The Purge

The more original the premise, the more stupid is the film's execution thereof. The whole second half is one big mess, with clichés piled on top of clichés. If you still enjoy watching the classic, old situation we’ve seen a thousand times – the final villain's final blow is about to come, and lo and behold, the last-minute rescue is here – help yourself here, you'll see it in about five cases, with slight variations depending on what weapon they happen to be holding. Not to mention that the main characters act like blithering idiots. And if you think about it a bit and take it to its conclusion, the premise is actually nonsense. I’m surprised someone as smart as Ethan Hawke went for it. (08/11/2013)

The premise is as amazing as a beer oasis in the Sahara (yeah, that's how miserable horror movies are today) and the filmmakers manage to create a believable atmosphere of fear and moral dilemmas a couple of times, but why is it such a B-movie in the end? A generic home invasion template is the last thing I would want to see when imagining a disjointed killing spree in the lawless streets of a big city, especially with such a good cast and potential for craftsmanship. The following episodes are even more stupid, but the third one at least is satisfyingly funny and properly morbid, this one is just a hopeful and big-headed failure. (10/28/2013)

A colossal waste of time and of an interesting idea. This smurf mainly needs to be purged, and maybe he would then manage to stuff at least one twist into the film that I wouldn't guess even with an ax parked on a footpath. The acting death match between Hawk and Wakefield ended in a beautiful draw, and I wanted to shove a billiard ball in both of their noses. Fifteen minutes at the beginning plus the final captions are pretty good. The rest sucks. (08/13/2013)

I had problems with this film ever since its first trailer. The premise, which most viewers say is a “good idea”, is utterly stupid and my political science self immediately reaches the conclusion that such a regime could not function and prosper. To pose as a liberal democracy for 364 ½ days, only to implement some Hobbesian natural state for 12 hours is so politically, philosophically and morally bonkers and unconvincing that I can’t avoid mentioning it. But whatever, I don’t evaluate films only on the basis of their premise, I try to adapt to the rules of their world. With that in mind, The Purge works nicely until about the moment the time the attackers had given the Hawkes expires. When the aggressors break into the house, the entire structure collapses like a house of cards, only so heroes and villains can clash and destroy each other one by one. A really brilliant tactical performance by the attackers :-D … By the end, the creators come up with a pretty interesting twist, though not very convincingly executed. The Purge is pretty well made and, despite its problematic premise, it manages to be effective and generate tension for about half its run. It’s a pity that, especially by the end, its socio-critical line feels so ridiculous. (07/28/2013)

pffffff the trend of smuggling sociological dilemmas and allegories into exploitation has definitively found its limit. The most idiotic concept to be seen this millennium, depicting the situation of DeMonaco's homegrown theory that vomiting out everything negative in 12 hours will keep the light in the survivors' souls for the length of the year doesn't work. Bravo. The incessant criticism of the American mentality doesn't much appetize either, given that it relies on a non-existent phenomenon, and the infinite inanity afflicting even the characters, where you don't know if you should feel sorry for half of Ylvis, Ethan Hawke, or Lena Headey for what they're putting their talents to under to this rockin’ good idea. It's good enough for three stars because of the disruption of the murder formula in the last third and the sense that you don't get this kind of obscurity in your living room all that often, but the imbecility is painful. (11/19/2013)