The Purge

ethan-hawke-THE PURGE“For a man’s house is his castle”, et domus sua cuique est tutissimum refugium was enshrined in British jurisprudence through lawyer/scholar Sir Edward Coke.

Home is our sanctuary, where we feel safest, and The Purge plays with domicile insecurities, adding a unique twist that separates it from home invasion genre brethren – there’s a period, 12 hours, starting 7AM on March 21-March 22, 7 p.m., during which all crime is legal and first responder services are completely curtailed. This trial balloon become constitutionally enshrined and has helped ameliorate crime / unemployment rates. 

A talking head touts the “aggression release” that comes from criminals being able to off one another carte blanche, and “purging” becomes a civic holiday tradition like football on Thanksgiving, with residents battening down the hatches so that they’re well-protected from roving criminal gangs.

This is extraordinarily stupid, as what makes criminals criminals is that they’re scofflaws, that portmanteau of, well, “scoffing at laws.” If everyone knows crime is legal, in the interests of self-preservation, a lot of gangsters will simply wait it out. Prison riots are rare for the very same reason: different racial groups ultimately benefit from not killing one another.

That being said, it’s a potentially interesting conceit, but The Purge purges its premise by not addressing the tensions between personal security and collective liberty and only hinting at class divisions but not exploring them, despite this being set in racially-charged Los Angeles, home to the Watts / LA riots. Instead, it reverts to home invasion-style tropes and with an endless supply of jump scares and flashlights shone into darkness.

The-PurgeHead of the household James Sandin (Ethan Hawke) is a suburban home security executive. Why? Because someone thought this would be clever and ironic.

He comes equipped with a doting wife, Lena, a  sullen, mouthy teen daughter, Adelaide, and a whiz-kid son, Charlie. Interestingly, the latter is played by Max Burkholder, who is basically reproducing the Asberger’s-afflicted character he portrayed for years as the son of Peter Krause and Monica Potter on NBC’s Parenthood.

On Purge day, Charlie sees a seemingly innocent man on the street (“The Stranger”) crying for help and disables the Sandin home security system to let him in. Unfortunately, The Stranger is the target of some Purgers (pictured) who want to rid the streets of the homeless scourge. The gang is a third-rate version of the droogs in A Clockwork Orange and speaking of colors, Ethan Hawke is similarly complected (stay outta the tanning booth sir, or you’ll resemble an irradiated pylon).

And The Stranger blows a monotonous one-note, rather than occupying a fully-formed character. But we’re supposed to root for him because he’s homeless, and against Mr. Sandin because he’s an ambitious salesman.

Ultimately though, what drags down The Purge is sheer boredom…we’ve reviewed projects by indie filmmakers who’d kill for a $3 million production and this one looks incredibly cheap, with run-of-the-mill blue cinematography and clunky set pieces.

**1/2 (out of 5)

The Thing (2011)

the_thing_2011“Unnecessary” is a common rebuff for sequels and prequels, as if art itself is actually necessary (maybe as nourishment for the soul, but not in the same way say, chemotherapy or quitting smoking is necessary).

So The Thing is Matthijs van Heijningen Jr’s prequel to the John Carpenter film everyone knows and loves, or should know / love if they’re in the same ballpark when it comes to intemperate Carpenter worship as we are here. The 2011 film is, yes, probably unnecessary. It’s a pretty loving tribute, nice to look at, and mildly compelling, until about half-way through. At that point it peters out like a basketball team shooting the lights out and gassing toward a feeble finish.

To quote President Trump’s bizarre Twitter go-to, “it’s a shame.”

The Thing has the makings of a good film from the outset. The camera lingers on an ominous Antarctica.

The location scouting is absolutely dynamite. This looks, and feels…VERY cold indeed. Chilling, you might say.

And when the creature bursts forth from its icy Jacuzzi, it’s a fantastic and highly memorable scene. The effects are kinda good too. Guess they kinda have to be. Carpenter’s Thing had special effects done by Rob Bottin and company, as well as makeup effects legend Stan Winston. Talk about a two-man all-star team. Many have taken umbrage with the CG, but it’s not nearly as bad as you might think.

As for the cast, the Norwegian crew is hilarious and energized, especially when belting out the unlikely Eurovision Song contest entry showstopper, “Sámiid ædnan” (it’s anyone’s guess how that’s pronounced).

the_thingBut somewhere along the way in this Thing, the crew, poking around around all that ice at the Norwegian research base, become insufferable.

Putting disparate people in harm’s way, is one of horror’s hallmarks, both for zombie films -and it almost goes without saying here as the similarities are apparent – Alien.

But when you stack up this cast against Kurt Russell and company, the guy with a 13-year old’s haircut from NCIS: Los Angeles, just doesn’t quite measure up.

**3/4 (out of 5)