In 2022, people will no longer have to find an appropriate, law abiding outlet for all of their pent up aggression- the purge will provide an outlet for them. The Purge came in first at the box office its opening weekend, but is it powerful enough to purge the other films?
The Purge makes a very interesting statement about the nature of people. It indicates that humans are inherently violent, and, if we’re given one day out of the year to do whatever we want without consequence, the other 364 days of the year would essentially be crime free, and the unemployment/homelessness rate would also shrink to nearly zero. The film also shows that even though the rule states that any crime is permitted, everyone immediately goes for murder. Hmmm…whatever happened to just wanting to steal a TV?
Conceptually, I love this film. It’s a unique and intriguing theory behind the evil in human nature, and the premise is really cool, but The Purge doesn’t quite explore it satisfactorily. When it comes down to it, the film is a classic home invasion story with an overlay of metaphors regarding the rich’s hatred of the poor. It’s an enjoyable film, but doesn’t reach the awesome factor. One of the problems is that the baddies aren’t shown to be bad enough. Yes, they looked creepy as hell, and you’ll spend more than a little time anticipating all sorts of horrible things from them, but then things don’t lead to a big enough payoff. I suppose the ending’s purpose is to show that people can be something other than savages, but that moral victory didn’t scratch the annoying itch building up in action oriented souls.
The film is really violent, but there’s only one really good action sequence and the rest is made up of quick little spurts. A sizable proportion of the film is a prolonged game of hide and seek, which is really tense for a little while, but eventually things get repetitive and dull.
All in all, the concept is great but the film is only pretty good- still enjoyable, but with a few problems. I’d love to see another film exploring the idea of the purge in a way that doesn’t become the typical home invasion movie.
Time Until Action: A long ass time.
Best Kill: James (Ethan Hawke) shoots a female invader standing on top of the pool table, which isn’t impressive itself, but what is impressive is the fall she takes. The blast of the huge gun James is packing knocks the woman off her feet, and the square of her back slams into the pool table, flipping her entire body forward to the ground. Ouch! That stunt person deserves a cookie!
Action Rating: 1 Urge to Purge, out of 5!
Overall Rating: 3 Urges to Purge, out of 5!
This is the Action Flick Chick, and you’ve just been kicked in the ass!
Haven’t seen this yet, but it sounds like a very interesting concept. Thanks for the review.