2013’s The Purge was always a guilty pleasure of mine, despite that if you take away the fascinating concept of a 12-hour period once a year in which you’re free kill whomever you want, you’re left with what is a simple home invasion thriller.

With the 2014 sequel, The Purge: Anarchy the concept began to move away from its humble origins, becoming more overtly political.

And that’s okay, because otherwise the sequels would have been essentially remakes of the original movie.

Though change, like anything else, brings risk.

In this particular instance, for me it’s that the series has been building to a story about–potentially–the fall of the government in the United States that supports and promotes the Purge (after they attempt to use it to cover an assassination attempt on a Senator).

As I said, change is necessary, though I am not crazy about the direction; though I expect it to do quite well because they’re releasing it July 4th–Independence Day in the United States–which is more than a little bit brilliant.