The Purge: Anarchy (MOVIE: 2014) directed by James Monaco

The cast of The Purge: Anarchy. 2014.

THE PURGE: ANARCHY
Directed by James Monaco
2014
Notable Actors: Frank Grillo as Sergeant, Carmen Ejogo as Eva, Zoe Soul as Cali, Zach Gilford as Shane, and Kiele Sanchez as Liz.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

SPOILERS.
It's March 21st, 2023. Tonight is the Annual Purge. The NFFA, controlling the government of the United States, has legalized all crime, including murder, with weapons in class four or below. There is twelve continuous hours to commit whatever crime you wish. Most people attribute the Purge to lower amount of crime and poverty that sweeps the city. The reason? Those who are poor cannot protect themselves from the Purge.

Cali on the left and Eva on the right.

Eva and her daughter Cali are holing up at home with her sickly father when they Purge begins. Eva's father retires for the evening, and tells them to wake him when it's over. Little did they realize, he leaves and sacrificed himself to a family who wants to purge in the safety of their own home. They pay him $100,000 in which he leaves to his daughters, because he is sad that his health has kept them poor due to the outrageously priced medicines. The landlord from the building breaks into their apartment and is about to kill them, when a S.W.A.T. breaks in and kills him. The team then drag Eva and Cali out into the street, fighting them tooth and nail awaiting their death.

Liz and Shane in the car.

Shane and Liz are on their way to Shane's sister's house to be safe from the Purge. They are arguing about telling Shane's sister that they are going to be splitting up. Shane doesn't want them to break up, but Liz thinks that Shane can't make up his mind whether or not he wants to. They stop at a supermarket to pick up some groceries, and Shane is targeted by some men riding around on dirt bikes and in masks. Little did they know, that these guys cut wires to their car, and trail after them, ready to hunt them when the Purge begins and their car breaks down. After narrowly escaping them, they see a car later, with two women struggling against men in the street (Eva and Cali) and hide in a nearby armored car to escape the lunatics that are chasing them the entire time.

Leo is really his name.

The Sergeant is out for revenge on Purge Night. A man killed his son almost a year ago while he was driving drunk. The man was not persecuted, and was allowed to go back to his wife and children. He is armed to the tooth, highly skilled in combat, and has an armored car ready to go seek his revenge. He runs across Eva and Cali being attacked in the streets, and the good guy in him can't help but stop to protect those that can't protect themselves. He rescues them and they get into his car, which have Shane and Liz hiding out. After convincing everyone that the Sergeant is the only one who was on purposely out during the Purge, they try to flee the scene, only to have armor piercing bullets stop the car they were in. The Sergeant trades getting Eva, Cali, Liz, and Shane to safety at a friend's house for a car.

In the escape to the friend's house, Shane is shot and brutally injured. He pretty much becomes a pin-cushion for bullets throughout the movie. They get to Eva's friend Tanya's house, where Eva reveals that there never was a car for him to borrow. She used him for safety and protection. Angry, Sergeant is about to leave when Tanya's sister kills Tanya because her husband and Tanya have been cheating behind the sister's back for a while now. Big Daddy, the man who Eva and Cali escapes, has been tracking them through the city cameras. Turns out, not enough people where being killed in the Purge, so the government took it into their own hands. They targeted the poorest buildings in the projects and set to kill everyone inside of them. This is why Eva and Cali are dangerous, their poor life has made them targets. At this point, they end up slipping away from the government and Big Daddy, only to be captured by the gang that has been targeting Liz and Shane. Apparently the gang wasn't out killing anyone on Purge Night. The group thinks they are safe, until they stop and out the masked men go. He is handed a roll of cash, and traded the people for Purging by the wealthy. They are put on stage during a dinner theater, where the wealthy and affluent bid on people for the benefit of murdering them. Sergeant and Liz keep them at bay, but soon, after five of the wealthy are killed, reinforcements are called in to take out those who fight back. Soon, resistance fighters who are Anti-Purge bust in to save the day. Liz stays with them, as one of the Purgers killed Shane. She helps the resistance while Eva, Cali, and Sergeant go to the parking lot to get a car.

They end up at the house of the man that Sergeant wants to kill...but he doesn't go through with it. Big Daddy arrives on scene though to shoot Sergeant just in time. The man that Sergeant forgives and doesn't kill comes out of his house to shoot Big Daddy though. Just as their about to be killed, the sirens to commence the Purge begin, stating that the annual Purge is now over. Eva, Cali, and the man takes Sergeant to a hospital, just as emergency crews go out to fix the aftermath of the Purge.

The first Purge movie.

THOUGHTS:
So the first Purge movie was so annoying because they were always out in the house. I watched this one for the first time just last week, so it was really handy to put the second in perspective. I kept thinking that the first one would be better if they were just freakin' trapped outside. Low and behold, other people must have been thinking it too since they made a second movie.

The beginning of the second movie, seems to drag on for ridiculously ever. Seriously, the opening was way too long, and I frankly didn't see enough murdering going on. You saw some people get killed, but it wasn't the mass chaos that you think a society such as this one would be in. It also seems like everyone was just concerned on murdering each other. Granted, it's the big one that's legal, but what about other crime? If the Purge existed in real life, I wouldn't kill anyone I didn't have to. I'd be robbing everyone. Rich, stores, hell...probably even the poor. If it wasn't nailed down, I'd steal it. I think while a society like this is unlikely, they should have made the events in it more realistic. They are trying to show an apocalypse type of world, or one where we are on the edge of apocalypse. Also, when they were roaming the city, why didn't any of them stay in the Business district? It was empty. EMPTY. When they banks moved all their money, it became pointless to Purge in that area since no one lived there. I feel like that'd been the safest area in all of town....even beating the suburbs where the rich people lived. Just a few things bothered me, which is why this is rated a seven out of ten.

If you are not looking for horror, but don't mind a gruesome movie, The Purge: Anarchy is halfway between action and thriller anyways. Check it out.