The purge 2 "anarchy"

[axillarypuma]

So there is a movie coming in June, which is an indirect sequel to the movie the purge, for those who are not familiar the concept behind it is that 1 day of the year, during 12 hours, every crime is legal, the concept is quite original IMO and the first movie wasn't bad (I loved it but I can see why people disliked it) the problem with the first movie is that it was a typical house invasion movie.

Now this one looks better, I can't tell if it will be good by the trailer, but they are doing something more interesting with the concept.


So what do you think? are you gonna watch it?

 

[Bravo Company]

It looks like a better use of the concept imo. When I originally heard of the first one I was expecting something awesome, but then they turned it into a safe, typical, horror movie. Maybe I'll watch this one.

 

[JMac85]

It's a good concept, too bad they seem to be wasting it again on a couple of pretty well-to-do white people. Who were even stupider than the ones from the first one. Ok, fine, those two may not be millionaires who could afford to turn their homes into a bunker, but why in the hell would you even go out on the eve of a murder holiday? "Car breaks down" is one of the oldest and most boring plot contrivances of a horror/suspense movie there is. It looked like a brand new car, too. Maybe if the movie starred some more downtrodden looking people in a really lousy car it'd be better. They'd have a better reason to even be out at that time (they couldn't afford to take time off work or whatever) and of course their car breaking down would actually make sense.

 

[Wasted]

I had a similar thought. I never watched the first one but the premise was pretty awesome. What would American society look like on a day where everything is legal? The possibilities of exploring human morality with the absence of consequences for actions got me excited when I saw the trailers for the original movie. In the end, all reviews pointed to it becoming a cliché "Evil murderers in the house" movie which lead me to skip it. This has more potential but it still seems from the trailer that everyone (except the protagonists) will just turn into a psycho-killer again during the purge.

Wouldn't theft be the most common crime?
Won't there be massive amounts of destruction of property?
How to powerful/rich people deal with the purge compared to the weak/poor?
Are the weak/children exploited?
How do ordinary citizens live with themselves after doing unspeakable acts the day prior?

So many questions that I doubt will be addressed.

 

[Scarim Coral]

So instead of exploring more about the Purge (what Moviebob mention about the possiblity of doing anything unlawful on those hours) they have to go with a similar plot again (the main character vs the unlawful psychopath)?

 

[Artina89]

I agree it seems like an interesting concept, but I won't be running to see it at the cinema, the only movie I have been truly excited to see is The Grand Budapest hotel (I'll be seeing it next week with my dad), I would much rather wait for it to come out on DVD and pick it up for about £3 or something, which is what I am doing with the original Purge film.

 

[RiseUp]

I agree it seems like an interesting concept, but I won't be running to see it at the cinema, the only movie I have been truly excited to see is The Grand Budapest hotel (I'll be seeing it next week with my dad), I would much rather wait for it to come out on DVD and pick it up for about £3 or something, which is what I am doing with the original Purge film.

I would suggest you don't even bother with the original. It set up a great premise, which it very loudly went nowhere with, using it as mere background for another home invasion slasher movie, and a sub-par one at that. I saw it with some friends at a theater and actually found the experience enjoyable, more at the movie's expense than anything else. When everyone in a theater is talking, and they don't even bother to watch how loudly, you know a movie is a really forgettable kind of bad. If I remember correctly it was also really short, so if you do plan on watching it, at least it won't take up much time.

 

[Olas]

Everybody keeps saying it's a 'terrific premise' but to me it just seems laughably absurd. So why is the government making everything legal for 12 hours? To let people 'vent' their anger? Seriously?

In order for me to take any sort of thought experiment seriously the underlying premise has to make some sort of sense. This just feels like a dumb gimmick. Besides, the idea of a society descending into lawlessness is basically the premise of every single post-apocalyptic film, hell even the most recent Batman film did it. I'm not sure what limiting it to 12 hours changes accept limiting the scope.

 

[JMac85]

Everybody keeps saying it's a 'terrific premise' but to me it just seems laughably absurd. So why is the government making everything legal for 12 hours? To let people 'vent' their anger? Seriously?

