The Purge - Election Year: "We Have One Goal Right Now; Survival"

Director: James DeMonaco
Writer:     James DeMonaco
Starring: Elizabeth Mitchell
                Frank Grillo
                Mykelti Williamson
                Joseph Julian Soria
                Betty Gabriel
                Brittany Mirabile
Rating:    **

Release Date: Out Now

The Purge film series has been fairly hit and miss with it's first two outings. The concept was original and something I'd never heard of, and the tension was often sky high. However the second didn't really bring anything new to the table, and that left me feeling pretty flat. The Purge: Election Year starts off strong, tensions high with some pretty entertaining villains and psychopaths. Unfortunately, by the final act I was bored and disinterested and kept zoning out; that isn't exactly what the filmmakers were going for I assume.

Frank Grillo & Elizabeth Mitchell

Two years since Leo Barnes (Grillo) held himself back from committing a regrettable revenge crime on Purge Night, he is serving as the head of security for Senator Charlie Roan (Mitchell). His only mission is to keep her safe during her run for president and for them both to survive the yearly ritual that supposedly targets the poor and innocent. However someone on the inside betrays them, and they are forced onto the streets of Washington D.C. With no one available to protect them, they are forced to do all that they can to stay alive until dawn...otherwise they are both to be sacrificed for their sins against the state.

The performances throughout the film were...OK. I didn't finish the film and think 'Elizabeth Mitchell was phenomonal' or 'I have to see more films with Mykelti Williamson in'; nor did I think that anyone was awful. They performed the script, hit their marks and completed some mild stunts; but no one wowed me. The only performance I found to be more entertaining than most was Brittany Mirabile as Kimmy. As one of the purgers, she had just the right amount of low-key psycho, and could appear unhinged at the drop of a hat. She didn't have the biggest role, but she was the one I remembered.

Brittany Mirabile

James DeMonaco's direction was, honestly, unexciting. He was very good at building tension at first; but by the final 40 minutes he seemed to lose his pacing and the energy fizzled out. If the film had wrapped up sooner, it may have been a better result. Sure it may have seemed rushed, but rather that than the slow and dragging finale we did get. It almost seemed like the director and cast had no passion for their work, and were just getting their pay cheque and going home; that is what was put across and that is a real shame.

I hope this is the end of The Purge series, because they have just gotten worse. Unfortunately with it being such a big money maker, we can assume that Hollywood will beat this dead horse right to the bitter end. One day they will learn to let a film franchise disappear once they start becoming awful; but until then we will continue to get treated to film series' getting ruined and losing all credibility (I'm looking at you Paranormal Activity series). 

 The Purge: Election Year - Trailer