Movie Review: The Purge

Just by looking at the movie poster, it looks terribly frightening, like a horror movie. However, the only horror you'll find in this movie is the dreadfully slow plot as well as the painfully uncooperative characters. An action-y suspense / thriller, this movie has its ups and downs, as well as some... well... to say at the least, I believe it could have been written a little better than it was.

The story takes place in the year 2022. Some time ago, the US Government designated one day out of the entire year-- each year-- for a nationwide event called "The Purge" (go figure). The Purge is a time frame of exactly 12 hours-- no more, no less-- in which any person may commit any crime without consequence. It is described as a way of purifying souls, releasing pent-up stress, and as it has been stated many times throughout the movie: it works; annual crime is at an all-time low, unemployment is down to a mere 1%, and the economy is flourishing. In fact, most people are in support of The Purge.

We have a mother (Mary), a father (James), a creepy son (Charlie), and a overly-dramatic teenage daughter (Zoey)... Your average setup for a movie. This family supports The purge, but very much unlike the rest of the population, chooses to not partake in The Purge, itself. The father works for a company that specialises in home security devices. The moment The Purge begins, he pushes a few red buttons and every door and window is covered by a thick, protective wall. Cameras are set up all over the house and the yard. They are essentially locked in, and that is the way they want it. ...Or at least, that's how James and Mary like it. The son, Charlie, is secretly a huge fan of The Purge, and has a hidden room covered with his fan art. Zoey is unavailable for comment, but she's probably in her room, blasting angsty music into her eardrums  because she hates everyone and everything.

A few hours into the event, Charlies watches as a man guy begs for help on one of the cameras. The man is screaming in the middle of the street, claiming he is innocent and he is being chased by people who want to kill him. You gather at this point that Charlie is pretty much retarded (figuratively), so he disarms the house and opens the doors to let the man in. The parents freak out and go upstairs to see some strange, raggedy man standing in their doorway. At this point, you don't know if the man is truly an innocent victim of The Purge, and neither does the family. The man makes a run for the inside of the house.

Aside from the mysterious man hiding somewhere in the house and Zoey's boyfriend being dead and whatnot, the house is pretty much safe and sound, right? Wrong. Charlie watches the video cameras just as a group of people start heading to their doorstep. Trick or treat! According to the ringleader of this mask-wearing mob, the homeless man the family is currently sheltering is homeless, and killed one of their members while they tried to kill him during the purge. They would very much like for the family to please hand him over--alive-- so they can finish the job. They don't state how long the family has to turn him over, but warn they do have supplies with the tools necessary to take down the house. He simply snaps his fingers, says "Okay, cut them now", and all the power in the house goes down.

Long story short, we follow the family as they try to hand over the man, but the man puts up a struggle. At one point, he even has Zoey at gunpoint. After a few hours, the passive-aggressive group announces over loudspeaker that time is up. A semi is used to tear down the entire side of the house, thus letting about 10-15 bloodthirsty participants enter the Sanders' "safe and secure" home.

I won't even bother to put up how it ends. Normally, I don't spoil a movie because it's a great movie, and I hate to ruin a good movie. However, I'm not spoiling this movie because the ending was so disappointing. Good, I guess, but disappointing. If you're still interested in seeing this movie, bless your heart.

Would I recommend seeing it?
I want my $1.75 back.

Would I see it again?
Nope.

My final thoughts: The writers had a great idea to begin with: 12 hours in which you can commit any crime you want and not face consequences? Awesome! But then, they stick us inside a house and force us to stay inside and watch as stupid characters do stupid things. You never see outside the house except maybe the street on the surveillance cameras set up in the house. As a result, the setting is a bit claustrophobic. Also, I know you're not supposed to like the antagonist, but I have never hated a character so much in my life. I need to stop here, because just thinking about that man... UGH.

I think the movie could've had great potential if we were instead put in the shoes of someone who is participating in The Purge. While he's out breaking ribs and smashing skulls of people who have done him wrong,  other bloodthirsty participants are hot on his trail as well. Like.. An ex-girlfriend out for revenge, or a jealous business partner from his past. My point is, take this great 12-hour crime spree concept and turn it into action! Adventure! Excitement! SOMETHING.

Movie Review: This is the End

Two movie nights in a row? Preposterous! I was invited out to the theatre to see another movie tonight. Movie of choice? This is the End, directed by Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogan. When you take a look at the cast, you can tell right off the bat exactly what kind of movie we're dealing with, here. This review may contain spoilers, but nothing so major as to ruin the ending.

Two of my friends went to see the movie the previous day, and claimed to like it so much, they really didn't mind seeing it again. I asked, "Who stars in this movie?" More like, "Who doesn't star in this movie?" You have Seth Rogan, James Franco, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson, Michael Cera, Emma Watson (!?), Rihanna... And that's just to name a few. Every celebrity plays themself in this flick.

The movie starts with Seth Rogan and Jay Baruchel-- who, no surprise, are great friends in real life-- meeting up at Seth's sweet new home. They get higher than kites while watching TV in the living room (it's a Seth Rogan movie, can't say you didn't see it coming) and Seth tries to convince Jay to join him at his good friend James's house for a killer party. Jay boldly states he does not want to go; he just wants sit back and catch up Seth. After some of Seth's coaxing, Jay finally caves and they're on their merry way to James Franco's party.

