"The Purge" opens with about 30 minutes of enjoyable suspense. And then it makes us pay for that enjoyment.
As far as paranoid-thriller concepts go, "The Purge" has a promising one. Violent crime has been virtually eradicated by delineating one night a year that Americans can kill with impunity. The haves, generally, can pay to protect themselves while the have-nots slaughter each other.
But on this purge night, one wealthy family (Ethan Hawke, Lena Headey and no-name children) finds itself under attack by enemies within their gated-community mansion and outside it.
The first half-hour sets up the premise and gives us some subtle, creepy tension as we wait for the terrible things to happen. Coupled with the tension is the hope that "The Purge" will have something to say about one or two of the many hot-button topics it nods toward: gun ownership, social Darwinism, economic inequality, racial inequality. We know we're going to see Hawke and Headey learn how much it will cost them to protect their family, and if we're really optimistic, maybe we hope the film will have some insight into the notion that we are crazy if we think we can isolate ourselves from the violence that surrounds us.
But no. The film can't even bother with such simple questions as: Why not take a European vacation to avoid the purge? Or how does the purge do anything about domestic violence, the most common kind?
Forget about that. Once the carnage begins, "The Purge" abandons any notions of humanity or morality.
The filmmakers may have convinced themselves that they're putting us in the uncomfortable position of having to identify with average people who must use violence to solve their problems, but the reality is that "The Purge" wants us to root for the family to plant axes in the heads of all the smiling maniacs who descend on their tasteful, blood-soaked home.
"The Purge" is nothing more than a vigilante revenge fantasy -- one group of unpleasant people
shooting at another group of unpleasant people. If that's your thing, enjoy!"THE PURGE"
Directed by: James DeMonaco
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Lena Headey
Rated: R, for bloody violence and brief language
Should you go? There are many smarter home-invasion movies you could go for instead: "Panic Room," "Straw Dogs," "The Desperate Hours," "Quarantine," "Right at Your Door," you get the idea. *
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