Mini Review
I was intrigued by the trailer for The Purge but had little intention of ever seeing it. That was until I offered to take a friend for a drink for his Birthday. Which lead to a further offer of seeing a Birthday movie together. I'm a sucker for Birthday movies, and being that it was his Birthday, I let him choose the movie and lo, he picked The Purge.
I was expecting a mild horror but what I got from The Purge was actually a thriller, and not an all that bad one. The film, set in 2022, opens on the Sandin family preparing to lock down their property for the annual purge; a night when there is no law and everything is a free for all, murder, looting, anything goes. Those who don't want to be a part of the purge lock themselves away in their homes, and place blue flowers outside their residence to allow those taking part to know that while they respect their right to purge, they would ask to be left alone. Once the purge has begun, the daughter of the family, Zoe (Adelaide Kane), discovers her boyfriend Henry (Tony Oller) has snuck into their house before the lockdown, with the intention of confronting her father James (Ethan Hawke) about his disapproval of their relationship. Meanwhile, the family's son Charlie (Max Burkholder), notices a situation outside on the security cameras, and opens the door to a wounded man. Little does he know that this man had been targeted for destruction by those purging. And now that the man has taken refuge in the family's home, they are now on the purger's hit list.
The Purge has an interesting, and certainly original premise, even if it's not all that well executed. It's played for scares from the off and does have a few jumpy moments, but is overall quite tame if you're a hardened horror fan such as I am. The story moves along at a good pace and builds good tension as it goes. But it's twists are all very obvious if, like me, you know what to expect from a movie like this. There was only one real surprise for me and that's when a character died that I wasn't expecting. But all of the other twists at the end I saw coming a mile off.
The other thing that bothered me throughout was the complete lack of chemistry between Hawke and Lena Headey who plays his wife. They've got two kids and yet you never feel any love lost between them, which is kinda essential to the story later on. So on the one hand, The Purge was better than I was expecting, but on the other hand it still didn't quite make the grade. 5.5 out of 10.
Viewing Date - 5th June 2013
UK Release Date - 31st May 2013
Cast Overview:
Ethan Hawke ~ James Sandin
Lena Headey ~ Mary Sandin
Max Burkholder ~ Charlie Sandin
Adelaide Kane ~ Zoe Sandin
Edwin Hodge ~ Target/Hostage
Rhys Wakefield ~ Polite Stranger
Tony Oller ~ Henry
Director/Writer ~ James DeMonaco
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