With a miniscule $3 million budget, 2013’s The Purge brought in a worldwide gross of nearly $90 million. Given that return on investment, it came as no surprise that a sequel called The Purge: Anarchy hit screens a mere 13 months after the prior flick’s debut.

Under the US “New Founding Fathers of America”, all crime – including murder – is legal during one 12-hour “Purge” every year. This results in all-time lows in terms of crime and other societal issues like homelessness.

However, not everyone agrees with “the Purge”, and Carmelo Jones (Michael K. Williams) launches an anti-Purge organization. In the midst of this uprising, a few different citizens find themselves stuck on the streets of LA as they attempt to survive the 12-hour spree of bloody violence.

Whereas the 2013 Purge offered a variation on the home invasion theme, Anarchy opens up settings considerably. It gives us a wide swath of Los Angeles to explore its mayhem.

In addition, Anarchy comes with a broader set of characters. Whereas Purge focused mainly on one family, the sequel involves a larger array of participants.

At least this means Anarchy doesn’t simply remake the original. Whether that makes it a worthwhile sequel becomes a different question.

My answer would be “not really”. While it offers a serviceable thriller, Anarchy fails to stand out from the crowd.

As became the case with the first film, this disappoints because the “Purge” premise comes with so much potential. That subject could allow for plenty of intriguing commentary. Anarchy fails to treat the subject as anything more than vague windowdressing.

Anarchy does shift the societal realm involved. Whereas The Purge looked at the titular 12 hours of mayhem from the POV of a well-to-do family, the sequel involves working class folks.

Again, this helps ensure that Anarchy doesn’t simply rehash the original, and it allows us to take in a fully different perspective. The family seen in the prior flick could use money to stave off Purgers – to some degree, at least – whereas those in Anarchy lack the same resources.

This means we get a more “ground level” set of circumstances that force the characters to rely more on their wits than their wealth. In theory, this should open up the movie to a mix of interesting new circumstances.

And at times, it succeeds. A few parts of Anarchy dip a toe into the social ramifications of the Purge.

However, too much of the film just feels like a bunch of violent scenes connected to each other without a lot of plot involved. Granted, a “survive the night” tale like this might not seem like it needs rich characters and strong story beats.

The basic concept of the franchise means it should deliver more than just fights and bloodshed, though. The Purge itself remains a topic ripe with potential for deeper exploration.

Which Anarchy doesn’t indulge. As a basic violent thriller, it remains serviceable, but it fails to live up to the possibilities created by its premise.

The Purge: Anarchy appears in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The movie came with an appealing presentation.

Sharpness worked fine. The occasional slightly soft wider shot emerged, but I felt the majority of the movie offered nice clarity.

No issues with jaggies or moiré effects materialized, and edge haloes were absent. Source flaws failed to become a factor here.

In terms of palette, Anarchy went with a stylized look. In an unsurprising move, the film emphasized amber/yellow and teal/blue to a substantial degree, and it tossed in some green as well. Those tones seemed well-depicted given their limitations.

Blacks were reasonably dark and tight, while shadows showed decent to good delineation. Overall, the image looked fine, as it accurately reproduced the source.

When I examined the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Anarchy, I thought it became reasonably active and involving, as the mix used music and atmosphere to nice advantage. These elements created a good sense of place and movement that brought us an engaging soundscape.

The best material found in the various action sequences. Though not packed with wall to wall violent shenanigans, the track kicked to life well as necessary.

Audio quality was fine. Speech was crisp and natural, and effects showed good punch.

Music was also clear and full. The soundtrack connected with the story in an appropriate manner.

A featurette called Behind the Anarchy runs eight minutes, 29 seconds. It offers notes from writer/director James DeMonaco, producers Andrew Form, Brad Fuller, Sebastien Lemercier and Jason Blum, production designer Brad Ricker, and actors Frank Grillo, Carmen Ejogo, Zoe Soul, Kiele Sanchez, and Zach Gilford.

“Behind” examines story/characters, cast and performances, sets and locations. The program mixes fluff with a few useful notes.

The disc opens with ads for Curse of Chucky, The Man With the Iron Fist 2, Scorpion King 4: Quest for Power, Ouija, Kill the Messenger, As Above So Below and Bates Hotel.

Previews adds promos for Cat Run 2, The Purge, Mama, Dream House, Silent House and “Universal Classic Monsters”. No trailer for Anarchy appears here.

Like the first film in the franchise, The Purge: Anarchy comes backed by an intriguing premise. Like the first film in the franchise, it fails to develop these themes well and becomes a watchable but somewhat generic violent thriller. The Blu-ray boasts very good picture and audio as well as minor bonus materials. Expect a less than inventive experience from this sequel.