473: The Purge: Anarchy

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_00]: 180 Let's get to the second in the Purge franchise, which is The Purge Anarchy.

[00:00:07] [SPEAKER_00]: This one came out in 2014, one year later, so they're really churning these things out.

[00:00:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Written once again by James DeMonaco, stars Frank Grillo, Carmen Ejago, Zach Guilford,

[00:00:22] [SPEAKER_00]: Kylie Sanchez, Zoe Sol, and the Snapsis is three groups of people intertwined and are

[00:00:29] [SPEAKER_00]: left stranded in the streets on Purge night, trying to survive the chaos and violence that occurs.

[00:00:36] [SPEAKER_00]: So when this one came out, I don't think I saw it in theaters.

[00:00:40] [SPEAKER_00]: I always saw it because I'd been fairly turned off by the first one.

[00:00:44] [SPEAKER_00]: I was like, eh, not really that interested, but then I maybe got on Blu-ray or something

[00:00:48] [SPEAKER_00]: like that and sat down and watched it one night and I actually really enjoyed it.

[00:00:54] [SPEAKER_00]: It's not some masterpiece of filmmaking, but spoiler, it is my favorite of the five so far.

[00:01:01] [SPEAKER_00]: And as I was teasing with the first film, it really does give you that open world feeling

[00:01:06] [SPEAKER_00]: where they're just running through the streets.

[00:01:08] [SPEAKER_00]: There's not a lot of plot.

[00:01:09] [SPEAKER_00]: It's like, oh, here there's a Purger at the end of the street.

[00:01:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Let's go this way.

[00:01:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Oh no, we gotta go this way.

[00:01:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Let's do this.

[00:01:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, we met this person.

[00:01:16] [SPEAKER_00]: We gotta do this now.

[00:01:16] [SPEAKER_00]: Like I think that's more fairly unpredictable and creative and interesting and more suspenseful

[00:01:23] [SPEAKER_00]: than just being like stuck in a house or something.

[00:01:26] [SPEAKER_00]: And it also does really feel reminiscent of Escape from New York, the John Carpenter film.

[00:01:34] [SPEAKER_00]: And so that just inherently for me personally, I just really like that sort of feeling and

[00:01:38] [SPEAKER_00]: concept when it comes to a movie.

[00:01:40] [SPEAKER_00]: And you don't really get that very often these days.

[00:01:44] [SPEAKER_00]: And then also Urban Warfare is something that cinematically really is underused nowadays.

[00:01:51] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know why, but there's so much from a visual perspective and how certain scenes

[00:01:57] [SPEAKER_00]: and action scenes are choreographed and where you go and what happens that I think Urban

[00:02:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Warfare really lends itself to in a cinema perspective.

[00:02:05] [SPEAKER_00]: But at the same time, not that it's a huge detractor because it is low budget horror

[00:02:11] [SPEAKER_00]: films and people are going to do stupid stuff so they get into more dramatic situations.

[00:02:17] [SPEAKER_00]: We're never really going to be able to escape that with this franchise or anything like

[00:02:20] [SPEAKER_00]: it, I would say.

[00:02:22] [SPEAKER_00]: But Little Nit picks when it comes to purge, if you're thinking about realistically, I

[00:02:28] [SPEAKER_00]: know that there'd still be idiots out there.

[00:02:30] [SPEAKER_00]: But realistically, if the purge has been going on for a number of years and you know what

[00:02:36] [SPEAKER_00]: it's like, it does not make sense at all.

[00:02:39] [SPEAKER_00]: For example, the couple, the who are coming back in their car breaks down, who would

[00:02:45] [SPEAKER_00]: go out the evening or the afternoon before the purge like an hour before the purge?

[00:02:50] [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, we got to stock up on food.

[00:02:52] [SPEAKER_00]: We got to get a couple extra batteries like if it was purged for me, I would be that

[00:02:57] [SPEAKER_00]: house would be locked up all day before and then all day after.

[00:03:02] [SPEAKER_00]: I wouldn't be thinking, oh, I need to go get McDonald's at five 30 PM and the

[00:03:07] [SPEAKER_00]: purge starts at six like oops, like what could happen?

[00:03:11] [SPEAKER_00]: So just looking at that from a practical perspective, pretty stupid.

[00:03:16] [SPEAKER_00]: And then also the girl who works, the daughter who works at the restaurant where

[00:03:23] [SPEAKER_00]: you know they're getting off right before the purge ends.

[00:03:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Who is going to go get a meal at a diner at again like at 530, 545 PM?

[00:03:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, purge starts in 10 minutes, but let's go grab some eggs.

[00:03:35] [SPEAKER_00]: Like no one's going to do that.

[00:03:37] [SPEAKER_00]: And so I think having store owners, restaurant owners closing up shop an

[00:03:43] [SPEAKER_00]: hour or so before the purge just seems so ridiculous.

[00:03:47] [SPEAKER_00]: So all those setups are, I was like, OK, like I can forgive it.

[00:03:51] [SPEAKER_00]: It's not a huge deal.

[00:03:52] [SPEAKER_00]: I get what kind of movie it is, but really pretty poor writing there conceptually.

[00:03:59] [SPEAKER_00]: But besides that, when they get out onto the streets, you know, they get

[00:04:03] [SPEAKER_00]: past all the logic issues and they're like, all right, we just need to survive.

[00:04:07] [SPEAKER_00]: It's shot well, decent lighting, the sound design is good.

[00:04:11] [SPEAKER_00]: And overall, the direction is on improvement over the first and the

[00:04:16] [SPEAKER_00]: corporations of these different types of purgers.

