"The Purge: Election Year" Review - From the Vaults

 "The Purge: Election Year" is phenomenal and should be seen immediately.

Look, I know that these movies will not win new converts, and the advertising is low-key, so if you did not enjoy "The Purge: Anarchy" then stay away.

If, however, you want a nasty, snarling, brutally nihilistic view of mankind and the depths of darkness in the human soul, then you're in for a treat!

For this is not just a movie which takes the concept of "legal crime" and rolls with it, showcasing the nastiness of mankind with aplomb and creativity, but does so with colour, spectacle and a way which is jam-packed with satire. It touches upon race, class, wealth, faith, capitalism, the American Dream and idealism against pragmatism in this cynical and violent world we live in, whilst also adding creative touches regarding the core concept (murder tourists, a paramedic who helps out, what the gangs get up to in all of this).

Yet that is not the true magnificence.

Yes, these things when put together create a movie that is at times fun, at times disturbing and at times clever, but it is the structure and core character which makes this:

Frank Grillo.

He makes being an action movie star look easy, and is surrounded by likeable, lovable characters who you REALLY, REALLY don't want to die, making you actually care when they do. Remember when movies did that? He fights Neo-Nazis, just in case you felt bad about him murdering the enemy with punch-daggers, guns and a secret suitcase bomb.

This is an action movie not afraid of showing violence. This is an action movie featuring a knife-fight with a Neo Nazi in a car park. This is an action movie featuring competent henchmen. This is an action movie where Frank Grillo (whose name sounds like a Batman villain and who also could easily play, and probably IS, Batman) makes the act of reloading seem cool. This is a movie where he teams up with Bubba from "Forrest Gump" and we get the line:

"I like black folk, but I can't let you kill these white people. These are OUR white people."

This is a movie which I was having an absolute blast throughout. It mixes all of the B-movie genres of old into a blender, flicks "puree" and the results are magnificent.