The Purge: Anarchy - C

Rated R, 103 minutes

Mildly entertaining but contrived "The Purge: Anarchy" continues the blood and mayhem

Frank Grillo stars in "The Purge: Anarchy"

The highly exploitative, mildly entertaining and blood-soaked sequel "The Purge: Anarchy" arrives in theaters this weekend, a follow-up to last summer's huge horror hit, "The Purge." If you enjoyed that film, whose intriguing premise was dampened by all the violence, then you'll enjoy this one, which amps up the gratuitous blood but is much sillier and more contrived than the first film. (Just in case you didn't catch the first film, The Purge is a night where all crime is legal and all hospitals, fire stations, poison control centers and police stations in the United States are closed down for 12 hours.) "The Purge: Anarchy" takes place in 2023, a year after the first film involves several unsuspecting individuals brought together to try to survive the night: a couple named Shane and Liz (real-life husband/wife Zach Gilford and Kiele Sanchez), whose car breaks down just as the Purge is commencing; Leo Barnes ("Captain America's" Frank Grillo), a former cop who goes out into the streets to get revenge on the man who killed his son, and a mother and daughter, Eva (Carmen Ejogo) and Cali (newcomer Zoe Soul), forced onto the streets after their apartments is invaded. Directed and written by James DeMonaco, who delivered the first "Purge" to big bucks, brings us "The Purge: Anarchy," an expected yet unnecessary sequel whose unoriginal story and cliches have little place to go. Granted, it's strangely intriguing (as was the first film) and terribly exploitative, squeezing as much blood as they can from this turnip, and on that note it can be dumb, predictable fun, but the story and characters are considerably lacking any depth, backstory or sense for that matter (let's decide to take a ride just hours before the Purge starts - a great idea!). Newcomer Zoe Soul shows some spunk and Grillo is a memorable grumbler, but the attractive cast can't do much with the story that goes nowhere, including a ridiculous "Hunger Games"-style arc in the last act that is particularly disappointing, and with a finale that seems both rushed and vague. The mildly entertaining "The Purge: Anarchy" only does one thing well (and maybe that's all it needs to do), in that it continues the blood and mayhem, no doubt pleasing the masses who enjoy this type of thing.

Wes's Grade: C