 A couple drinks / joints later, Seth and Jay are welcomed by James Franco and Jonah Hill. Seth couldn't be happier to see them, but Jay is passive-aggressive the entire time he's there. Jonah is an extremely nice fellow who tries to see the good in everyone. James is an extremely popular man with a house full of expensive art collections. Jay just wants to go home. He asks Seth to go with him to pick up a pack of smokes, and they excuse themselves from the party.

While debating what to buy, Seth observes a shrewd gas station clerk tell a little girl and her father they can't use the restroom without buying something. Just as Jay is about to check out, a giant car crashes through the window and smashes the attendant like a tomato. Outside, people are running and screaming, vehicles are crashing and swerving in a manner similar to that of Chicago's everyday traffic, and giant blue rays of light are abducting people and sucking them into the sky. Seth and Jay run back to James's house and the party is still going; no one is aware of the havoc that lies outside. When Seth and Jay try to explain what they saw, everyone dismisses them as being too doped-out to think straight. However, an earthquake sends everyone running for their life, and Michael Cera is the first to die (yup), courtesy of a falling telephone pole impaling him through the stomach. He is then sucked into a giant hole in the ground that leads to the molten depths of hell. Everyone in the party is sucked into it, minus our four main characters.

From here on out, the story revolves around Jay Jonas, Seth Rogan, James Franco, Jonah Hill, and Craig Robinson, as they try to survive in James's house. Food and water quickly becomes sparse, Jay's reluctancy to cooperate rises as he didn't want to even go to the party in the first place, and something large and menacing (we're talking T-Rex sized or maybe even larger) is running rampant outside. Celebrity casts come and go as the four learn they aren't the only ones from the party to survive. Danny McBride joins the cast for a majority of the rest, but he is "voted off the island", to put it in his own words just before he leaves. The entire theatre was filled with joyful cheers upon Emma Watson busting her way through the window with a firefighter axe. A misunderstanding quickly makes her break Seth Rogan's nose with the end of the axe, steal all the booze in the house, and run outside, never to be seen again.

Emma Watson swinging her axe around like nobody's business.

I enjoyed seeing this pure-comedy film. It was controversial and daring and not modest in the slightest, and maybe that's why I liked it so much. You can tell the actors really enjoyed it. In a way, it was like watching a movie a group of friends put together, because that's exactly what it was. I wouldn't be surprised if Seth Rogan woke up one morning, phoned a friend about this whack idea he had for a movie, and the message just spread and spread until everyone, from Rihanna to all of the Backstreet Boys, had a role in this movie.

I'm not kidding! They really did get together for this shoot.

 Would I recommend it?
Yes. But I would be very selective about to whom I'd suggest see it. I wouldn't recommend seeing it if drug references really bother you, as this movie is filled with them. Also, the movie has some raunchy bits in it that are definitely... stranger... than most films. In spite of that, the movie has a really enjoyable mashup of a cast and they compliment each other very well.

Would I see it again?
I felt like it was one of those movies you'd be satisfied with seeing just once. It's not that I didn't like it-- quite the opposite-- but I feel content.

Movie Review: World War Z

I've been skeptical of the zombie craze that's caught on within the past few years, especially after society was just seeming to recover from the vampire / werewolf scene. Zombie this, zombie that. Not being much of a Brad Pitt nor zombie fan, I nonetheless decided to go see World War Z with some friends. And I did not regret it.

Despite catching the latest showing, beginning at nearly 8:55PM, the theatre was absolutely packed. The six of us had to split up and sit in different sections because there weren't enough seats. After a few pretty awesome-looking previews (add Machete, The Wolverine, and Insidious 2 to the list of movies I need to watch) the movie started.

The movie's opening credits begin with a bunch of tactically filtered, somewhat gory TV documentaries of animals preying on other animals, insects skittering around, making your skin itch, and eating more dead animals, and random clips of news broadcasts informing you about a sudden outbreak of rabies in the human population. The movie then picks up and we find our hero in the form of Brad Pitt and his fictional family in a traffic jam in the middle of a busy city. Everything is neat and dandy until people start panicking and no one will stop screaming long enough to give Brad Pitt a straight answer as to why a police motorcycle just zoomed past and chipped off his car mirror, or why a truck just got thrown across the intersection. Or better yet, why the hell a semi is being catapulted towards the general vicinity of his traffic lane.

I'm not about to spoil the movie, but all in all, it had me at the edge of my seat. The entire theatre would echo in laughter when a zombie would repeatedly smash its face against a wall, and gasp when a zombie came out when you least expect it. Or when the zombies ever so casually form a tidal-wave of a mosh pit to scale over the hundred-something foot wall Israel built to keep them out.

Your typical Justin Bieber concert

My only complaint is hardly a complaint at all; for someone with impaired eyesight such as myself, the shifty camera views made it hard to see what was really going on-- which may have been the intent-- but in one particular scene it was enough for me to be a little bothered by it.

Would I recommend World War Z to someone?
Yes.

Would I watch it again?
Totally. Maybe even buy it when it comes out to own.

Am I going to actually read the book?
We'll see.