Just finished watching The Purge, Election Year and I came away very surprised. I enjoyed the first one, was so so about the second and had little hope of improvement in the third, which so often is the case. I expected it to suck, I was wrong and I actually enjoyed it quite a bit.
The main Characters
Frank Grillo (Leo Barnes), he also played Crossbones in Captain America. Elizabeth Mitchel (Senator Roan) also played in the TV Series Revolution. Both Characters were interesting, well played and given a decent backstory. Grillo's character was in the second movie, so you know his background.
This movie actually had a plot, a decent story, some suspense, and Mykelti Williamson (Joe Dixon) had the best one liners in the movie. You actually become vested in the characters. My first thought is how many times do we need to see the Purge before it gets beyond boring, apparently at least three times. Yes, the main villain is over exaggerated and overacted, but it's the satisfaction of seeing some truly evil sub characters getting ganked, that makes it funny.
This one is by far the best of the series, it won't win any awards for writing, acting, or special effects, but it does do a lot well and you wouldn't be wasting $10-$12 dollars seeing it at a theater.