6.6 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
During the Purge, a government-sanctioned evening in which crime, including murder, is legal, five innocent people band together to fight to survive the night. They are reluctantly protected and led by a former military man who has set out to avenge a past wrong.
Starring: Frank Grillo, Carmen Ejogo, Zach Gilford, Kiele Sanchez, Zoë SoulHorror | 100% |
Thriller | 68% |
Action | 30% |
Sci-Fi | 25% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Spanish: DTS 5.1
French: DTS 5.1
English SDH, French, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
UV digital copy
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
James DeMonaco's The Purge (2013) came out of nowhere, nabbed a pretty penny at the box office, and had a sequel green-lit before anyone knew what hit 'em. But while it amounted to a semi-decent home invasion thriller, the original film struggled with too narrow a focus, presenting a single terrorized homestead in the middle of a briefly glimpsed but presumably sprawling, far more intriguing American dystopia. DeMonaco's sequel, The Purge: Anarchy, is a stronger, more rewarding film, yet it too struggles. Not by way of a narrow focus, but one that's too broad. Don't misunderstand. Seeing more of the director's not-so-distant-futurescape is a very, very good thing, and promises further sequels that will more than likely push the franchise well beyond a mere trilogy. The problem is that Anarchy's characters, good or evil (there's little room in between), feel ripped out of a run of the mill comicbook; chunky dialogue, clunky decisions and all. It works for Captain America: The Winter Soldier's Frank Grillo (who flexes his inner-Punisher so effectively and effortlessly it suggests Marvel made a mistake casting him as Hydra-henchie Crossbones when he would have been a killer Frank Castle, capable of helming his own Punisher reboot). It doesn't work out for everyone else, though. One-note, two-dimensional sinners and saints collide in a war of cinematic attrition. Bullets fly, blood spills, and bodies pile up in a hyper-satirical clash of the classes: the sadistic, homicidal 1% vs. anyone who can't afford a fortified bunker and a truck-mounted minigun.
Night falls early in Anarchy and the sun doesn't rise until the last fifteen minutes. As such, Universal's 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation is dark and coated in thick, atmospheric shadow. That doesn't stop the transfer from exceling, though. Oranges, teals and blues make their presence known in the darkness, skintones are nicely saturated, black levels are deep and satisfying, and contrast is consistent. Detail is excellent as well, with crisp edge definition and rather revealing textures. Softness invades as frequently as noise and crush, but each instance is a product of the film's photography, nothing more. Artifacting, banding, aliasing and other issues are either kept to a bare minimum or nowhere to be found, and the entire encode holds its own from start to finish. Anarchy isn't the most striking dystopian nightmare, but its high definition presentation will surprise those going in with low to modest expectations.
Universal's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track doesn't disappoint. Explosions, gunfire and general unruliness -- let's just call it... Anarchy -- are given free reign of the place, with weighty and aggressive LFE output, enveloping and exacting rear speaker activity, and impressive dynamics. Dialogue is clear and intelligible at all times too, even amidst the chaos, and only a handful of inconsequential lines are drowned out by shotguns, AKs, miniguns and other tools of the Purger trade. Prioritization is spot on, directionality is accurate, and the film's soundfield is quite immersive, without anything in the way of mishaps that might yank an absorbed viewer out of the experience.
The Purge: Anarchy doesn't pack much supplemental heat. "Behind the Anarchy" (HD, 9 minutes) is a short, paint-by-numbers behind-the-scenes featurette that only brushes the surface, while a small collection of "Deleted Scenes" (HD, 8 minutes) fails to add any significant value to the package.
Anarchy is a better film than its predecessor, but most of the credit goes to Frank Grillo. Had the sequel focused on Barnes rather than a five-actor ensemble, Anarchy would have been a stronger, sleeker successor that expanded DeMonaco's world and made it a more compelling place to explore. Universal's Blu-ray release is more remarkable thanks to a terrific video presentation and immersive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track. There aren't any substantial extras unfortunately, but that's how it goes. I'd recommend renting before buying, although those who enjoyed the first film will most likely dig the sequel even more.
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