MinistryofDoom This Owen Wilson/Lake Bell driven action film is an enjoyable yet difficult experience. It's strengths are in it's ability to depict the isolationd felt by expatriates in foreign lands far removed from the comforts and routines of which they are familiar. Place that into the context of a civil uprising in an un-named 3rd world country where they are not only unable to communicate and traverse the unknown landscape but are incapable of knowing whom are friends and foes, and you have a true thrill ride. The problem is that it is also difficult to watch as certain illogical missteps are made which ultimately put the family in far greater jeopardy, defying common sense, and threatening their survival. It also attempts to make a political statement though it is difficult to understand what that statement is, since it is lost in the clutter of the film's plot. What we do know is that an expatriate engineer travels to a non-descript Asian country (which borders Vietnam) along with his family to work on a project and almost immediately a violent uprising breaks out between armed civilians and riot police whom are quickly and easily dispatched. After that no where else in the entire film do we see any authority figures attempting to restore order (it seems that the civilians in the span of an hour have taken over the entire country and killed all the security officers). The civilians then begin to hunt down and publicly execute foreigners for unknown reasons. The US Embassy is completely destroyed. American soldiers are lying dead at it's doorstep but killed them and why? Why does the country's population hate foreigners? Why are the committing public executions? Where are the government officials? Where are the security forces? Why are all the civilians depicted as barbaric violent savages? None of these questions are ever answered; all we know is that a man, his wife, and two daughters are attempting to flee the country before they are killed. The film wants us to focus on their process of fleeing and not to question why they are fleeing and so we have action-packed thriller that is extremely light on context and does not provide much substance story-wise.

flopezamor Much better than what critics tell you. I love it and it kept me on the edge of my seat. Of curse it's fantasy but it takes you into the plot and keeps your attention throughout.

Paul Neri After watching this film you'll never travel to a politically unstable country ever again. Unusually good (as in believable) which is why I've bothered to write a review for it. Like most films it has flaws but in the main it works well.

cmovies-99674 PROS: The acting from the ENTIRE cast was so unbelievably awesome. Lake Bell who is one of my favorite actresses, gave one of her best performances in years. To add on, Owen Wilson played his role perfectly. He delivered every emotion in its rawest form; sadness, fear, anger, security, etc. were delivered by the whole cast, even the little girls who stole the show. Another amazing part of the film was the story line. This concept of rebellion and the families struggle through it was so perfectly delivered with few to no plot holes. I was able to comfortably watch the movie without worrying about pathetic attempts to make the movie more engaging, everything was thought out. This movie is my favorite movie of all time for many reasons, but the biggest reason was the ending. The ending came so abruptly, which was nice because it gave the watcher the same sigh of relief as it did to the characters. The ending was able to make you feel the same exact emotion as it did to those characters. Yet another great part about this film was the development of the characters. You were able to relate to any one character, and you stayed in tune with that character as the film progressed. But you also didn't feel detached from the other characters, which was nice.CONS: The one con that I had was not something I noticed on my own, but someone brought it to my attention. The build up of tension lagged in some spots, but this didn't bother me because it felt natural. But there were a few scenes where the characters were just sitting and not doing anything.www.chorror.com