The Purge: Anarchy

An American Tradition

I recently had the opportunity to go see The Purge: Anarchy. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, due to the trailers showing that it was vastly different from the first movie. I was quite impressed, and rightly so, considering that two of the producers were Jason Blum (Insidious, Paranormal Activity) and Michael Bay (Transformers).

Unlike the first movie, which was set in a family's house during the annual Purge, Anarchy follows a group that is stuck outside during it. This makes for a much more thrilling story in my opinion. In a house, there are limited directions someone wanting to kill you could come from. Out in the open in the city, people can come from any direction, and things become very unpredictable.

Personally, I am glad that they did this. I feel that if they followed the format of the first film, it would basically become more of the same and not be very interesting. And for those of you who may be wondering, Anarchy has really no connection to the first movie, other than a small cameo of someone who was in the first movie.

One of the many purgers

Overall, the story is great. It's pretty clear what has to happen for the main characters to survive, but there is enough suspense and drama to keep it interesting. There's even a few surprises that I definitely was not expecting. Surprising. My one complaint is that there are a few spots where the movie drags. It could have stood a bit more action.

The characters were pretty well written as well. They were interesting to say the least. Sadly, I just didn't fall in love with any of them. I understood their struggles, but they definitely weren't my favorite characters in a movie.

Lastly, rewatchability in this one is kind of up in the air. Like most horror movies, once you know what is going to happen, it kinda takes the fun out of watching it multiple times. But, producer Jason Blum is known for putting little things into his movies that you may not notice the first run through.

Anarchy gets a respectable 7 star rating

Overall, the movie was a pretty good thriller. It had a decent story and the characters were quite believable as well. The action could have been increased, and you may or may not benefit from watching it a second time, but I'm pretty confident in saying that if you liked the first one, you're going to like this one.

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