little entertaining but its not. The trailer for the film pretty much spoils the entire movie. The acting is the equivalent to a pornography film and the cinematography is beyond terrible. It's a cliché cash grab that is not worth the money to see in theaters or buy on blue-ray. I even found myself laughing at how bad some of the scenes in this film are, specifically the ending where the whole thing is predictable. Hell even in the second act of the film, they introduce these "Candy Bar" girls who not even kidding try to kill a main character for a candy bar. The script is lazy and not engaging in any way. The tension completely drops as you realize the protagonists will always find a convenient way out of a bad situation. Deus ex Machina. Do not see this film unless you want to have a laugh with a couple of friends over how bad it is. It's really not a good movie.
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With all immunities revoked everyone becomes game on Purge night and a bodyguard must protect his boss to help end the Purge one and for all.
Whereas the first instalment was very much confined to one location and its sequel The Purge: Anarchy had wider city scope, in this third instalment it goes further in scale story wise, touching on the politics involved. Interestingly it also touches on tourist visiting to take part in the Purge.
Elizabeth Mitchell (of TV's V) is perfectly cast as senator Roan who is campaigning for the Presidency and intending to end the Purge. Not only does she look the part,she is a convincing actor. While were not given any great further insight into actor Frank Grillo's returning Leo Barnes he gives a great physical performance as Roan's security head. Director/writer James DeMonaco offers some hard hitting violence and action, there's a good setup where the senator is betrayed and they have to make their escape.
As a shop owner and his co-worker thwart an attack from the local female yobs who are lit up in fairy lights touting guns and disc cutters, they then help the senator and Barnes. DeMonaco injects some good character interaction and dialogue, with the on location feel adding to the city realism. Actor Betty Gabriel's Laney Rucker is memorable as she goes about helping both groups. Later after the senator is kidnapped - to be sacrificed at midnight Purge mass, Rucker and her anti-Purge team assist Barnes in a violent rescue attempt.
DeMonaco's third instalment has plenty of night-time atmosphere akin to Anarchy's feel but even with the higher stakes, chaos, murder and haunting images on display it doesn't feel to have as much tension as the second outing. The ending while satisfyingly finishing of the trilogy does leave it open for future films with pro-Purge unrest.
Nevertheless, it's a solid entry, if you enjoyed the first and second this will meet expectations. -
The Purge: Election Year puts a new spin on the Purge series by adding a political element to the story. Senator Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell, Lost) plans to end the Purge if she is elected president against the minister opponent who is a pawn of the NFFA, National Founding Fathers Administration. Leo Barnes (Frank Grillo) returns now as a secret service agent having come to terms with the loss of his son and realizing the vengeance he had desired in the previous film was caused by the evils of the Purge.
The secondary storyline is really the best part of this Purge film. Joe Dixon (Mykelti Williamson) steals the show as a shop owner screwed over by the Purge insurance company forced to protect his property. With the help of Marcos (Joseph Julian Soria) and traveling Purge night nurse Laney Rucker (Betty Gabriel), they fend off young teenage murderers and murder tourists.
Check out more of this review and others at swilliky.com -
SnoopyStyle24 July 2016Senator Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell) is running for President on a platform of ending the Purge. Her family was massacred during the Purge in her childhood. The NFFA revokes the Purge rule protecting high rank government officials but Roan refuses to add security. Leo Barnes (Frank Grillo) from the previous movie is now her head of security. Store owner Joe Dixon (Mykelti Williamson) is informed that his Purge insurance has been canceled. Roan is betrayed and escapes with Barnes into the streets where they are hunted.
This tries to add politics to what started out as a simple horror franchise. It's making social commentary. The world of the Purge continuous to be expanded. There are fun Purge visuals. There are some fun action although I wouldn't call it a scary horror. It goes down some weirder paths which is interesting. One thing holding it back is that there is only one possible good ending and the movie would ignore it to its detriment. Roan has to die. -
ivan-yergiyev22 July 2016To begin with, this is the third part of the movie series called Purge. They all have the same setting, so I highly recommend watching two preceding films before. However, it is not mandatory. So, main idea of the film is that American government wants to reduce violence. Even though their intentions are pretty obvious, the concept of accomplishing the goal is unique. Creating "Purge" night, where every act of brutality and violence including murdering and torturing was allowed, supposed to cut down the level of crime during non-purge nights. Pretty interesting approach, huh? While first two films were mostly about characters who wanted to survive, this movie delivers us a "special" purpose. After so many years of purge, America has finally found an senator who wants to cancel "death" night. Her name is Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell). On the other hand, minister Edwidge Owens (Kyle Secor) works for the government and wants purge night to continue its existence. Debates, interviews and dialogues - all this we can see during first minutes of the movie. This part is pretty interesting and fits into the "rhythm".
