Moderately violent, occasionally shocking diluted take on Battle Royale.

Rating: 5/10 (10 June 2013)

Some time in the future, America is in a similar state to the Japan of Battle Royale and the Powers That Be decide something must be done to restore law and order. That 'something' is The Purge, an annual event lasting twelve hours where all criminal activity (within certain boundaries regarding weaponry used) is legal and without risk of punishment.
On this particular night wealthy security alarm salesman, James Sandin (Ethan Hawke) locks himself and his family behind the shutters to enjoy a peaceful night within their home and view the events via their security cameras. Then a bloody stranger (Edwin Hodge, imaginatively credited as Bloody Stranger) hammers on the house and pleads for help. Unfortunately, the faction of middle class college kids with murderous intentions, led by a polite stranger (Rhys Wakefield, credited as, um, Polite Stranger) doesn't take too kindly to being denied their prey when Sandin's son, Charlie (Max Burkholder) opens the shutters for him.
The trailer for The Purge intrigued and marked it out as a must-see film for me. It's a fine idea, though not entirely original, but the execution falls short of the potential. The principal issue is that everything is established so obviously that anyone who has watched even a handful of violently dramatic films will know exactly where we'll end up. The boyfriend's comment, the neighbour's bitchy quip, the deliberate lack of focus on one particular character in the final act: they all serve as blindingly obvious signposts to what follows. Many of the events are so predictable one could almost write a checklist in the first act and then tick them off in the dim glow of the big screen.
Whereas Battle Royale threw a solution at the public and didn't pretend it would resolve the breakdown of their society, The Purge seems to conveniently overlook the inevitable bitterness that would follow when neighbours kill each other. The Purge might allow them to release their pressure for twelve hours but it sure as hell isn't going to end the resulting tension the follows during the next 364 and a half days.
Beyond the 'deeper' considerations, this falls apart as we watch a peaceful couple that opposes The Purge suddenly acquire the skills to convincingly fight a group of sociopaths who have been purging themselves for years. In Battle Royale, inept, innocent schoolgirls armed only with terror and a saucepan lid died pretty damn quickly! And the film was far more entertaining and shocking for it.
Ethan Hawke holds the film together adequately as the husband and father fighting for the lives of his family, though how he prevents himself from screaming even once at his children "What the hell were you thinking?" is beyond me. His wife, Mary (Lena Heady) is a victim waiting to happen (no, I'm not going to tell you if it works out for her), and if one of the family is going to cop it, she would absolutely get my vote.
With Bloody Stranger being such an integral part of the plot, why does writer/director James DeMonaco not make more of him? Perhaps if the action wasn't restricted entirely to one house we might have seen more character interaction and development. Heck, we might have been better entertained. But I suppose there must be room to expand the inevitable sequel.
With the arrival of Polite Stranger and the manner in which he deals with one of his own friends, expectation increases for an exciting villain and a game of chess where humans are the playing pieces and checkmate is terminal. Alas, Wakefield merely gives us a nut job with one emotional setting. And so it goes.
The Purge is moderately violent, occasionally shocking (though never surprising) and a reasonably enjoyable nine-star idea that is diluted into a five-star film because it's so damn obvious.
Save your cash and watch Battle Royale again instead.
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