A "concept" film that doesn't bother to explore the concept

Rating: 6/10 (6 July 2013)

When the trailers for this film came out I was somewhat intrigued. A New American Revolution, you say? One night a year where all crime is legal, you say? Well that sounds fascinating. Tell me more.
The setup, if you aren't aware of it somehow, is that it is America in the year 2022. Sometime in the film's past (it's not specific) the country went through a "quadruple-dip" recession along with a stock market crash that led to huge national debt and a highly devalued dollar. That in turn led some newly elected officials - the New Founding Fathers, as the film calls them - to institute The Purge: a single night where all crime is legal except use of "above Class 4 weapons" and crimes against "Level 10 government employees". The plan immediately turned things around, lowering unemployment to 1%, reducing the crime rate to non-existent levels, and "saved the country" as so many people in the film put it.
Again I thought to myself, "I'm intrigued. What caused that recession? What's a Class 4 weapon or a Level 10 official? Who are these New Founding Fathers, and what position do they hold? Is the country still even a Republic or America now under some other form of government?" The premise is good at provoking thoughtful questions. Does the film bother answering any of them? No. As a matter of fact, that three-sentence summary above is just as much background as the film gives you on The Purge. You're just supposed to fill in the blanks yourself, probably by assuming that the New Founding Fathers are members of that underhanded political party you really hate. You know the one.
Protip: the movie is way better if you imagine that David Icke was right and the New Founding Fathers are actually reptiliod shapeshifters who have decided to turn America into their own barbaric version of the Roman Coliseum.
So with that huge potential goldmine of social commentary dangled out there appetizingly and promptly ignored, the film moves straight into giving us a decent setup for actioney whatnot. You've got your standard upper-middle-class family in their upper-middle-class home, white picket fence, 2.6 kids, etc. etc. The father is imperfect but cares about his family, the mother is generic and unremarkable (a waste of Lena Headey's talent), the younger son is borderline hypochondriac (another element left unexplored) and the older daughter is like every movie teenage daughter: more concerned with her boyfriend than anything else. The yearly Purge is a tense time for this tightly knit family, safe in their well-armored home but of varying opinions on the merits of The Purge. Do they sit down and have a frank discussion of their opinions on this literally revolutionary event? F%$# no! Film's only 85 minutes long, people! Can't have all this talking, we need to make time for gunfire, knives, and fake blood all over the place.
So with the issues of family relationships also dangled and ignored, the film finally gets to the shooty heart-poundey omgitsrightbehindyou stuff. The family's uneventful locked-in Purge night is, of course, not meant to be any of those things, and in a sequence of events - one expected, one really not - things start getting out of hand. Before you know it there's a polite but clearly unhinged gentleman and his pack of murderous friends trying to break in. Things get VERY claustrophobic at this point, and it's here that the film excels. The big, big McMansion the film is set in suddenly seems very cramped indeed.
The problem is, that's really the peak of the movie. From that point on it just turns into a long string of "well that was OKAY, I guess". There's some resolution, but not a lot. There's retribution, but not a lot. A fair amount of hope and heroism and redemption, but, again, not a lot. The film sets the stage for some very visceral moments, but more often than not doesn't give you the satisfaction you crave. Not that it's without satisfaction at all, but what you get is not what the movie leads you to believe you will be getting.
With all that said, I still enjoyed the film. For a film that had the potential for such heavy-handed social commentary it was in fact quite the opposite... perhaps too much. Regardless, it still had a fair amount of action and thrills, and even a few surprises. I did not regret spending my time watching it, and came out generally pleased.
In doing some research on the film I've learned that a sequel is in the works. I'm actually quite pleased to hear that, and will definitely be watching it when it finally comes out. Let's just hope the second spends a little more time exploring the concept than the first did. Like, at all.