The Purge: Anarchy [2014]

The first “Purge” cost $3 million to make and ended up making $64 million. I thought you should know this fact because it’s the only damn thing left for Hollywood to exploit in a franchise. This ridiculous sequel is more of the same, only less likable; Once a year, for 12 hours, the government condones robbery, rape and murder. That’s cue for five good people to wind up running for their lives on the nasty streets of Los Angeles during this night of terror. Considering the number of horror disappointments with a “2” after the title, I did not approach this movie with much optimism, even though director James DeMonaco shows a sure hand at building tension. Sadly, my fear was justified 10 minutes later. The idea of a Purge isn’t merely a bad concept, but a dumb and irrelevant one. And even that could have been forgiven had the movie actually tried to have fun with the idea in the first place, but it does not. The movie plods along between plot points without any direction and you can see every turn in the plot coming for miles. As far as sequels go, “The Purge: Anarchy” is silly, repetitive, and far from interesting. I say skip it.

Rating: 1.5/4