Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

TheLittleSongbird Saw 'The Purge' due to being really intrigued by the concept, having seen home invasions being handled well on visual media and finding Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey dependable actors. Saw it without seeing reviews beforehand in order to see it with an open mind, as is always my intention.Count me in as another person who found 'The Purge' poorly executed in almost every way. Can completely understand the mildly mixed to very negative reception and find the criticisms very similar to mine, just for the record what will be covered in this review is my personal opinion and nobody else's with the flaws being so obvious you don't need someone else's opinion to base yours on. The concept was handled in such a dumb and dull way, to near intelligence-insulting degrees, and 'The Purge' is in no way a good example of how to do a film about a home invasion.There are a few strengths. 'The Purge' doesn't look too bad, it has a gritty and slick look that doesn't look cheap and there is a little atmosphere.Ethan Hawke, Lena Headey and Rhys Wakefield give reasonable performances which is better than what their characters deserved.However, nothing else worked. The rest of the acting is weak, with the two young actors Adelaide Kane and especially Max Burkholder being terribly irritating as characters that are impossible to get behind in a film full of shallow and unrelatable characters that behave so stupidly and illogically. No tension or suspense at any point and nothing scary or thought-provoking, got nothing enlightening about the social allegory aspect. The pace dragged badly, which undermined the suspense, likewise with the excessive predictability and clichés that were tired well before the film was made. The scary aspect is cheap and never surprising, creative or scary, the violence being gratuitous, the situations so ridiculously dumb that it insults the audience and the villains are goofy and flat caricatures, nothing menacing about them. The direction is generally indifferent.In summary, lame and not recommended if not without redeeming merits, namely the leads. 3/10 Bethany Cox

tterifajova I remember seeing a screen of this movie years ago and I was strongly intrigued. The idea itself is pretty intriguing, when you do forget the plotholes - at least for myself I find the situation when after a twelve hours of going berserk you become once again a lovely neighbour. Though you'd have to be a really disciplined one to hold the act for 364 days... And also petty.But after less than an hour of watching, the movie got predictable. You don't have to be a mastermind to figure the daughter will be used as a hostage when both of them are roaming around the house and the Homeless Stranger wants to survive. Man, it was Charlie's fault in the first place! What ten-year-old supposed genius let's in a stranger during the most horrible night in the country?! Morally, I would. But open the house without permission or conciousness of my parents? What if someone was lurking around and got to our house first? I dunno. Why I gave three stars? Those. Masks. Are. Beautiful. In my honest opinion. They are what got me to want to watch it. The scenes of the Purgators who are playing in the yard and whe they first break into the house, as stand-alone scenes they could be rated higher. I find them mesmerising. Then it is a domestic horror, they just hunt each other down in the house that is SO DARN BIG. And they are so darn bad at being cautious. Charlie, for life's sake, when you are hiding in the basement, and you are HIDING, put some mind into it and do not fence around with that flashlight. And thank goodness there are the neighbours. Though once they kill the Massacre group, you see they are the next killers. Haha, were you surprised? we got look at fancy american households that had protective membrane around them. why cannot you film how it looks like in lower class households who are vulnerable to any psycho eve when they are innocent? Too bad James died though. If I had to choose, he was the one who got on my nerves the least.

White_Prophet I really struggled on deciding whether I liked this movie or not, and ultimately I just can't say that it's a good movie. However, I did enjoy it quite a bit! I think the premise was really interesting and I liked the creepy vibe and imagery in the movie. I really like Lena Dunham's performance and the main villain was very entertaining to watch... I feel like he wouldn't make a bad Joker. Ethan Hawke was also pretty good, but the kids... not so much. The movie also became pretty cliche and predictable which ultimately brought it down for me. Overall, it was an enjoyable ride with some pretty good ideas and social commentary but it could have been executed better.

oviakpojotor If anyone's written a screenplay one of the main pieces of advice to beginners is "characters dictate plot, not the other way round". This film gives hope to anyone that almost any film can get made, as it was clearly written by an amateur. The characters are one dimensional and are created entirely for plot purposes...as anyone can expect the film comes across as contrived, irrational and just plain stupid.As others have said, the premise makes no sense. Why make ALL crime legal once a year? The film only explores murder and doesn't explore anything else so every other crime is a moot point. How does making all crime legal once a year correlate to a reduction in crime or help the economy? Why does making all crime legal result in everyone becoming psychopaths apart from the family in this film? Why doesn't anyone just go on vacation? What happens to people in hospitals or need medical assistance for unrelated "purge" reasons? All the "twists"were obvious and very predictable.The other problems other reviewers have already mentioned.and.....----------------------SPOILER---------------------Does Ethan Hawkes character die because was the last to come around to not handing the homeless guy over? Or is it just easier to kill off a man protecting his family than a woman? Double standards.