Film Review: The Purge: Election Year

"The Soul Of Our Country Is At Stake..."

With horror franchises seemingly being the norm of the recent cinematic climate, the release of The Purge: Election Year comes as no real surprise, particularly when looking at the success of its' predecessors, yet it is the underlying satirical dark nature which helps to justify its' very own existence in the battleground of the modern horror blockbuster which calls out for something different and something that may indeed stand out against the bulk of movies which ultimately are spoiled by common mediocrity. Although The Purge series is not exactly the Citizen Kane of horror, the fundamental premise of the series is one that is genuinely intriguing, if rather ludicrous, but also one that isn't truly absorbed into anything more than just vicious slasher-filled craziness. With Election Year however, the politics and principle of the series' original idea is met with some depth and discussion with Elizabeth Mitchell's Senator Charlie Roan hell bent on ending the horror of the Purge overall if elected to power, a notion of which the New Founding Fathers, the creators of the Purge, are not exactly best pleased about. Cue murderous rampage.

When I mean some political discussion, I literally mean some. Maybe a piddling ten percent with the rest of Election Year simply acting as a canvas for creepy masks and ultra-violent death scenes, something of which should indeed be expected when observing the rest of the franchise yet the appeal of the movie isn't in its' politics at all, it is the sheer crazy nature of a film which isn't exactly being cautious in its' satire against the gun-ho nature of the US's second amendment and the bewilderment at a situation which is so OTT it could indeed become a Trump-designed policy if such a nightmare does come to life in the near future. Is it groundbreaking? Not at all. Is it violently bonkers? Indeed. Election Year should indeed spring an end to the Purge series overall and it concludes such in an enjoyable if rather flawed fashion. 

Overall Score:6/10

Film Review: Zoolander No. 2

"You Really Are An Idiot Aren't You?"

Although I can confess to only recently watching Zoolander, the 2001 satirical comedy directed, written and starring Ben Stiller, this long-awaited sequel was something that I can confess to not entirely looking forward to in a week where so many films share a release schedule and battle for supremacy at the box office. With returning characters such as Ben Stiller as the titular Derek Zoolander, the dim-witted, good-mannered fashion model, resigned to living life as a "hermit crab" due to the loss of wife and son, both of which he believes to be sole responsible for, as well as Owen Wilson and Will Ferrell as Hansel and Mugatu respectively, Zoolander No.2, was in danger of falling into the pit of despair many comedy franchises have been led into over the course of the past decade within cinematic history with awful examples of the genre taking centre stage such as Get Hard and Unfinished Business. Unfortunately for Stiller and co., Zoolander No.2 is a rather unremarkable and most importantly, unfunny continuation of the life of Mr. Zoolander. 

Featuring more or less everything that made the first film full of snigger-induced fits, Zoolander No.2 continues the trait of dim-witted Derek Zoolander being incredibly, you guessed it, dim-witted, all-the-while being surrounded by strange celebrity cameos in an attempt to carry on the trend started within the first film, a film in which cameos included David Bowie (RIP), Victoria Beckham as well as everyone's favourite republican Donald Trump. Now in Zoolander No.2, we have Justin Bieber being shot violently to death, one of the few saving graces of the film, as well as stand-out appearances from Sting, Kiefer Sutherland and Benedict Cumberbatch looking extremely startling as All, the sexually ambiguous male/female model. The problem with the wide range of celebrity cameos is that they attempt to divert from the rather shallow plot and lack of inventive humour and when the screen-time is left solely to the core actors of the movie, Zoolander No.2 fails to live up to the comedic value of its' predecessor with a rather bland story and jokes that don't exactly live up to scratch. Another example of a sequel not being as good as the first film, Zoolander No.2 is something that will swiftly be forgotten. The Godfather Part II it is not. 

Overall Score: 4/10