In order for me to take any sort of thought experiment seriously the underlying premise has to make some sort of sense. This just feels like a dumb gimmick. Besides, the idea of a society descending into lawlessness is basically the premise of every single post-apocalyptic film, hell even the most recent Batman film did it. I'm not sure what limiting it to 12 hours changes accept limiting the scope.

Of course it's stupid and makes no sense, but that's kind of the heart of all dystopian fiction. Soylent Green, 1984, Brave New World, the Hunger Games. What makes it interesting is the kinds of wild and crazy shit that can play out as a result of it. The potential is there, there's a lot than can be said about the socio-political ramifications of a 12-hour murder holiday. But like everyone here has said, they've so far wasted it as window dressing for generic horror schlock.

 

[Olas]

Everybody keeps saying it's a 'terrific premise' but to me it just seems laughably absurd. So why is the government making everything legal for 12 hours? To let people 'vent' their anger? Seriously?

In order for me to take any sort of thought experiment seriously the underlying premise has to make some sort of sense. This just feels like a dumb gimmick. Besides, the idea of a society descending into lawlessness is basically the premise of every single post-apocalyptic film, hell even the most recent Batman film did it. I'm not sure what limiting it to 12 hours changes accept limiting the scope.

Of course it's stupid and makes no sense, but that's kind of the heart of all dystopian fiction. Soylent Green, 1984, Brave New World, the Hunger Games. What makes it interesting is the kinds of wild and crazy shit that can play out as a result of it. The potential is there, there's a lot than can be said about the socio-political ramifications of a 12-hour murder holiday. But like everyone here has said, they've so far wasted it as window dressing for generic horror schlock.

I completely disagree, Brave New World, Soylent Green, and Nineteen Eighty Four were all addressing fears the authors had about the direction society was going in, you can throw Feirenheight 451 in there as well. They weren't just the author going "wouldn't it be neat if X" they were based on actual problems at the time that the authors were merely extrapolating into a somewhat extreme but still plausible future. For example Soylent Green is about the problems that could arise from overpopulation and depleting resources. It makes sense that in an overpopulated world where people are starving that the government might choose to secretly recycle people into food. Even if they take place in radically different worlds than ours, the premise behind how those worlds came to being and the goals and beliefs of their leaders is clearly spelled out.

I can't speak for the Hunger Games since I haven't read/seen it, from what I've heard it sounds like it has a similarly dumb premise. However, I also don't hear people praising it for it's premise and I assume it's more of an action movie/drama than an exploration of any sort of political ideas.

As a purely abstract thought experiment I could see this being interesting to think about, but to make it into a movie you have to actually set it up in a way that seems plausible, I can only stretch my suspension of belief so far.

 

[Artina89]

I agree it seems like an interesting concept, but I won't be running to see it at the cinema, the only movie I have been truly excited to see is The Grand Budapest hotel (I'll be seeing it next week with my dad), I would much rather wait for it to come out on DVD and pick it up for about £3 or something, which is what I am doing with the original Purge film.

I would suggest you don't even bother with the original. It set up a great premise, which it very loudly went nowhere with, using it as mere background for another home invasion slasher movie, and a sub-par one at that. I saw it with some friends at a theater and actually found the experience enjoyable, more at the movie's expense than anything else. When everyone in a theater is talking, and they don't even bother to watch how loudly, you know a movie is a really forgettable kind of bad. If I remember correctly it was also really short, so if you do plan on watching it, at least it won't take up much time.

Yeah, I remember Moviebob saying something similar, which is why I would wait until it is really cheap before even considering getting it. Thanks for the heads up, it sounds a rather brainless way to waste an hour or so if need be.

 

[AustinN]

I didn't watch the first one because it sounded boring, and because the premise is completely absurd. But I'm going to keep an eye on this one, because I like the idea of the characters having to fight their way through a city full of psychopaths.

Of course, there'll probably be more running than fighting, but hopefully they'll get some cool moments.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Still feels like a gimmick. I don't think the moviemakers have anything to say about their "ingenious" premise. It's just another violent movie.

