The Purge: Election Year follows top-notch secret service agent Leo Barnes (Frank Grillo) as he attempts to protect presidential hopeful, Senator Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell) during the purge. As the annual purge continues, there is a new rule, no one is off limits. Politicians will have to fight for their lives like the rest of the population. Roan is a strong advocate against the purge and finds herself in some trouble. As the assassination attempts come pouring in, Barnes, and the newly appointed, makeshift secret service will do everything they can to protect the only woman who can save them from the future of the purge.
Writer and director James DeMonaco steps in for the fourth (and what appears to be) final installment in The Purge franchise. He again attempts to make the film less about the actual purge and provide a true and fully developed story. He chose to build a unique and compelling story that attracted audiences more than any amount of death ever could. He, more than ever, appealed to the masses by tapping into their emotion. The Purge series has always been politically charged and has always created a sense of distrust in regard to government. For the first time, the series took a turn and developed a character (Roan) that was against the purge and was for developing a better way to deal with the issues in the country. She wants nothing more than to end the ridiculous and lethal tradition and create a more positive, politically correct world for the citizens of the United States, and this appeals, greatly, to the audience. While the purge and the election are crucial parts of the story, Roan’s development was the primary target of the script.
As her story (and character) develops over the course of the film, so do the characters around her. Leo Barnes is Sergeant from the previous installment of the franchise. While the character does not grow much throughout the film, the simple addition of a legitimate identity is enough to further connect audiences to this character. Like Leo Barnes, the audience is finally given a legitimate identity for the “bloody stranger” that appeared in each of the previous two films. Dante Bishop (Edwin Hodge) is finally formally introduced to audiences and depicted as a savior and a pivotal cog in the machine designed to destroy the purge. The most interesting character in the film was Joe Dixon (Mykelti Williamson). He created brilliant levity and delivered some well-timed humor that perfectly countered the intense and heavy situations that the film presented. He was a clever and well-delivered balance of comedy and optimism.
The brilliantly developed characters and complete tonal change allowed audiences to see a new, lighter side to this series. DeMonaco was finally able to create a makeshift feel-good story and present audiences with a sense of hope in terms of the series and their lives. The typical political undertones were ramped up, but in new and positive ways. The entire franchise took a turn for the better and DeMonaco put the series in the perfect position to thrive in the future (if future installments are planned).
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