Movie Review: The Purge (Confirmed: Great)
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| Let The Purge commence!
In the not too distant future during an annual event known as "The Purge," all crime is legal for 12 hours. As a result of this, American society thrives with the lowest crime rate in the nNation’s history and an unemployment rate of 1%. The reason? Americans are able to get all of their hate and literal class warfare out of the way in a single night, so that it isn’t an issue every other day of the year. The question at the heart of The Purge is "is it all worth it?" The even bigger question is, "is The Purge as entertaining and original as it initially looked?" Find out after the break……
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So far, summer 2013 has rewarded audiences with two very strong original films: Now You See Me was the first, and only a week later comes The Purge. The Purge uses an almost too short 85 minute running time to provide a strong 99% vs. 1% social commentary using elements of the horror genre. By this point we have seen the 99% vs. the 1% trope played out in a number of films such as The Dark Knight Rises and In Time, however The Purge provides a surprisingly refreshing look at the social inequality problem in America.
Director James DeManco does a nice job of blending horror, suspense, action, and science fiction in depicting Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey’s hell bent mission to keep their children safe during a purge gone bad. The result is the most original horror film since 2010’s Insidious. The only way I can imagine someone being disappointed by The Purge is if they went in expecting a true horror film. Instead you get a scarier, more futuristic version of Taken within the context of a very unique premise.
Confirmed: Great
Confirmed: Great
WOW...another Great/Good/Epic movie review from The Epic Review. I must have overlooked it but everything that comes out now is either good, great, or epic. I used to think great cinema was dying but I must be mistaken. The 60s and 70s be damned...we are now in the Golden Age of Film!!!
ReplyDeleteJust a few responses: 1. We're not trying to compare the movies we watch to the 1960s or 1970s, or really any other period of film history. That'd be a pretty narrow way of reviewing movies.
ReplyDelete2. I think there have been two films given an "Epic" rating all year, so that's not being thrown around too much. Besides, our scale is not typically focused on comparing movies against another. It's about enjoyment of each film in and of itself. I know that in the age of internet hyperbole everyone loves to say that movies either have to be a true classic or absolute garbage with nothing in between. Heck, Rotten Tomatoes has made their whole review system focused on movies being either "good" or "bad" with no inbetween. Frankly, I know that rarely do I walk out of a theater truly feeling like I wasted my time nor do I walk out often feeling like I saw the next classic film.
Our review system in no way denigrates classic films nor does it assume to be so pretentious as to imply that it is singlehandedly ushering in the next Golden age of film. We simply have seen a lot of movies that we have enjoyed this year. Part of that is because we pick the movies we watch, unlike many critics who see nearly anything that comes out. Another part is that we simply enjoy movies. While film can certainly be art, it's also an entertainment medium at heart. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy a movie every now and then. You'll be happier in the long run.
Okay. If you generally like everything thing that comes out, then what does it take for you not to like a movie? I watch ALOT of movies, probably more than the writers of this site and I wish that I could like everything I see just as much as you do. But I can't. And the fact of the matter is that every movie that comes out is not good. Some movies suck. So when you recommend movies like Silent Hill: Revelation and Here Comes the Boom you begin to lack credibility. And then when something really amazing comes along, you can't be taken seriously when you say its in the same category as the movies listed above.
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