The Purge: Election Year (2016) (Happy 4th of July!)

'The Purge: Election Year' is the sequel to 'The Purge: Anarchy' and is once again directed by James DeMonaco. This time around, the annual Purge is looking to be taken out by a new senator hoping to win the presidential election, something the New Founding Fathers who run the Purge do not take kindly to and hope to eliminate their competition during what could be the final Purge. The film is...exactly the same as the first two, just adding to the production value. This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone looking to see the film, this formula has been proven to work and not just with the 'Purge' franchise. The 'SAW' and 'Paranormal Activity' films benefited from the same gimmick of low production, high profit and it works as long as you have a product that the audience wants to see.

And people want to see 'The Purge' films once a year, as with the yearly Halloween traditions of those previous two franchise films. They get you in, entertain and thrill you, and get you out. Simple as that, and there is nothing wrong with that, in fact films like this are the reason those award winners even get their budgets going. But let's talk about the film itself for a bit shall we? The cinematography has been improved since the last film, however it may not be as obvious with the film taking place primarily at night, but trust me. The creativity behind the film is still going strong, with some of the creepiest costumes I have seen in my life.

The film is heavy on action scenes, and thankfully they're all done very well with some great thrills and tension that will leave you gripping the seat. Where the film falls off however is in this entry's blunt and completely unsubtle metaphors for the 2016 presidential election, particularly a specific candidate which we won't name here. While there's nothing really wrong with discussing topics like this, and I know 'The Purge' films have political drama behind the action and horror, 'Election Year' tries to hard to hit us over the head with it, and frankly I go to movies like this to escape the real world, not be reminded of it so yes, that kind of turned me off for a bit.

Still though, if you enjoyed the first two you'll enjoy 'Election Year'. It's far better than those previous films in terms of entertainment value and you could honestly do a lot worse than what others would have you believe. If you just go in expecting a fun thriller, you'll have a good time. The real-world aspects needed a lot less screen time however.

"THE PURGE: ELECTION YEAR" GETS A:

((C+))