The Purge

TAKE 1: One Man’s Opinion

…because film is largely subjective

by Frederick William Springer III

The Purge

Release Date:   7 June 2013                                                                  Runtime:  85 Minutes              
Review Date:  30 June 2013                                                                  Rating:  5 (of 6)

Well, we can start by saying, "fucking kids, man!"  If it weren't for them, the family the movie centers on wouldn't have been affected.  Of course, than there wouldn't have been a movie either.  Or at least not one featuring them center stage.  But it definitely leaves you with a feeling of never wanting to have kids.

I give writer/director James DeMonaco here a lot of credit because, with a very simple premise, he's managed to set up a potential, never ending franchise.  And one that, if made in the same vain as the first, would be relatively cheap to produce.  Of course, they'll have to up the ante each film to keep people coming back, but even then they can still maintain a moderately low-budget.  (Looking at the numbers posted online, it only cost $3 million to make but brought in $34 million its opening weekend and virtually doubled that in less than a month so sequels are pretty much guaranteed.  The Purge 2 has already been announced.)

It's worth checking out, so I'm going to give this a 5. (Though, I'm hesitant to do so--I see I only gave Sinister a 4 and I'd recommend that Ethan Hawke film over this one.  I must have been particularly harsh when rating that one, or overly generous here.)