One night per year, the government sanctions a 12-hour period in which citizens can commit any crime they wish -- including murder -- without fear of punishment or imprisonment. Leo, a sergeant who lost his son, plans a vigilante mission of revenge during the mayhem. However, instead of a death-dealing avenger, he becomes the unexpected protector of four innocent strangers who desperately need his help if they are to survive the night.
"The Purge: Anarchy" is more in line with what people going to a "Purge" movie would want out of a "Purge" movie.
– Adam Graham,
Detroit News,
18 Jul 2014
fresh:
The Purge: Anarchy is basically a slasher movie in which society is the deranged killer. It plays like it's already a grindhouse classic - dark, dirty, and disreputable.
– Bilge Ebiri,
New York Magazine/Vulture,
18 Jul 2014
fresh:
Grillo's performance will make you wonder why he didn't start headlining movies like this before turning 50; his is the soft-spoken kind of charisma that helped make half of the Expendables into stars back in the '80s and '90s.
– Michael Nordine,
Village Voice,
18 Jul 2014
rotten:
DeMonaco is more interested in scenarios than in stocking them with human beings. Everybody here is a backstory in a T-shirt.
– Wesley Morris,
Grantland,
18 Jul 2014
rotten:
For most of the film, returning writer-director James DeMonaco favors gore and shock inserts of music over the edgy, nasty parody for which the material seems ready made.