The Purge: Election Year Movie Review


So this one was definitely the least liked one by me in the whole series.

That's a very strong feeling considering what the first one was like, but to me, Election Year just didn't cut it. There were too many plot holes that didn't connect the franchise on the lowest levels. Maybe it's just me, but I'm missing the whole point of what happened to Eva, Cali and Carmelo. We get Dwayne, (aka Dante), back but he ultimately dies in the end in which one can best describe it as a "satisfying kill" for the pro purge folks in the audience. But in the end it was all over when the Senator was elected and the Purge night was put to it's unceremonious end.

This movie series ultimately is a let down, with Election Year putting the final feather in the cap if you will. This movie series is unique and new, kind of, but it has never pulled off the promise that it could have had. Purge: Anarchy was by all accounts a good movie. To me it setup Election Year to be the perfect segue into making it a darker film franchise, while taking away all that hope they built up over the first two movies. Election Year could have thrown that swerve into everyone's hopes that the purge would be ended with the coming election. What should have happened was kill everyone's hopes and dreams, thus you would create an atmosphere of despair and hopelessness like Joe described in the first scene he's in in the movie.

But none of that matter because they took the cheesy route instead.

While the idea of the Purge being scary because it could actually happen in this country; the film never really plays up on that. Instead they focused all of their time to the senator and her cohorts running around the city, trying to thwart the assassination attempt on her opponent at the end of the night. That route was the safest way to go and ultimately the most boring way to go. We didn't see any of the creative killings or truly sadistic people in this year's purge. What would have done it for me is if they spent way more time outside than inside with friends or captures alike. They had the characters for the movie I wanted, but ultimately the writing was way too lazy to overcome this and pretty much squandered the cast.

This movie was a big let down for me and for that I'm going to give it a solid D. I didn't really enjoy anything about this movie other than the fact that it was sequel I've been waiting on. Even Frank Grillo was unbearable in this movie as Leo. His character needed a real purpose other than a flirty relationship and defending the Presidential hopeful. Eva and Cali provided that levity for him and Carmelo didn't allow himself to be punked like Dante did all movie. At the end of the day, too many plot holes, lazy writing and the missed chance to set a darker tone to the film franchise is ultimately what did it for me.

And I really wanted to like this movie and for it to do well.

If there is indeed a Purge 4 or a reboot of sorts with a spinoff, then they need to scrap the current format and get rid of everyone involved. I think looking into a Carmelo story with another lead actor would be more interesting than what was put out in Election Year. It would definitely provide a different point of view than the normal ones of the survivors and the oppressors in the sense that we get to see what the resistance looks like and what steps they take every purge year to try and tip the scales a bit. But anything other than a gritty and hard nose take on the series will be an utter waste of time.

What did you think of the Purge: Election Year? Did you like it or think it was just a cheesy and useless sequel in the franchise like I did. Leave it in the comments below.

Until next time!


Related Posts

Post a Comment

Start typing and press Enter to search