One of my most hated, destained, and anger-inducing film franchises are The Purge series, which is unquestionably the shining example of a wasted opportunity. I was not too fond of the first film, loathed the second one, and flat-out refused to consider watching the third movie, especially considering its distasteful political undertones. And don't even get me started with the prequel.
You might be wondering, rightfully so, why I am even discussing this franchise if I despise it so much. To put it plainly, I love the story's idea and all of its wasted potential.
For those of you who don't know, The Purge series occurs in a future where for one day out of the year, all crime, including murder, is legal for twelve hours. People are free to do whatever the Hell they want, and not only are there no police to stop you, but you have no fear of punishment or repercussions for any of your actions during that one day. This idea is incredibly creative and fascinating for a story, as it has limitless possibilities to explore what could happen in such a situation. There is such a wide plethora of things to explore and comment on that you could build an entire successful franchise out of all the ideas to explore, which makes the series as it stands all the more frustrating and disappointing.
In the words of MovieBob, The Purge series appears to "take place in an Alternate Universe where the only thing people want to do on a crime-free Holiday is to be Jason Voorhees." In other words, the whole franchise devolved into a generic slasher series where they don't have to come up with a reason why no one calls the police. Not to mention the ridiculous amount of stupidity the scripts have when it comes to political and social commentary, preferring cartoonish levels of evil characters over intelligent and imaginative storytelling. Also, the scientifically inaccurate idea of human beings as an inherently violent species needs an annual release valve to function correctly. That part probably stings the hardest for me.
This conscious decision to not even bother trying anything innovative or even entertaining with this concept drove me mad, which is why I believe this franchise not only deserves a reboot but would also benefit from a fresh perspective. I have just the idea of making this series much better.
Ladies & gentlemen, I present to you TheNorm's pitch on how to improve The Purge.
The first thing we do is not to make another movie. Instead, we will relaunch The Purge as a television series. Most likely on Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime. Whichever company will pick it up, because this story takes over twelve hours, the show will take over twelve episodes, with each taking place over a single hour. Not to mention an additional chapter at the beginning to establish the characters and steaks for the story, making a total of thirteen episodes.
The first episode will introduce the main characters and the plot, which is as follows. A small group of people is driving through the city to a medical facility to deliver medicine and supplies to a secret organization known as The Shadow Clinic. A private group of unlicensed but fully trained medical professionals offering free health care and available medical research. Their vehicle mysteriously breaks down along the way, and they have no choice but to continue on foot. So they load up their supplies into a few backpacks and start making their way through the city. Unfortunately for them, the annual Purge is about to begin. They find themselves trapped in the middle of the event but must persevere through the chaos.
For the sake of maintaining a sense of tension and danger for the presentation, we will keep the general chaos found in the original films with small riots and psychopaths roaming the streets looking to cause confusion and hurt people. However, because we are maintaining a more intelligent execution of this concept, there will be no Government sponsored murder squads who break into poor people's homes and kill them just so the economy can have a boost. Likewise, there will be no groups of malicious wealthy citizens who take patriotic pride in slaughtering the poor and homeless. All of which is present in the current Purge movies, and while plausible, is too stupid for this concept. In this brand new version, the only people who will be out about causing mayhem and murder will be wild idiots. They would use the Purge as an excuse to do so, such as gangs, unchecked gun enthusiasts, and troubled people with no access to mental health care and all those in-between.
Our heroes will find themselves with no other option but to make their way through the city as carefully as possible. Now, here's where the show becomes interesting.
Each episode will convey a specific activity or event that would most likely be occurring during the Purge. For example, for one episode, our heroes find themselves in an apartment building, which turns into a temporary headquarters for insider trading during the Purge. People are deliberately manipulating the stock market for their benefit. To spice things up, they could also be conducting massive deals with drug dealers and warlords, which would be a ripe opportunity to comment on shady business practices and unchecked capitalism. Another episode could be about the sale and purchase of goods that would otherwise not be possible at any other time. Such as specific books, art pieces, and historical items. Black Market kind of stuff.
As I stated earlier, the idea of The Purge as a story is full of all kinds of possibilities. Had the script for the first film been given proper time to be polished, and handed over to a more competent director and producer, I firmly believe it could have been a damn good movie. However, it is nothing more than a dull slasher flick with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. The Purge is one franchise in dire need of a reboot with more intelligence by its side.
Ladies & gentlemen, I am TheNorm; thank you all for reading.
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