The Purge: Anarchy (15) review
When it comes to sequels, bigger isn’t always better – but sometimes it’s the only way to go.
That’s the case in The Purge: Anarchy, where the grim concept of the 2013 original gets a sizeable steroid injection and delivers all out chaos.
For those of you unaware of the first film, here’s the rough plot: America has a new set of founding fathers that have managed to drop the nation’s crime rate to an all-time low.
The catch is, rather worryingly, that they’ve achieved that feat by introducing The Purge – a night where, once a year, all crimes (including murder) are legal for 12 hours.
A night of soul cleansing, if you will. If you’ve got a beef with somebody or murderous urges, save it for Purge night and you’ll get a free pass.
And while the first film focused on one house and a single family’s terror, Anarchy takes us to the streets.
Enter couple Shane (Zach Gilford) and Liz (Kiele Sanchez), who inexplicably break down in their car on Purge night (quite how any sane people would nip to the shops minutes before murder becomes legal is beyond me, but there you go).
Pursued by weapon-wielding savages, they stumble across mysterious anti-hero Leo (Frank Grillo), who has just saved mother and daughter duo Eva (Carmen Ejogo) and Cali (Zoë Soul) from certain death at the hands of a team of hi-tech villains.
However, Leo – who himself seems intent to Purge – loses his car in the rescue, forcing the five strangers to negotiate the city streets together.
Looming large in the background to the main story is an anti-Purge movement, led vocally by Carmelo (Boardwalk Empire’s Michael K Williams).
While that storyline does pay off at one stage, I imagine it will probably lead us into the inevitable third film.
I mentioned at the start that bigger isn’t always better, but I did find this Purge sequel to be superior to its predecessor in most departments.
The idea of a night where all bets are off in the world as we know it provides a sense of genuine terror – which was why the home-based original just about worked.
But while that locked us away from the brutal ‘Purging’ going on elsewhere, Anarchy does a fine job of displaying the bigger picture.
Yes, there are numerous over-the-top death scenes involving big guns and huge knives – but a sense of realism does remain.
Grillo (Captain America: The Winter Soldier) delivers a fine performance as an almost reluctant lead too, proving he is more than ready to step up to more important roles in the future.
Saying that, the undercard was a little on the weak side – and I never felt invested in the future of anyone but Leo.
The mask-wearing ‘Purgers’, who are also pretty prominent, made up for that with their menacing behaviour, mind.
I do get the sense that we’ll see plenty more Purge films in the future, too. It’s an idea that has endless possibilities – and I’ll bet they’ll be mass produced for years to come, a la the Saw series.
And while Anarchy is far from a classic, it did enough to keep me interested for the full 1.44hours run time.
It won’t be for everyone, but if horror and action are your thing, this is the film for you this weekend.
Rating: 3.5/5 (Watched a West End Cinema, Boston)
