Neck And Neck.

I have no interest in seeing it, but I've been curious about what the reaction to the just released dystopian thriller The Purge would be.  Given what many people think is a less than believable premise, that a future US dictatorship would allow one night a year where any crime is permissible, I expected the critical reaction would be poor.  Instead it's turned out to be considerably better than I expected.  It's currently rated at 40 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, based on the reviews of pro movie critics..  No, not good, but far from the depths some films have reached.  40 percent means 4 out of 10 reviewers liked the film.  I expected the positives to be much lower.  Even more interesting has been the response of  the general public, as recorded at Rotten Tomatoes.  Only 43 percent of visitors to the site gave The Purge a positive rating.  I expected it to be higher.  Interesting to see how close the public and pro reaction is.

Apparently a sequel to The Purge is already in the works, buoyed along by an opening take of 37.5 million bucks worldwide, versus a reported budget of only 3 million bucks.  I'm a bit skeptical of that budget figure.  I would have thought Ethan Hawke would still be enough of a name to make that kind of salary by himself.  Whatever the case it's all but certain The Purge 2 will be in a theatre near you within the next couple of years.   The obvious question though is how many of those who disliked the original will see the sequel, and what effect their word of mouth might have on audiences for it.