Cheap Political Statement rather than a film

Rating: 4/10 (21 August 2013)

Whenever someone makes a movie that is first and foremost a political statement, it won't be good, unless of course you think the message is right.
The Purge is a left-wing view of they see people who believe in individual liberty and the right to self-defense. Obviously, gun ownership is evil and only leads to more violence... Throw in some jabs at greedy Wall Street and this is essentially what this movie is.
Even without the annoying political statements, the film is a let-down. Spoilers ahead!
First, even common sense will tell you that the entire premise of this movie is deeply flawed. Crime is at an all-time low because people get to kill one day a year? Do the writers even know what the motivators are in crime? Somehow, rape, robbery, murder, and other crimes just decline because people can kill without criminal prosecution? Right! Look, the premise is interesting, but come on, put some more thought into it. People won't stop stealing just because they can murder at will one night...and murder wouldn't cease to exist because most murders are not meticulously planned out...they occur in the heat of the moment, either through rage or surprise (think a spouse murdering his/her spouse during an argument or after finding them cheating; or consider a robbery gone bad). Second, the idea that having one day a year where murder is legal will somehow keep unemployment down makes no sense. Unemployment is not a fixed number, it is related to the size of the population and there will always be unemployment regardless of the population size. When you consider the homicide rate now for a year you'll find it much higher than anything that could occur in a 12-hour span in one night. So if anything, the population would skyrocket and there would be MORE unemployment.
As for the plot itself, it was very basic. A family is besieged in their house after the son lets in a homeless guy running from crazed killers. The crazed killers are of course pros at entering a house and have all the right equipment and know-how...oh, and they are apparently trust-fund babies or something. There's a bunch of killing and at the end the homeless guy saves the day, which was about as predictable as it gets. Oh and throw in a brief subplot where the daughter's boyfriend is hiding in the house and tries to kill the Dad, but he is shot and dies...and that's it for that.
Plenty of plot holes though. So, they have this security system that they only need for one year...yet the entire family (at least the son and dad) know the security code by heart? The son deftly enters the code to let in the homeless guy. Sorry, but in 8 years, we'll have more security codes and passwords than we can remember and there's no way the family will know it by heart when they only use it once a year.
And what is a homeless doing in a neighborhood like that? They make a point several times in the film to say that they live in a very safe area...presumably without any homeless people. Are we to believe that the killers chased the guy miles and miles to a posh neighborhood?
Then there's the trust-fund hit squad. They're all wearing creepy masks (for the cheap effect of creeping out the audience) but for anyone who remembers Halloween masks...they're very difficult to see out of...much less stalk your prey and commit murder in. And they're experts at breaking into fortified houses? Their special equipment consists of some Ford F-150s and chains? Really? Just what did they attach the chains to? The steal plates didn't appear to have any convenient hook points, so...? Plus, how did they rip off ALL the steel plates? There were only two trucks and it would have taken a while for them to get to each window...probably several hours, and you can't tell me that the ENTIRE house was accessible to vehicles that had enough room for the trucks to maneuver in order to pull those plates off. I mean as a home-security expert, the Dad should have known that the best way to prevent someone from entering your home is to limit the number of approaches and entry points. For instance, you don't allow someone from the street easy access to your entire house from the outside. You put up fences, you plant trees, you make it very difficult for someone to get in. I'm sure their house would have been a tougher nut to crack than we saw.
I hear they're going to make a sequel to this movie...great, another series of bad "horror" movies that get pawned off to the public.
Don't spend money on this movie...watch it on TV or see it on Netflix or something. There are better films in the genre than this...way better.