"Blessed be the New Founding Fathers for letting us Purge and cleanse our souls, Blessed be America, a nation reborn."
2013 was quite the year for Ethan Hawke. In August, he
starred in Getaway, which received
some of the worst reviews of the year. Earlier in the year, Hawke also starred
in Before Midnight, the third picture
in Richard Linklater's critically praised trilogy. While Getaway garnered a paltry 3% on Rotten Tomatoes, Before Midnight landed an impressive 98%
and will surely find its way on numerous best-of year end lists. Not to be
forgotten is The Purge, a low-budget
thriller that came out around the same time as Before Midnight. Although the reviews were lukewarm, The Purge did take in over $87 million
at the box office. Quite the haul considering the release date was sandwiched
in between Fast and Furious 6 and Man of Steel with Iron Man 3 and Star Trek into
Darkness still going strong.
The Purge takes
place in the year 2022 as America sees crime rates and unemployment at an
all-time low. This is attributed to an annual event known as 'The Purge,' a
12-hour period in which all crime, including murder, is legal. Well, almost all
crime. Weapons of mass destruction are off limits and high-ranking government
officials are not to be touched. Other than that, anything goes.
Thanks to the Purge, James Sandin (Hawke) has done extremely
well for himself by selling high-tech security systems. He's sold quite a few
to fellow residents in his affluent suburban neighborhood, enough to build a
new addition to his spacious McMansion. As the Purge commences, Sandin puts his
home on lockdown and settles in for a quiet night with the wife, Mary (Lena
Headey), and kids, Charlie (Max Burkholder) and Zoey (Adelaide Kane). However,
Charlie notices a wounded man (Edwin Hodge) outside the house crying for help. Against
his father's protests, Charlie lets the stranger in and sets off a deadly chain
of events. A gang of masked assailants come knocking to demand the Sandins hand
over the "homeless pig" or they will tear down the gates and kill
everyone in the house.
The Purge was
written and directed by James DeMonaco, who was previously a screenwriter on The Negotiator and the remake of Assault on Precinct 13 that also starred
Hawke. As a siege and home invasion picture, The Purge has a lot in common with the original Assault as well as The Strangers with Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman. It has all the
hallmarks of a B-movie, but DeMonaco seeks to elevate the material with some heavy-handed
political rhetoric. The country is under the sway of a group called the New
Founding Fathers, an obvious analogue for the Tea Party, and participating in
the Purge is seen as a patriotic duty. Of course, the easiest targets are the
poor and disenfranchised, such as the stranger, who happens to be black and a
veteran. The villains are young, white, and led by a handsome gentleman (Rhys
Wakefield) with blue blooded affectations and a prep school uniform.
Wakefield gives a creepy performance and his gaunt frame
makes him look like the perfect candidate to play a Batman villain. Hawke and
Headey are also good, but the acting and the concept aren't enough to shake off
the silliness.
The Purge requires
a little suspension of disbelief. Just because people are allowed to cut loose
for one day a year, doesn't necessarily mean they'll be law-abiding citizens
are the other 364 days. Also, the characters behave in foolish ways that seem
to be dictated by whatever is required to progress the story. Characters decide
to split up like a bunch of teenagers in a slasher flick. The second act
consists of the Sandins searching their home and arguing over what to do with
the stranger. At least, the climax is action packed as a free-for-all erupts
between the wholesome nuclear family and the bloodthirsty invaders.
The Purge won't be
mistaken for serious cinema though it does work as a solid genre piece. The
story is simplistic and, at less than 90 minutes, the film moves at a brisk
pace.
Rating: ** (*****)
Rating: ** (*****)
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