Review of The Purge: Anarchy (2014) by Lewis E — 27 Oct 2014

Thankfully corrects the dumb mistake of the first movie by setting the purge events in the streets instead of in a bland, rich family's crib. This places the 'freedom to commit crimes for one day' concept in its natural territory, opening up our characters to a wider range of situations in more dangerous surroundings. 'The Purge:Anarchy' improves on a lot of things, most notably by including better personal storylines of lead characters, more shocking incidents and even a good attempt to produce a wider story arch by introducing us to this armed organisation who are rebelling against the wealthy elite. This last addition doesn't mean you have to watch the original (thank the lord) but it does help create genuinely thought-provoking social and political commentary which can possibly be built upon in sequels. Like the first however it is still too on the nose about the whole 'purge' idea, especially with its frequent use of concocted vocabulary such as 'purge', 'cleansed' and the extremely annoying expression 'stay safe'. You just wish once they would say "I need to kill" instead of "I need to purge". Dodgy acting means intense moments can lack the sense of desperation, particularly by the squabbling white couple (who to be honest contribute very little to the film). Also think it sometimes adheres too much on the side of caution with the graphic content in order to stay commercially friendly.

Definitely has room to be more intelligent in the way the 'purge' is constructed and conveyed but significant enhancements from the first movie has unexpectedly produced a much welcomed sequel.