During actual purge night, unlike previous films, we see the goal - make sure senator stays alive. As we all know from Purge: Anarchy, the best guy to do so is Leo Barnes (Frank Grillo). Film provides us with basic plot twists and action scenes. Even though, movie involves intriguing personalities such as Joe Dixon (Mykelti Williamson), Dante Bishop (Edwin Hodge), Laney Rucker (Betty Gabriel) and Marcos (Joseph Soria), directors do not provide us with all needed background information so you can understand their motivation fully. Other characters are mainly considered as a "crowd actors". Film mainly consists of action scenes where we only have couple of minutes to be like "huh, that was intense". After that directors make us to jump into another location. Having a few drama scenes also makes it even a better thriller movie. But it still lacks atmosphere and because of fairly "obvious" goal the ending and plot overall is also pretty clear.
To sum up, I would like to tell that I liked the movie. Despite it is not as well structured as typical good thriller, it gives us an adrenaline we need during all 100 minutes. On the other hand, I would not recommend to continue this franchise as it has said everything it needed to and making another film to "clear" all details is not worth it. Typically, I would give this film 6.5/10 marks which results in 7/10 on IMDb. However, Purge: Anarchy received 7/10 as well, so it is fair to give The Purge: Election Year its honestly earned 6/10 considering it has already gathered more than 70 million dollars domestically. -
subxerogravity1 July 2016It's a far better follow up to The Purge: Anarchy than Anarchy was a follow up to the original Purge. It's the same element of social science fiction action horror. It helps that Frank Grillo reprises his role from Anarchy, but it's a different story altogether.
A senator is running for president on the idea that she would fight to end the purge and her body guard, Leo Barnes believes in her cause. So when her enemies wish to use the purge to kill her, he puts his life on the line with the help of some citizens who also believe in her make sure the senator survives the night.
the combination of horror with the social commentary makes it scary. Adding to that, the movie is released in the year of the US's biggest election. It's an exaggerated reflection on society, but still its like looking into a mirror of what people would do if they could get away with it.
I felt the movie was pretty even on every side of what the purging does: the poor get eliminated, the rich get richer, and Election Year adds those who are poor who fight back and those who see it as a religious day.
My favorite was a group of girls that represent a generation who grew up just knowing twitter who live all year waiting to seek revenge on adults who they think make their lives horrible, and have fun unleashing their anger.
Election Year touches all emotions, it almost acts as my purge. It lays every thing on the line very real like.
Great action, socially scary and very funny. A must see. -
I love a good action movie. The last two "Purge" films were okay, nothing amazing, but I was willing to give this one a shot. Honestly, it was nauseating - not from violence, but from politicization. Regardless if a movie's political message resonates with me or not, if it gets to overshadowing the whole thing, then I feel it ruins the film. That was the case here.
I was fully expecting cheesy one liners (trust me, plenty of those) and gory action, and if that's all you want from this film, then I think you'll like it. I wanted to be lighthearted and enjoy it, but it went sour from preachiness REALLY fast.
I'm just glad that I went to a free screening - if I had spent my money on this, I would have been mad. -
dave-mcclain2 July 20162016. A presidential election year. Both in reality and on the big screen – with high stakes AND what seems to be an increasing amount of insanity working its way into the process. 2016 marks the second time the GOP is lead by a candidate mainly known for his accomplishments as a businessman, the third time with a candidate named Clinton heading the Democratic ticket – and the third time for a story about an annual 12-hour period at the beginning of spring during which all crime is legal – even murder.
As many questions as have been raised by the first two iterations in "The Purge" film franchise, writer-director James DeMonaco (accomplishing the rare feat of creating three movies in a single horror series) manages to find even more questions to ask in "The Purge: Election Year" (R, 1:45). For example, might such an annual event attract foreigners who would like to get away with murder for a night? (Yes. They're called "murder tourists".) Does insurance cover property against purge night destruction? (Yes. But they might hike up their rates at the last minute, even beyond what people can pay.) Is it possible for a politician to turn back the clock and end the annual purge? (Maybe. But it wouldn't be easy.) Senator Charlene "Charlie" Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell) is an Independent candidate for President running primarily on a promise to end the purge, mainly because of seeing her entire family murdered on an earlier purge night. She has the backing of a guy who actually has her back, her head of security, former police Sergeant Leo Barnes (Frank Grillo), who was stopped from nearly carrying out a revenge killing on a more recent purge night and now hates the brutal tradition almost as much as Roan does. Although there is a growing anti-purge movement, including a group led by Dante Bishop (Edwin Hodge, the only actor to appear in all three of the films), there are a lot of powerful people who want the purge to go on.
On this purge night, the usual ban against killing high-ranking politicians is lifted. That puts Roan's life in danger. It also exposes the NFFA (New Founding Fathers of America) to being targeted themselves, but they have the money to hire plenty of security with plenty of firepower. When the NFFA turn their considerable resources against Roan, she finds herself on the run in the streets of Washington DC, trying to survive the night so she can (hopefully) win the election and make this the last purge night ever.
