USA 2022: To Protect and To Purge

Rating: 5/10 (27 April 2016)

Among many other things, I have a weakness for dystopian Sci- Fi/action movies, and I'm also the type of geek who likes to philosophy and discuss whether or not the dystopian perspectives could work for real. James DeMonaco's "The Purge" starts off with a killer – pun intended – premise: in the United States of the year 2022, not that far ahead of us in other words, all types of crime are legalized during a 12 hour period on the 22nd of March. During this so-called purge-night, hospital emergency services shut down, the police and fire departments don't respond to any calls and you can commit literally every horrendous crime – including rape or murder – without having to bear the consequences. According to the script the impact of the annual purge is enough to keep America crime-free for the rest of year, and it even stimulates economic growth and a decrease of unemployment rates! Interesting enough concept, but the skeptical geek in me seriously doubts that one wildcard-night is sufficient to compensate for 364 days of peace and welfare. Sour critics also proclaim that "The Purge" is a typical American movie because a very large share of the population is pro- war, in favor of possessing weapons and in favor of unlimited defense of own property. Okay, maybe this partially explains the film's gigantic box-office success, but I don't want to rant about political undertones and, besides, the parody aspects are a lot more interesting. In a relatively short period of time, the infamous purge night turned into a kind of festive national holiday, like Halloween or Thanksgiving, and the people are joyously sharing their purging plans via radio shows or shamelessly sharpen their machetes in their front garden! The story centers on the wealthy Sandin family who are living in a fancy residential area in the suburbs. James Sandin got filthy rich selling hi-tech alarm systems and supports the purge, but he and his family nevertheless choose not to participate in the violence. When the eerie siren rings to announce the commencing of purge night, James hermetically seals off the house and plans to watch a movie with the kids. His dumb son Charlie ruins it for the whole family, though, as he opens the door for a hysterical man on the run for a bunch of frantic "purgers". Their leader then sets an ultimatum for the Sandins: hand over the stranger or everyone gets killed. In spite of its innovative premise and enormous possibilities, "The Purge" rather quickly turns into an ordinary slasher/vigilante thriller with nasty executions and lunatic characters. The masks of the attackers are inarguably horrifying, but the authentic ear-to-ear smile of leader of the pack when he looks straight into the intercom camera is conceivably even more disturbing! "The Purge" certainly isn't a great film or even a notable highlight in the genre, but it's at least entertaining and I wouldn't even mind watching the two sequels it already spawned in the meantime.