So flat, a great waste of great concept

Rating: 4/10 (14 June 2013)

So, for 24 hours once a year, the people of the United States are free to kill, rob or even vandalise a car if they were feeling light hearted, without the risk of being arrested. All emergency services are suspended, and the people are left to fend for themselves. The 'annual purge' as they like to call it in 2020, is a very, very interesting concept, something that draws a lot of the 'what if's' and 'I don't know what I would do' (something I heard numerous times while watching in the cinema). But, with that said, the film doesn't draw us in with the horrors of crime being legal for 24 hours, it doesn't dwell on our fears of crime and the intrusion of your own home, but gets you with cheap scares and loud gunshots. It works (to an extent), but I wanted something a lot deeper, and with a hell of a lot more layers to the story and the characters. Henry's character seems pointless, and after killing him off, we hear nothing more, which doesn't seem to affect Zoey, even though she loves him. The homeless man who the antagonists wanted is no where to be seen for the majority of the film, which kind of made me forget about him all together. Not the best outcome when he is the only character who seems to drive the story! The storyline delivered to us is flat; family gets ready for the purge, family encounter problem with the purge, family try to deal with the problem, and subsequently manages the problem, even though our protagonist is fatally wounded (which, by the way, was not as sympathetic as it should have been). It's a pretty basic follow through. However, the writer did try to make it that bit more crazy at the end; getting the neighbours who we thought were our friends involved, twisting their oh so pretty faces into demonic killing machines. Which, was funny, but it seemed a little too thrown together and a quick and easy end the film. The acting was dull, melodramatic, and forced, with Lena Headey's capabilities brought way down as she portrayed a mother who was constantly being kept back in safety by her somewhat annoying husband who soon lets his inner 'pro purge' come out. I got the feeling the film was a comment on the USA's ongoing gun problem, but to me, it only seems to enforce the individual's "right" to have a gun. 4/10, would not recommend for film goers who want to watch something worth paying for.