The Purge: Anarchy ... Blood lust

IN preparation for the release of The Purge 3 in the summer, I watched The Purge: Anarchy (2014),

written and directed by James DeMonaco.
  Viewers know that the 12-hour annual Purge gives US citizens the legal right to commit all crimes, including murder. During that time, fire and emergency services are suspended.


   Anarchy has a gruff and silent man with military skills (Frank Grillo) about to exact revenge for the vehicular death of his son a year ago. He's armed to the teeth, and his sleek black car is ready for action, too.
  However, on the way to his destination, he spots two women being dragged out of their apartment by heavily-armed men. Latino working-class mum Eva Sanchez (Carmen Ejogo) and her annoyingly talkative teenage daughter Cali (Zoë Soul) have just escaped a murder attempt by the skin of their teeth.
   The silent man saves them from the abduction and also picks up a couple -- Shane and Liz (real-life married couple Zach Gilford and Kiele Sanchez) -- who are having a tiff about whether they should tell Shane's sister about their impending separation.
   The silent man is focused only on getting to his destination. Cali asks him whether he's going to ditch them and leave them to their own devices. She attempts to dissuade him from committing his dastardly act of revenge.
   On the surface, Anarchy is about the downtrodden and oppressed rising up to fight against a rich

Frank Grillo (right) saves minorities and a
hapless white couple in 'The Purge: Anarchy'.

white society that's taking advantage of the Purge to satiate their lust for blood.
  Below the surface, however, it's about a white man saving minorities and the helpless from being killed.
   In this regard, DeMonaca returns to a similar theme in the first film, The Purge (2013). In that film, rich white security system salesman James (Ethan Hawke) saves a homeless black veteran running away from white marauders.
  James gasps that this (his home being under siege) can't be happening to him. He's rich, white and successful and lives in a luxurious gated community.
   He is initially reluctant to help the black man, but under pressure from his teenage son and gorgeous wife (Lena Headey), he decides to put up a last stand in his huge mansion to prevent the whites from killing the black man.