A missed opportunity to make a great movie

Rating: 6/10 (12 January 2014)

It's a couple of hours before the yearly Purge and a 1%er finds out he's salesman of the year at the home security business. The yearly Purge has been setup by the new founding fathers in the future so there will be no violence during the rest of the year. All crime is allowed. Some families just stay at home and worry, others party, and some people go "hunting." While the guy talks about preparing, the family just sits and dines and then 3 minutes before the purge, they go to a room with cameras and lock down their mansion with protective barriers. The kid, the daughter, the mom they all go do their own thing. The kid watches the screens and sees a man screaming for help so of course he's going to open the gates and let a complete stranger in who clearly doesn't look like he belongs in a millionaires' neighborhood.
Also in the house is the girl's boyfriend who is older than she is and he wants to talk to the dad. Except that he actually wants to kill him. As a result dad ends up killing him and the stranger vanishes in the house. Suddenly a weird gang of rich kids- male and female with masks show up at the door demanding they release the stranger to them so they can purge. Dad is all for it, mom and the kid aren't, but they still don't know where he is. The party outside is getting antsy and give a deadline. When the deadline passes, they break in the house. By then the dad has changed his mind and won't give them the stranger. Now violence ensues, some neighbors also show up, and the family will try and survive the night.
The Purge has a fantastic and original premise. But as many point out, the execution is a letdown. The first 20 minutes are pretty good, then things go downhill until the violence starts. It is of course annoying when movie characters act in completely nonsensical ways, and there's plenty of that in this movie. The second problem is that it focuses on this single family that isn't very rational or likable. It doesn't take long before the lights go out and people use small flashlights. You know, it is entirely possible to make a horror movie during the day or with lights on. Hollywood should try it out occasionally. We even get some dark POV perspective because the annoying kid has build some creepy RC doll-on-a-tank with a camera. There are some surprises and twists later on but the weaknesses are too obvious to overlook. The idea is very very provocative no doubt and it confront America with its penchant for violence. This movie should be exciting, tense, edge-of-your-seat stuff--but it just isn't. Hopefully in The Purge 2 the writer/director will address these shortcomings.