As the usual purge mayhem unfolds around them, Barnes and Roan are saved from certain death by deli owner Joe Dixon (Mykelti Williamson) and his loyal employee, Marcos (Joseph Julian Soria). With their help and the help of purge night triage vehicle operator Laney "Little Death" Rucker (Betty Gabriel) and (later in the movie) Bishop and his followers, Roan and Barnes just might survive the night but it won't be easy and it may cost the lives of some of the main characters. NFFA leaders like Caleb Warrens (Raymond J. Berry) and Minister Edwige Owens (Kyle Secor), Roan's opponent in the presidential election, have money, influence, superior technology and ruthless thugs like Earl Danzinger (Terry Serpico, looking like an evil Anthony Michael Hall) to help bring their nefarious plans to fruition.
Like the pervious "Purge" movies, "The Purge: Election Day" is surprisingly entertaining and deep. The first film explored the idea of income and class inequality taken to extremes, but it just felt like an interesting one-off. A 2014 sequel added more action – and made the franchise's theme more obvious (especially late in the movie), while adding the subplot of growing popular resistance to the purge. The third film throws its message right in the audience's face, but what it lacks in subtlety, it makes up for in even better story-telling. The plot is multi-faceted, but not overly complicated, and features some interesting twists along the way. Some of the characters are over-acted, parts of the script are unnecessarily crude and there's a distracting amount of blood and gore, but "The Purge: Election Day" gives Movie Fans plenty of engaging action and biting social commentary. "B" -
Fiurilli11 July 2016Even though the first two 'The Purge' movies weren't all that great I still had a fun time seeing it and was interested in what this newest installment in the series could bring.
The movie starts off with an uninspired news broadcast that sets up the story about a senator running for presidency whose goal is to abolish the annual purge (an event where for one night all crime is legal). The current government or 'The New Founding Fathers' want nothing of this and would prefer to have this senator out of the way.
In the beginning of the movie the director uses some interesting lighting techniques whenever new characters were introduced where the way their faces were lit gave an indication on their moral standpoint is on the purge*. Sadly after a mere half hour these subtleties disappeared and what was left was a movie that just went from action scene to action scene with some poorly written dialogue in between.
The characters themselves are also very bland. With only a few lines of dialogue their entire backstory is revealed and with these same lines the movie tries to get the viewer emotionally invested. This is not done successfully however and when things spiral out of control and the unavoidable does happen it is more likely met with laughter rather than tears.
Blaming all of this on the dialogue would be too harsh however considering the acting is sub par. Often times lines are delivered in an almost laughable manner, although with a script like that you can't really ask much from the actors.
Overall the movie was incredibly boring to watch and is a worthy contender for worst movie of the year (although I think Independence Day: Resurgence will claim that 'trophy'). If you've got money to spare then please save it for when a better movie comes out.
My rating: 3/10
* for instance the senators face is fully lit up when we first see her, while the faces of the government officials is fully dark on one side -
Here we all are with yet another year of purging; The Purge: Election Year, or just The Purge 3 is a film that finds itself in assumption for the worse, but has actually managed to stabilize itself into it's third year, keeping solid, as well as keeping The Purge franchise followers happy.
So knowing that the first film was pretty good, leading to the second that actually managed ( In my opinion ) to rise itself a bit higher.. this was exciting news to know another installment was coming, and here we are; This film was interesting as a whole. The film now takes upon the more deeper insight of the entire ordeal, the political standpoint on the entirety of the purge itself, and how it can be used to surpass wants. At the same time, the film, like the others in a way succeeds in bringing the audience into an adventure that revolves around the characters / protagonists as they are forced through the horrifying events that follow the entirety of the purge. With all of that being said, this film as a whole was intriguing. It had a pretty good villain to hero - type of plot going for it, and that stood out well for the entire film. We, the audience are overall sitting intrigued, unable to look away as we're greeted with surprises on every corner, challenge after challenge, and overall ordeal of action that strikes fear to those watching. The scenes of action were intense, and thrilling. Whenever such actions take place, we suddenly find ourselves watching an all out battle, wondering if anything drastic toward our main characters shall happen as we sit, intrigued; It was absolutely awesome, as well to see such events take place, and to see the film succeed in such levels, and portrayals of intensity and action. Aside from all that, on the other hand, this film seemed to take an even more interesting turn toward it's horror side of things. Throughout the film there we're greeted with a rather eerie, impending - doom type feeling; Of course, such vibes and such were given off in the other two films, but this one seemed to crank the level up a bit on that note, introducing itself overall with it, leading to it's success within it's eerie atmosphere, visual eye candy, and just overall events that were executed. Overall on such note, the film cranked up its levels in this one, which of course was a very pleasant surprise, and an exciting aspect for Purge franchise followers. This film felt more intense, and eerie throughout the entire length of the film, the action scenes, as well as events were executed intriguingly, and smoothly. And the Purge blood, gore, and even jump scares as well were well themselves. Another element that was extremely eventful to watch through this horror trip were the characters. From the senator, to the NFFA organization, to the purgers' themselves, it all stood out, and surprisingly enough lead itself into some pleasing twists, and turns. The main characters including The senator Charlie, the characters picked up throughout the film, Leo, and of course her overall competition / enemies each worked in unique ways, and all seemed to work with the story, and not just seem like a pointless character dropped off. It was extremely fun seeing characters such as Leo return, as well ( After being in the second film ) they had great roles, and truly executed their survival throughout simplistically. Overall, with all of our leading characters however, each had a heavy heart throughout the story, displaying their care for each other, how each of them connect, and look out for each other as a whole through the hellish ordeal; Sappy. Overall it was fun to see characters return, and watching them go through the twists, and turns of the overall purge was fun as well; The film succeeding in stabilizing their characters, keeping them from becoming boring, or worn out.
