I really appreciate how director James DeMonaco has a second chance to fully embrace his absurd premise of the Purge a year later, and now seems to finally get it. The only way a film like “The Purge” could be any kind of fun is if it embraces its exploitation and darkly comic roots, and “Anarchy” achieves just that. DeMonaco also makes a case in the opening that you really don’t need to see the first movie to understand what the film is aiming for. Truthfully, unless you have a real weakness for home invasion films, “The Purge” can be skipped entirely. Director James DeMonaco blames a lot of the first film’s problems on budget constraints and really gets to explore his premise more with a wider scope, and better grasp of his own idea this time around.
Tag Archives: Crime
Robot Ninja (1989)
J.R. Bookwalter‘s movie about a comic book artist that becomes a superhero seems to have had a budget of fifty bucks. Because of that much of the movie’s elements are sacrificed. This includes common sense, continuity, logic, a coherent story, tolerable acting, and even the most fundamental special effects. Somewhere embedded in the seams of this nearly unwatchable farce is a good movie. But the director spends more time trying to get mileage out of the cameos by Linnea Quigley and Burt Ward, than he does trying to elicit a genuinely good narrative. Who can blame him when the movie garners a cast of terrible unknowns? I’m surprised Ron Jeremy doesn’t pop up at some point.
The Raid 2: Berandal (2014)
Way too often have I invested time in a martial arts film only to find the sequel is pretty much just a repeat of the same beats from the original. Thankfully “The Raid 2” is a wonderful and seamless extension of the original Gareth Evans’ crime thriller. Evans returns to deliver what is now a much more complex narrative based around deception, the mafia, and a very elaborate revenge ploy that promises to bring down even the most valiant heroes in the story. Evans manages a very fluid timeline that makes “The Raid 2” a very good chaser for the powerful first action entry. Immediately after the massive raid in the first film, we find out that things never quite worked out too well for hero Rama.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)
It’s surprising that for a movie about anthropomorphic talking turtles that director Steve Barron takes the premise with as much seriousness as possible. Director Barron just seems to get the appeal of the Ninja Turtles, walking the line between the mainstream versions and the original Eastman and Laird R rated comic book. The turtles here have a hard edge, but are entertaining sympathetic heroes, and they’re the center of what is still a damn good action film about family, revenge, unity.
TV Guide Spotlight – Cop Shows of the ’70s (DVD)
For folks that like to collect these kinds of compilations, they’re really cheap best of DVD’s from select Mill Creek series comprised of various subjects. “Cop Shows of the 70’s” is definitely one of the better sets from Mill Creek, featuring various episodes from some of the best cop shows of the decade. I would have loved to see some “Hill Street Blues,” but all things considered this is a fun mixed bag with nine hours of mostly Aaron Spelling led crime thrillers.
The Legend of Billie Jean (1985) [Fair is Fair Edition Blu-ray]
You could likely consider “The Legend of Billie Jean” a precursor to “Thelma And Louise.” It’s a film about female empowerment, and young women dealt terrible injustices that become folk heroes. Not to mention “The Legend of Billie Jean” has every chance to become exploitative man hating trash, but very cleverly straddles the line between goofy eighties adventure, and compelling coming of age drama. I won’t claim “The Legend of Billie Jean” is a straight faced character study, but it’s a fun and often exciting tale of a young woman who takes the world by the balls when she stands up for herself.
Son of Batman (2014) [Blu-Ray]
I’ve admittedly never read the graphic novel upon which “Son of Batman” was based on. I highly doubt I’m missing much, since “Son of Batman” is an unpleasant, tedious, and boring affair that offers little in entertainment value. I’m not sure why, but Damian Wayne, the son of Batman, is apparently very popular with Batman fans. But I can’t really figure out what his appeal is. Damian is obnoxious, irritating, and I really wanted to see him perish at the hands of Deathstroke.






