*Warning

* Minor spoilers ahead!

The third installment of Universal Pictures “The Purge” franchise was released this past Friday over the Fourth of July weekend. The first film “The Purge” was released back in 2013, this film introduced the world to the “Purging” concept: where all crime including murder is legal for 12 hours. The only people exempt from being victims of the Purge are government officials. Help such as police, hospitals, and ambulances are unavailable until the 12 hours are up. It is every man for himself.

The first film centered on a specific family of four who tried their best to survive and avoid looters from entering their home. The second film “The Purge: Anarchy” was released a year later in 2014, with new characters but with the same goal: to survive the Purge night. Opposite to the first film, “The Purge: Anarchy” focuses on various characters who are forced out of their homes for the night and have no choice but to walk through the streets and do their best to avoid looters, attackers, and murderers in order to survive.

In the third installment “The Purge: Election Year,” Frank Grillo returns to reprise his role of Leo Barnes; a former police sergeant. This time he is the head of security for Senator Charlie Roan, played by Elizabeth Mitchell. The central plot of the film besides survival, is to end the annual purge. Senator Roan is running for president alongside Minister Edwidge Owens, played by Kyle Secor.

The senator’s primary order of business, once she gets elected, is to end the Purge. She was forced to watch as her brother and parents were murdered during the Purge when she was younger. Now she wants to put an end to this gruesome night, however for the first time in Purge history the government decided that no politicians will receive immunity for the night.

I won’t go into more details to spoil the entire film, but there were some thoughts that I had while watching the movie…

1. I should learn self-defense.

The head of security, Leo, does his best to protect the senator. He knows the right moves to avoid punches and knifes. Whenever I watch action movies I tell myself I’ll learn because it looks fun and cool. When watching this film, I thought to learn it for survival and well… self-defense.

2. I would have died at the beginning of the Purge.

The characters in the films conveniently are trained to handle the Purge, well at least Leo is. But not everyone had a character like Leo in their group and survived.

3. Sergeant Leo can protect me anytime.

Frank Grillo does a great job at protecting those around him, and it's only logical to want to be protected by him.

4. God forbid this country gets to the point of having an annual Purge.

This is the main thought my friend and I both had during and after the film. Three years ago, the idea of “Purging” becoming a reality was absurd. Today there is too much violence around us. Many innocent lives have been lost, the presidential election is… I can’t even find the exact word for it. Things are horrendous right now, but lets hope “Purging” remains within the Universal films and does not become our reality.

Overall, although there may have been some cheesy parts, it was a great film. My friend and I laughed in some parts and had a good time. There was a right amount of action in the film, which made it all around entertaining.