A Unique Premise, Spoiled By Descent Into Idiocy

Rating: 6/10 (18 June 2013)

Even with an extremely strong and enticing premise at the forefront to paint over the array of farcical stupidity and predictability, The Purge's core foundation that caused audiences to stop and stare is unable to completely gloss over the film's plethora of flaws as they seep through the cracks. The finishing coat that is the idea behind the film does just about enough to prevail and not fade away to the questionable layers beneath it. The Purge follows a family's struggle on one very 'special' night of the year; a night in the near future, where all crime is legal (including murder) and emergency services are disbanded for a period of twelve hours, which has radically reduced crime and allows for economic prosperity throughout the rest of the year. That premise alone intrigues via only a simple synopsis, and in the film, this fascinating night just about maintains what could have been a disastrous and laughable trip to the cinema, as a moderately enjoyable one.
The Purge successfully creates its world in the opening title sequence. You instantly believe and accept the film's set-up and despite some annoying characters, the film undeniably has your attention, if only for a little while longer. The greatest feature of The Purge is its ability to remain relevant, before, during and after seeing it. While many may remember it for the wrong reasons, it can certainly impress by encouraging the audience to consider during to themselves, and ask aloud to those around them after, "What would you do in that situation?" The trailer reveals the family's son as a young and somewhat idealistic figure whom opens the family's security system to allow an unknown victim of the purge to find solace in their home. Would you risk your own safety for the potential rescue of a wounded stranger? These are the kinds of questions that The Purge elicits very triumphantly, and it is nothing but a shame that these social, moral issues were not delved into more critically. The Purge is a film that should be remade into a drama/thriller piece, taken more seriously and produced more coherently to restore its purpose that got lost along the way of this 2013 supposedly 'horror' effort. It doesn't really warrant the categorisation of horror, due its lack of fear inducing power other than a couple of jump scares.
The Purge manages to defy logic and reason on multiple levels, and not the levels that one would expect it to. The film in fact has a very convincing, albeit radical, premise that you adopt as reality, and with its rising action to maintain a sense of intensity rather than fear, The Purge disappoints by behaving foolishly elsewhere. First and foremost, the decisions of certain characters make little to no sense, leaving the audience to ponder over their judgement, rather than remain engaged with the film itself. Additionally, The Purge treats, or more so mistreats its audience very condescendingly, to the extent that you actually question whether the filmmakers just gave up trying to convince anyone of anything half way through production. There are countless instances of characters being save 'just in the nick of time', and it becomes frustratingly disappointing as after the first successful try, they just continue to demean all viewers by creating a idiotically predictable plot that a toddler could decipher in seconds.
On the arrival of that moment in The Purge when you come to the realisation that it failed to live up to expectation and is disregarding so much logic and reason that you think at any time gravity might be dismissed, then you can finally just have fun with the film. Despite its refreshing premise, The Purge breaks its promise of being an inviting social commentary and becomes a simply disappointing yet watchable slasher-like flick.
Oddly, I would have to concede that in spite of all of my hate for The Purge's silliness, woeful acting by some, and the frustrating delusional mentality of many of its characters, the film is overall still reasonably enjoyable and not completely worthless. In fact, it is certainly worthwhile, which is exclusively attributable to the conception of the foundational idea that is required to juggle the remaining frightful (not in the intended manner) features of the film, whilst balancing itself. Unfortunately, many of these features are such abysmal that The Purge's premise can only handle so much responsibility, and many of these disastrous elements of the film fall to the ground, in the mud, where they belong. Nonetheless, The Purge is memorable for its highly unique criminological approach that maintains intrigue throughout most of the film, and shall perhaps linger importantly for its impressive aptitude for giving the audience something to debate amongst themselves after walking out of the 85 minute feature.