The Purge (2013)
The Purged: Ethan Hawke (James Sandin); Lena Headey (Mary Sandin); Max Burkholder (Charlie Sandin); Adelaide Kane (Zoey Sandin)
The Gist: In the future, a wealthy family is held hostage for harbouring the target of a murderous syndicate during the Purge, a 12-hour period in which any and all crime is legalized. (IMDB) I started and stopped this flick 3 times before finally giving in and watching it. How’s that a first impression? I clearly found the first 20ish minutes boring and the introduction to the Sandin family was the cause. I like Ethan Hawke, I think he is a fine actor and the same can be said about Lena Headey, she is Cersei Lannister after all but as far as the characters they played in this movie, they were both disappointing.
The premise was somewhat interesting; violence is at an all time low except for one night where murder and mayhem is legal and there no emergency services. Ok, that’s scary when you think about it, particularly the way the movie focuses on how the night seems to cater to the rich keeping the poor at their mercy with murder and violence. If you have the money, you can fortify your home and be safe, if you’re poor and can’t hide, you’re fair game to be hunted. The last 30 minutes tried to switch gears with the murders but from the beginning of the movie, the Sandin family isn’t very likeable and I found myself bored as to whether they would survive the night or not. Yes, even the kid that opened the house to killers. Does that make me a bad person?
Final Thoughts: I should have known that this flick wasn’t for me after the whole start and stop at the beginning. The introduction sequence of a movie should be compelling enough to keep you interested and not want to turn it off. The flip side is that I did go back and finish it but mostly because I was curious about the masked murderers however, that was even dull. This was a flick that was violent for violence sake (maybe there was more read into it, I just don’t care) but even that was pretty tame for a night of mayhem. Pass on The Purge.
Dawning Creates 
I could never wrap my mind around the whole concept of this film. Never watched it.
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