By Back before The Purge: Anarchy released, I was one of the loudest voices against it. While The Purge had a neat idea, it squandered it on a simple home invasion movie. We even started the #CrimeDay game on our old podcast and made up some ridiculous crimes to go with it. So when I sat down with Anarchy, I finally realized why the first one was so small. It was so they could blow the franchise out of the water.
With Frank Grillo as pretty much The Punisher, and Michael K. Williams as a rebel figurehead, Anarchy was a supercharged action film that explored what a 12 hour crime spree would effect the lower class. And speaking with Collider, Frank Grillo (who’s returning along with Williams and writer/director James DeMonaco) gave up some juicy story bits:
You get to see where he came from, his origin, how this has affected him, and what he does to make some changes about it. He was involved in law enforcement at a high level, and he gets involved with somebody else who’s also politically charged, and they go after the system. It’s really interesting. It’s like a really good old school B-movie, like Death Wish, or one of those Clint Eastwood westerns. It’s that kind of thing.
Grillo was the best decision the franchise could’ve made, and I’m glad to read that he knows exactly what kind of movies they need to be. B grade, full of wacky killers like the truck driver crew and rich snobs, and just plain madness. Give me all of that and we’re golden.
[via Collider]