The Purge

The Purge, the latest film from writer/director James DeMonaco is one hell of a blown opportunity to really make a great movie that really makes a profound statement. Here was a chance for James to lift himself into rarified air, to ascend to heights he himself probably never dreamed possible when he first realized he wanted to be a director. Instead we get this crap! This movie is so predictable it's painful, which in turn makes it incredibly laughable and for that, The Purge gets a half a bucket of Killer Korn.





I love a good story, I really do. To me, there's not anything as magical as a good story. A good story can lift spirits, frighten the hell out of you, raise the hairs on the backs of necks, and cause flesh to get all goosebumply. The ONLY thing better than a good story is it's parent, the good premise. The premise is where the good story comes from, it's what breathes life into that good story for without it, that story is an empty shell. I saw this movie based on the premise that I heard writer/director James DeMonaco give in an interview. Honestly, I had NO desire, ZERO inclination to see this movie when it came out, but I saw that interview and thought, "MY GOD! Now THAT'S a premise!" I thought this movie could be one huge social commentary on the state of mankind and how we treat each other, hell how we just look at each other even. I was really curious how this sort of story could be told, I wondered if they got it right, I wondered if they had the balls big enough to tell the truth. Sadly I was disappointed at every damn turn, and as it turns out, Mr. DeMonaco has very small balls.

If you don't already know, The Purge is about one night in the year where all crime, including murder is legal. Because of this night, brought to us by The New Founding Fathers, America is thriving. Crime is at an all time low and unemployment is as well. America, that glittering house on the hill is flourishing, thanks to the purge. Basically what the purge is all about is killing off those that are perceived to be drains on the American economy. Those people on any kind of public assistance are the prime targets, basically the poor Black, brown, and white people of this nation. Now instead of bringing to us a movie that mirrors or could possibly mirror our future, instead of shinning the light on what is or could be the scary truth, instead of saying what so many people think and feel about poor Black, brown, and white people, we get this glossy piece of schlock. Ethan Hawke plays James Sandin, a security salesman who's sold all the houses in his gated community the same security package that's protecting his house. Lena Headey plays Mary Sandin, James' stay at home wife. Adelaide Kane plays their daughter Zoe Sandin, and Max Burkholder plays their son Charlie Sandin.

James has family all squared away for the purge, locking the family in tight in their mansion thanks to their state of the art security system. You know though, there is some unease with their youngest child, Charlie. He wants to know why his parents don't go out and kill someone. He's told that they don't feel the need to let out that animal within them and that's the end of it. That is until all Charlie sees a Black man running for his life on the video monitors, screaming and crying for help. Charlie, being the good egg he is, goes against his parents wishes (of course) and unlocks the system. He then runs to the front door and tells the Black man to hurry up and get in the house before his father re-arms the system and the gates shut again. He barely makes it but once he's in, all hell breaks loose and all bets are off. With the help of a distraction from Zoe's boyfriend, the stranger slips away into the house. Suddenly there is a knock on the door and it's a collection of well off white kids donning masks. They are all looking for the homeless scum that they know went into the Sandins house. The Sandins are given an ultimatum, turn the Black "homeless pig" over and they won't kill everybody in the house by the time their equipment and reinforcements get there. If that doesn't happen, they tear down the gates and slay everyone inside. They then cut the power and wait. The family then goes on the hunt, in their darkened house for this wanted/unwanted intruder. They find him, tie him up, and then and ONLY then do the inner struggles ensue.

I swear, had The Purge been done right, it could have had people talking about it for the next ten years, "Hey, have you seen The Purge?" "No, but I hear it's a classic." "You have no idea." Instead this is a disposable film that caters to that most simplest of human pleasures, watching violence happen to someone else for a buck. This film will more or less be used as a tax write off for the studio. Ethan Hawke must have wanted to do something grittier than playing Jesse in the After trilogy and Lena Headey must have been bored after filming the third season of Game of Thrones, for why else would such talent like that agree to be in such crap like this, unless the check was too large to turn down? This movie is billed as a horror/thriller/sci-fi (it takes place in 2022) and they only part of that that's correct is the sci-fi part. Remove horror/thriller and replace it with "comedy" and that would be more accurate. For a movie that could have been the most remembered of the summer of 2013, what could have been considered a classic and a cautionary tale is nothing more than a joke and definitely worth skipping. See something else and let's hope Mr. DeMonaco grows a bigger set of balls. I'll see you at the theater.