American Nightmare

Humans have a natural instinct as predators to kill, but society forces us to repress these feelings by living in a ''civilized'' way....according to new Ethan Hawke led film The Purge, a very interesting concept of a film, which explores a future society in which all crime is allowed for one night a year...

It's 2022 (not actually that far away), and unemployment in America is 1%, crime is at an all-time low, and generally, everybody seems happy, especially James Sandin (Hawke), a rich citizen who makes his fortune selling security systems for houses to use during the annual Purge. Basically the reason why unemployment and crime is so low is because, for one night a year, a Purge occurs, where all crime (murder, raper robbery, the whole lot) is made legal, and no police or emergency services are allowed to interfere. Mad. But also intriguing. James and his family happily avoid the Purge by using a security system outside their large house while the rest of society kills each other, but all that changes when their youngest son Charlie decides to let a stranger into the house......

This starts off as a really captivating film, the concept of legal crime kept me hooked, but soon enough, it descends into a stereotypical action film where Ethan Hawke fights off gangs from his house with a variety of handguns,and all originality gets lost in a haze of bullets (literally). The short running time (85mins) and variety of twists every 5 minutes makes sure that it doesn't get too boring, so overall a decent watch, but nothing that provokes any thinking afterwards.

6/10- A lesser version of Panic Room

I watched this movie against my better judgement. Most of the reviews on IMDb rate this movie somewhere between awful and horrible. I was hoping that maybe they were being too harsh, they were not. I made the mistake of thinking that Lena Headey and Ethan Hawke were both credible actors. (I love Headey as the evil queen in Game of Thrones) whoever wrote her dialog in this mess should be drawn and quartered. By the end of this movie I was actually hoping that the "good guys" would get killed just to keep them from having to suffer this script anymore.

All in all this is a bad movie, don't waste your money or your time watching it. Trust me you'll thank me in the end.

Short and Simple Review by WubsTheFadger

First off, this film could have been amazing. The plot and premise are very original and had a lot of potential. But sadly, the story is full of clichés such as stupid teenage kids, bad decisions, and clueless villains. If they had only made the film in a way that we could see multiple Purge stories, it would have been better. The ending is the probably the best part of the story.

The acting is okay at best. Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey perform the best. Max Burkholder and Adelaide Kane play two of the most annoying, stupid, and idiotic characters I have ever laid eyes on.

The film starts off very slow and continues to have slow pacing until the end.

The blood and gore aspect of the film is very good. This is one of the highest points about the film.

Pros: Very original story, the ending, good acting from Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey, and a good use of blood and gore

Cons: Slow pacing, wasted potential with the story, annoying characters, Max Burkholder and Adelaide Kane and their terrible performance, and a lot of clichés

Overall Rating: 4.3

I am a movie theatre employee, so I saw this film last night at an employee screening. Going into the movie, I was rather excited. The concept is interesting, and has never been done before. While this movie was not as scary as I had anticipated, I still thoroughly enjoyed it. The antagonists were disturbing, and the movie really shows the struggle between self-preservation and what's right. It is somewhat short, but the makers certainly do get the job done. Plenty of flashlight-and-pistol standoffs and suspenseful scenes make for a movie with an interesting plot, and good acting. The ending was a bit predictable, but did not ruin the movie in my opinion. Not the best that I've seen, but overall a decent flick.

I liked the concept of this movie it was engrossing and made me really think. I had hoped this movie would push above average but with certain plot holes and a story that gets weak towards the end it fell within this category. None of the acting stood out apart from Lena Headey. You will want to watch the movie for its concept but find the final product a average thriller action.