The Purge
"Release the beast, boys! Let the killing commence!" - Rhys Wakefield
This film has a wicked and interesting premise that initially lured me in: in
the near-future,
the government allows a single night for everybody to go nuts and commit any crime they desire...including murder. All emergency services are shut down, and
the US becomes a massive free-for-all of mayhem, destruction, and bloodshed.
Alas,
the film never really shows that much mayhem, destruction, and bloodshed. With its focus solely on a single family trying to survive
the night,
the film limits itself, and it takes its sweet time getting to
the climax, where all
the real terror and action takes place. For
the most part,
the film purposefully moves at a turtle's pace, relying solely on
the threat of intruders to maintain any interest. For this movie, however, I would have probably been more interested and more moved if it had greater intensity and relentlessness; as it is,
the film came off as being rather dull.
It's
the story that disappointed me
the most, however.
The premise is
the stuff that dystopian sci-fi dreams are made of, but
The Purge is no
A Clockwork Orange, no matter how hard it tries.
The movie digs up some interesting sociological and psychological reasoning for its premise, and
the implications can be staggering. They
can be, that is, but in
the film, such themes never materialize into any tangible form.
Nope, at best,
the film is a pure home-invasion thriller. It's populated with average characters, some of whom make really stupid decisions for
the sake of driving
the plot forward.
The film tries to boldly assert that
the human spirit and moral goodness are things worth fighting and dying for, but thanks to this direction,
the characters wind up making even more dumb decisions. By
the film's end, I don't think I really cared who lived or who died (although, after watching Leena Heady being victimized for so long
, it was refreshing to see her whack somebody in
the face
).
The plot is dulled further with far too frequent use of Deus Ex Machina: that is, too many instances where characters are randomly saved by other characters or events. That ultimately brings me to a myriad of lesser nitpicks:
the house is apparently so huge that people get lost and pop in and out of
the scenes whenever they feel like it; these people should have invested in more firepower; no way would any of this happen in
the first place; and so on...
As a film, it's pretty standard thriller fare, with jittery camera work throughout
the more exciting scenes, along with dark and bland lighting and color schemes. Acting is not bad: Ethan Hawke and Leena Heady provide
the most sensible performances, while
the kid actors do their best to be plausibly dumb. I think
the biggest standouts will be
the villains, with Rhys Wakefield as
the head bad guy, for they are genuinely creepy. Writing is okay, but more detail, exposition, and better plotting would have worked wonders. This production uses very spartan sets, props, and costumes, and they get
the job done. Whatever music
the film uses is utterly forgettable.
This film is promising, and
the main idea could have been hammered out into something ingenious. As a dystopian sci-fi story, however,
the film fails to resonate; it's more at home among other slashers and thrillers, but it's still somewhat mundane. There are far better movies out there in either field.
2.5/5 (Entertainment: Average | Story: Poor | Film: Marginal)
Recommendation:
Nah.
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