[00:04:18] [SPEAKER_00]: I think that's I mean, some are more cartoony than others, but I think

[00:04:22] [SPEAKER_00]: that's intentional because there's like Big Daddy.

[00:04:25] [SPEAKER_00]: I think his name is where he's like, you know, we got two more for

[00:04:28] [SPEAKER_00]: your personal purge and he's just driving around in a big truck, you know,

[00:04:32] [SPEAKER_00]: with his henchmen.

[00:04:33] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, that's pretty ridiculous, but it's still at least in some way a

[00:04:38] [SPEAKER_00]: scary image in terms of the design of the character, but also goofy.

[00:04:42] [SPEAKER_00]: I think the only one actually and it reminds me that most of Alex Garo's

[00:04:47] [SPEAKER_00]: Civil War is where there's this lone sniper on a rooftop.

[00:04:53] [SPEAKER_00]: He's just picking off people at random.

[00:04:55] [SPEAKER_00]: He's not some like maniacal barbarian racing through the streets with axes

[00:04:59] [SPEAKER_00]: or machine guns or something.

[00:05:01] [SPEAKER_00]: He's literally just sitting on a rooftop.

[00:05:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Hey, I'm just going to take out some people.

[00:05:05] [SPEAKER_00]: I think that's a pretty that's the most realistic thing, probably

[00:05:09] [SPEAKER_00]: about the whole movie or this whole first series of films where that person,

[00:05:15] [SPEAKER_00]: that purger feels the most like an actual guy, scarily so.

[00:05:20] [SPEAKER_00]: And then I also like the idea of Frank Grillo's character, who is in

[00:05:24] [SPEAKER_00]: some ways almost like a Mad Max kind of guy where he's just driving

[00:05:28] [SPEAKER_00]: around in the night, maybe helping someone, maybe not in some ways to

[00:05:33] [SPEAKER_00]: do good, but also has a pretty dark past.

[00:05:35] [SPEAKER_00]: I think while there's nothing super complex to that character, it's at

[00:05:38] [SPEAKER_00]: least interesting and it's an attempt to make something slightly more

[00:05:42] [SPEAKER_00]: dynamic when it comes to writing.

[00:05:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Also, I like the idea of going back to the daughter who worked at

[00:05:49] [SPEAKER_00]: the restaurant where her father is in debt or wanting to give his

[00:05:54] [SPEAKER_00]: daughters a or granddaughters, whichever one it is, a better life

[00:05:59] [SPEAKER_00]: and not have to worry about money.

[00:06:00] [SPEAKER_00]: He's offering himself to rich purgers in order for his family to get a payout.

[00:06:07] [SPEAKER_00]: I think that's a pretty it's disturbing, but I could also sadly

[00:06:11] [SPEAKER_00]: so see that happening where the wealthy are taking even more

[00:06:15] [SPEAKER_00]: advantage of the poor in this sort of situation.

[00:06:19] [SPEAKER_00]: So I think that's at times a little cartoony in terms of the whole

[00:06:22] [SPEAKER_00]: sacrifice thing.

[00:06:23] [SPEAKER_00]: And that's where it really loses me and they're doing this mantra

[00:06:27] [SPEAKER_00]: and the house is just it's a little too much.

[00:06:29] [SPEAKER_00]: But the overall core idea works.

[00:06:34] [SPEAKER_00]: But a few more specific things, even though it's superficial and I

[00:06:38] [SPEAKER_00]: may be indulging in the more trashy side of it.

[00:06:41] [SPEAKER_00]: I think the look of the masks, especially like the guys at

[00:06:43] [SPEAKER_00]: the beginning on the skateboard, I think all that is pretty

[00:06:46] [SPEAKER_00]: effective and they can be, I think overused at this point.

[00:06:50] [SPEAKER_00]: But when you get a really cool, creepy, disturbing mask and

[00:06:54] [SPEAKER_00]: character design, I'm all for that.

[00:06:57] [SPEAKER_00]: And then also in this, it kind of carries that through a few of

[00:07:01] [SPEAKER_00]: the others.

[00:07:02] [SPEAKER_00]: But there's that rebel group that is kind of like a gorilla

[00:07:06] [SPEAKER_00]: group in the midst of all the purgers.

[00:07:09] [SPEAKER_00]: I think that's nothing to commentary.

[00:07:11] [SPEAKER_00]: There's a little messy.

[00:07:14] [SPEAKER_00]: And it helps that the leader of the group is played by

[00:07:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Michael Kenneth Williams, who I love.

[00:07:21] [SPEAKER_00]: So overall, it's just one that kind of hit me first time

[00:07:24] [SPEAKER_00]: I saw it and it stayed about the same every single time.

[00:07:26] [SPEAKER_00]: There are definitely still some issues, but of all five and

[00:07:29] [SPEAKER_00]: especially compared to the first one, a vast improvement.

[00:07:33] [SPEAKER_00]: And one that has stuck with me, it's got some entertainment

[00:07:36] [SPEAKER_00]: value.

[00:07:37] [SPEAKER_00]: It's got some good scares and settling moments.

[00:07:40] [SPEAKER_00]: So I would recommend it.

[00:07:42] [SPEAKER_00]: You don't really have to have seen the first one.

[00:07:44] [SPEAKER_00]: I think that if you're going to watch one, just my

[00:07:46] [SPEAKER_00]: personal recommendation, I would start this one, see if

[00:07:49] [SPEAKER_00]: you like it, see what you can get into and all that.

[00:07:52] [SPEAKER_00]: So give it a look.

[00:07:55] [SPEAKER_00]: That one is a four out of five.