The first installment of The Purge had a more simple setting. Setting in the idea of this day where anything you want to do is legal. The movie was well done but James DeMonaco’s message seemed to get muddled in with some of the “oohs and ahs” of the project. The idea in Purge is that not everyone wants to join in on the Purge however, in The Purge the setting was in an upper class neighborhood. In the end neighbor turned against neighbor and muddled the message. Anarchy revisits the message is back with a vengeance. In Anarchy you see that people don’t want to join in on the Purge. The characters, for the most part would rather stay in with family and be safe. This movie is the perfect sequel, wrapping up loose ends from the ideas of the first Purge and leaving you craving more Purge! I give the film an 8 out of 10.

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Anarchy starts out with your typical meeting of the cast of characters. Each one is introduced and the audience is brought into the reasoning why they would be out during the Purge, or for some and idea why. As the day pulls in, the audience can start to see they dynamics of family and values as DeMonaco set up in the first. He begins to visit his message early. The audience can see the working class really trying to make it. Most of America wants to get away and be left alone. DeMonaco touches on some vital political stances and doesn’t shy away with the idea of the cost of medication to stay alive, with the idea that people are generally good and just want to survive, and with the idea that if you give people the idea that they can do what they want they can be corrupted, but majority are not.

Anarchy seems to be a jumping platform for a trilogy. The creation of the character Carmelo and his revolution against the classist members of the new government propels a deeper more complicated story. He is a great mixture of Malcolm X and Carl Marx leading his people to victory against the idea of the Purge and that the government, which is ran by corporations, are sending out death trucks to kill the poor. This idea about revolution has been a debate in the US for sometime now and it has been spurred into other franchises such as The Hunger Games and the Divergence movies. However, The Purge is the adult version without the forced love story of two teenagers who barely know each other.

The film follows our heroes through their journey in the city to find safety. From a low income apartment building to a higher income apartment complex, that was attacked because our heroes were in it, all the way to an auction ran by the rich who believe that it is there right to buy another human being and hunt them down in a laser tag arena, minus the laser tag plus the most horrible weapons you can think of, via “The Most Dangerous Game” scenario. You are by this point wondering when Carmelo is coming into play, you’ve only scene his Youtube videos so far, then right when all hope is lost and we lose another hero, Carmelo bursts through the door with an iconic line that I will forever be in love with, “IT’S TIME TO DIE RICH BITCHES!!”

After your blood is pumping for revenge against the rich, you find that our hero known as Sergeant has been out for his little boys killer. My heart sank as he rushed into the bedroom and held the man who killed his son down with a knife. There are only five minutes left of the purge and we the audience thinks once again vengeance and anger will end the movie. The screen goes blank. We see Sergeant exit the house and he’s shot by the hillbilly looking truck driver who was dead set on getting him in the movie. BUT  WAIT!!! Sarge didn’t kill his sons killer and in a weird payback the Sarge is saved by his son’s slayer. The Purge ends and Sarge makes it to the hospital. I am left with hope in humanity and wanting to see a third Purge: Revolution!

Maleficent

Disney’s Maleficent is a retelling of their 1959’s Sleeping Beauty that was derived from Charles Perrault’s The Sleeping Beauty. It is a beautiful movie. The story is so well written. The scenes are well directed and acted. I will say that the 3D is not worth it. If you are going to go, go to the 2D because the picture is better. I give Maleficent 9 out of 10 stars. It is a great family movie that everyone will enjoy, as long as you enjoy fairy tales with a great twist from what we are used to hearing.

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Maleficent retells the original Disney’s Sleepy Beauty. It does a fantastic job at it. It aids in the Frozen redefining of the phrases “true love” and “true loves kiss”, which I am a huge fan of. Linda Woolverton is the writer of this version of Sleeping Beauty, she is truly a master at finding the voice of Maleficent. It is based more on the life of Maleficent. It is written so the it rounds out and mirrors the characters of Maleficent and Aurora, while at the same time bringing depth to all of the characters in the movie, except Prince Phillip, which is intentional. When you see the movie you’ll see why I say this.

The actors do a superb job. Angelina Jolie as top bill was phenomenal.  She does for Maleficent what Margaret Hamilton did for the Wicked Witch of the West. She brings the character to life. There are moments that steal your heart between Aurora and Maleficent. You see Maleficent harden and then you see her soften. Aurora is played superbly by Elle Fanning and a few other young girls. One of the moments that will really grab your heart is between Angelina Jolie and her own daughter playing Aurora at a very young age. It is a moment of truthfulness between the characters. Imelda Staunton leads the three fairies that are to take care of Aurora. There are really great moments there. Sharlto Copley plays the infamous Stefan. Just as he was a fantastic psycho baddie in Elysium, he is so in Maleficent. He masterfully shows a plunge into a psychotic King that is paranoid of losing his own life, sometimes seemingly over that of his daughter.

As far as directing and the cinematography go, this is top notch. This is Robert Stromberg’s directing debut and he really shows off his chops; as well as the cinematography work of Dean Semler. I hope to see these two team up again. The picturing and mise en scene is perfect. There are moments of close ups and the scene filled with other characters that just take you by surprise and make your heart melt.

The hits that I really have for you are the moments where actors Jolie and Copley slip in and out of their accents. Copley has moments where he attempts an Irish accent and it is a wee bit disastrous (see what I did there). The greatest moments are when he accepts his Southern African accent and just goes for it. In the last moments of the film they have Prince Phillip and he really isn’t needed in that scene. He’s used as a plot device earlier in the movie and the pay off is great, but his reentrance into the forest isn’t needed. The 3D and 2D are not needed. 2D in this movie is what you want to see. It is brighter and has a greater sense of detail to the beautiful pictures. There are moments in the 3D version where everything is just way too dark whereas in the 2D it is not. There are also moments, such as the Dragon scene and the Moore’s scene that could’ve been outrageously beautiful, but they fall completely flat on their face. If I were a producer I would’ve called out the 3D editing. And the last and slight hit, I would’ve liked to see a green tinge to Maleficent.

Watched A Million Ways To Die In The West last night. I give it 5 out of 10 stars. About 90% of the gags are shown in the trailer, which in truth, the about half were pretty funny. There's still the Seth MacFarlane misogyny undertones to the story. Ted was 100% better. I would suggest waiting for it on Netflix. 

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There is a subplot with Sarah Silverman and Giovanni Ribisi that is funny but then takes the undertone that Silverman's character owes Ribisi's character sex for putting up with her. Then he's rewarded with the sex. All in all they do not add to the major plot of the movie.

Charlize Theron's character is the best character out of the whole movie. She does an amazing job as an actress. She's written like a Western Beatrice and I absolutely love her, and then she has to be saved by MacFarlane's character.

MacFarlane's character is supposed to be the most special man out of the whole west. His character manages to be the smartest in the town, and somehow learns a way to outsmart and out do the horrible feared character that Liam Neesan plays, who is supposed to be the baddest man in the West. He also miraculously knows the Native American's Language.

They keep making note of things that have nothing to do with the plot, which works in Family Guy, but not in this film.