 

[ItouKaiji]

The premise is completely absurd if even the least bit of thought is put into it. I guess the Purge would get rid of fears over unemployment and crime though, because there would be nothing left the day after. If all public services are suspended then even a small fire would be a disaster. There might be rules about explosives and weapons, but there's nothing stopping me from just getting a whole lot of the minimum sized explosive and putting all together for a bigger boom. Just like you may not be allowed to target important politicians, but you know who doesn't care about rules? Criminals and terrorists, they'd have a field day with no law enforcement. Could you even imagine the amount of damage a terrorist attack could do on Purge night? Entire cities would be completely destroyed. I don't remember the website, but there was a fake one set up for the movie that listed all the rules of the purge.

The concept is pretty stupid, but there's room for an interesting movie there, it's just that these movies aren't it. The first movie was crappy, but cost nothing to make and made a huge profit which means we'll keep getting these until they don't make money. This will pretty much be the new Saw or Paranormal franchise for while.

 

[shootthebandit]

"Car breaks down" is one of the oldest and most boring plot contrivances of a horror/suspense movie there is. It looked like a brand new car, too.

All I could think of was FORD (fix or repair daily)

Its just a premise that I cant get into. Surely some sort of natural order would come out of this anarchy. I just find it hard to believe that so many people are randomly killing each other just because they can. Crimes like rape and theft are understandable (no way do I condone them) because the criminal actually gains from the crime. I cant see why random murder benefits anyone. Sure if youve got a certain victim in mind it makes sense but I just cant grasp the idea that so many people would go and kill randomers

There will be no police but surely the threat if other murderers is more of a deterrent

 

[AustinN]

"Car breaks down" is one of the oldest and most boring plot contrivances of a horror/suspense movie there is. It looked like a brand new car, too.

All I could think of was FORD (fix or repair daily)

Its just a premise that I cant get into. Surely some sort of natural order would come out of this anarchy. I just find it hard to believe that so many people are randomly killing each other just because they can. Crimes like rape and theft are understandable (no way do I condone them) because the criminal actually gains from the crime. I cant see why random murder benefits anyone. Sure if youve got a certain victim in mind it makes sense but I just cant grasp the idea that so many people would go and kill randomers

There will be no police but surely the threat if other murderers is more of a deterrent

Allow me to quote a review that I think does an excellent job of explaining all of the problems with the movie's premise.

1. Oh gee. The bad people are preppy spoiled teens looking to "release the beast". They chew the scenery.

2. Oh DOUBLE gee! Their victim is a BLACK GUY! Who's poor! And a WAR VETERAN! SYMBOLISMMMMM!!!

3. So their idea of "solving" Unemployment is "kill the unemployed". ECONOMICS DON'T WORK THAT WAY.

4. Career criminals aren't gonna sit on their behinds and twiddle their thumbs, waiting for the ONE night they can let loose. Nor would terrorists.

5. Suppose somebody sets a fire. Or a bomb that spreads a disease. 12 hours, nobody can do jack squat. The Fire Department and the Police can't and won't do anything!

6. This is all so unconstitutional. The whole point of crime is that it is NOT LEGAL. You cannot set aside a night to commit it. Besides, I've seen this kind of story before...from the POWERPUFF GIRLS. Which did it BETTER.

7. People who are poor severely outnumber those who are rich enough to afford good home protection. As we see in the movie even the man who MAKES home protection systems couldn't keep college prep kids with guns and bats out. And he DESIGNED the damn systems. What would stop mobs of poor people pissed off at rich elites for engaging in Social Darwinism from giving them a taste of their own medicine?

8. Supposedly nobody can attack very high-ranking politicians or use high level weapons. Why would anybody actually stick to this limitation? The rules don't matter?

9. According to the web site FOR the Purge, which explains the backstory movie further, purge-related tourism is catching on, along with several public utilities essentially running on the bodies of the Purged. This behavior would get the United States freakin' NUKED. Nobody tourists would ever VISIT America anymore!

10. Studies show "cathartic release" of aggression doesn't REDUCE aggression. It ENHANCES it. You fail at science, movie!

11. What about FINANCIAL CRIMES? Whole chunks of the economy of the USA could collapse if there was enough time devoted the Purge to stealing money from bank accounts. If Bane from Dark Knight Rises could hack the stock market in less than an hour, I'm sure that somebody could do something similar in this "twenty minutes into the future" tale.

Source, review for the film's TVtropes page.