Great Concept, fairly standard movie

Rating: 7/10 (23 June 2013)

So the set-up for "The Purge" is simple. In a Dystopian future crime has almost been completely eliminated due to one day of the year being designated as a day where complete lawlessness is accepted. Not a bad set up, and novel concept.
The Good: Yes, as I said the set-up is good. It got a lot of people excited of the possibilities of this movie and will draw in some crowds. The acting, hmmm, not to bad, not horrible for sure like most horror genre films, but nothing spectacular either. Ethan Hawke has had a decent renaissance in his career ever since "Training Day," and he does a good enough job in this one that it is a decent stand-up movie.
The Bad: OK, this is not going to win any awards. Beyond the dystopian set-up this one just becomes more of a family held hostage by maniacs on the outside type of movie. I think judging by the low rating so far (5.6 at the time of the review), people were expecting a lot more from the deliciously novel concept. It doesn't deliver solidly on that. If you set expectations aside, it is however worth a little more in my opinion.
Lastly, another bad aspect. This is a thinly veiled idealism propaganda movie. It has a strong left wing stance trying to hint that this dystopian future is based on conservative ideas, set up in order to make sure "poor" people are the victims of the purge and they eradicated each other. Rather strange because historically it has been far left governments who have actually "Purged" people more often than right wing ones. Don't let it bother you and just watch an entertaining movie. It's not great enough of a movie to take a message like that seriously.
The verdict for me is a 7. Great set-up, average acting (which is above par when it comes to horror movies), decently entertaining movie even if the kids in the movie seem to be the dumbest kids ever. Just don't get the hopes up to high as to the fantastic possibilities running through your head when you see previews.