The Purge (2013) Review

Rating: 4/10 (20 June 2013)

The film is set in March of 2022. The basic premise of this movie is that on one night a year for 12 hours (7pm- 7am) all emergency services are suspended and all crime, including murder, is legal, a law introduced by the new president (name undisclosed) within his first month in office. James Sandin (Ethan Hawke) is the top salesman for a company that produces high end home security systems which are specifically used for the night of The Purge. Him and wife Mary Sandin (Lena Headey) are full supporters of The Purge because of the low crime rate and unemployment that the it has created, however they are not participants of it. They have two children Charlie (Max Burkholder) and Zoey (Adelaide Kane). James and his family are so exaggerated in their behaviours that I almost felt compelled to like them; it's as if the directors had stuck a massive label over the top of the family saying "People We Like." Each character also did not feel cohesive as a family; each child had different mannerisms and traits which were not portrayed in either parent. As well as the parents having a sickly sweet and unbelievably perfect marriage.
Unfortunately for this film, the viewer is left dissatisfied within mere minutes of the film starting due to the very poor and unconvincing acting styles of Mr Hawke. His enthusiasm and friendly persona are overwhelming for the introduction of the character. Although being enthusiastic works to his advantage during some surprisingly brutal action scenes, one of the only places where DeMonaco's directing came to any good; the action scenes seemed to be the only part of the film that was believable. I will maintain that the acting from the fairly unknown cast was not all that bad, Lena Headey delivered a somewhat average performance, although this is more due to bad writing more than her particular style; a very dull and very typical mother character. Rhys Wakefield, who plays the "Polite Stranger", delivers the best performance of the film. His creepy and annoyingly cheerful personality is about the only thing which creates terror throughout the film.
The film is set in a wealthy suburban area with little knowledge as to whether this in a town, village or city, however, I think the important part of the setting lies within us knowing it is a wealthy area. It is also set at night, a concept also not easy to grasp, because if all crime is legal there is no need to sneak around at night, so why not the day? I do accept that this is done for the purpose of it being a horror, although I do find it unnecessary in terms of supporting the film's basic premise. I find that the setting does not add anything to the fear aspect of the film; in fact I think a rural setting would quite possibly be more beneficial for this element and would create a lot less plot holes.
One major problem I had with this film is the amount of horror styled elements the movie tries to incorporate. It's creepy, it's supernatural, it's sci fi, it's gory, it's terror, etc. This makes the film very confusing in terms of what you should actually be afraid of. It also creates complicated and unnecessary questioning as to what genre the film actually falls into; the possibilities being horror, thriller or action. This "too much going on" theme runs throughout the films plot too; so I guess we can slightly applaud the film for having a sense of cohesion. Another problem I found myself is that the film runs on "no bad guy" system; how can we be angry at characters that are just doing what they are legally allowed to do? It is their right to purge just as much as the Sandin family have the right not to purge. For me personally, it does not make me feel empathy towards any "good guys".
The films initial premise excites me to an extent as many of us, myself included, sit there and wonder whether such a concept could work in society. However, throughout the film, many decisions made by the neighbours in the suburb do make me question the premise. For example, there are no safe zones, only citizens of class 10 or higher are exempt, this includes the government. So even those who do not wish to take part, still have to pay the high cost to install security systems. Although this concept is addressed within the film where they state that a minority of people think the Purge is a way for the government to eradicate the poor.
I was highly disappointed with this film as I thought we may have finally had a horror movie with a decent writing crew to deliver a cohesive movie with little plot holes, but we have been given the opposite. Overall acting: poor, directing: poor, writing: poor, all of these elements deliver an unsatisfying cinema experience. I hope that no sequel is attempted with the left over rubble of this car crash.