In conclusion, this was a fun watch. A third installment that's assumed to suck - but ended up being just what the entire franchise needed. Fun characters, awesome portrayal of them as well, returns, unique personalities, as well as additions to the story that works. A turn - up within the topic of their gore, as well as shock value with how the kills are executed, not too much, but also not to little. And to top it all off, an interesting story that stays solid throughout, not seeming to give up with its twists, turns, and overall adventurous, yet at the same time eerie overall execution. The only real problem that stood with this film is the fact that it tends to drag on at times, the film became slow within the middle - to end parts; But every movie has it's moment like such. I feel as if Purge franchise followers, and overall fans won't be disappointed, instead pleased. This was a fun watch, I personally recommend experiencing it. -
stevendbeard2 July 2016I saw "The Purge:Election Year", starring Frank Grillo-The Captain America movies, The Grey; Elizabeth Mitchell-Lost_tv, Frequency; Mykelti Williamson-Justified_tv, Con Air and Kyle Secor-Veronica Mars_tv, City Slickers.
This is one of those love it or hate it movies. I love them. In case you missed the other 2-or are unfamiliar with the action/horror franchise-it takes place in the not-too-distant future of 2025, where the NFFA-New Founding Fathers of America-have instituted a yearly 'purge'. On this one day, any crime is legal for 12 hours-sunset to sunrise-with most people preferring murder. The only exception is government officials. You can't just walk up to, say, the President, and shoot him. All 3 movies are written & directed by the same man, James DeMonaco, the first in 2013 and the second in 2014. Basically, the government uses the purge to keep crime and the population under control-pretty much taking out the poor, lower class since the richer people can afford fortresses to hide in or bigger guns to hunt with. Frank plays a secret service agent that is assigned to protect senator Elizabeth, who is running to become President on a platform that she will eliminate the purge. Kyle is her opposite; he is a proud NFFA member and wants to continue the tradition of purging, so he too wants to be President. It seems that the NFFA do not want Elizabeth to win so they plot to take her out of the equation, during the purge. And to do that, they suspend the amendment to the purge about government officials being exempt. Open season on everybody! Frank must spend the night trying to keep Elizabeth alive so that she can win the election and get rid of the purge. Mykelti is a sympathetic shop owner that helps Frank on his obstacle course of death while they are evading Neo-Nazis mercenaries hired by NFFA plus the regular purge participants. If you liked the others, you should enjoy this one, too. It is rated "R" for bloody violence and strong language and has a running time of 1 hour & 45 minutes. I really liked it and I think it's the best of the 3. I would buy it on DVD. -
kidmoe25 December 2017Like most Hollywood movies, The Purge: Hillary's Election Year makes no attempt to hide it's political leanings: Good "minorities", good White women, and a few token good White men vs the racist, horrible, racist, evil, racist, mean, racist White men.
Towards the beginning of the movie, the idea of "murder tourists" (foreigners who travel to the U.S. to partake in the Purge) intrigued me. When introduced, the movie makes a point of showcasing murder tourists from South Africa. I didn't really think about it at the time, but later in the film, we find out why they were so specifically identified as South African (SPOILER ALERT!-its because they're bad, evil racism-fuled racists! Although when the South Africans are introduced early in the movie, they seem to have at least one Black man in their party)
Other than the "murder tourists", the film follows standard issue Hollywood formula: Hillary is poised to defeat Donald and end the Purge, which her saintly minority followers all totally grok. Meanwhile, Donald's evil skinhead KKK Nazi followers don't want the Purge to end, so they haphazardly try to kill Hillary. They fail and Hillary is now in a position to overthrow evil Donald's regime. Or is she?!?!?