The Hunger Games Mockingjay part I

The Hunger Games Mockingjay part I - 123min - PG13

Studios have a new weapon in their arsenal: the ability to break a movie into two parts to tell a story that fits into one. The final Harry Potter film did this and it was groundbreaking. The Hobbit did this as proof positive that people will buy this kind of storytelling. This film feels like they are stretching the story to fill time. As its really only half of the story, I have to grade it on it's own merits as opposed to a complete story. At this point, I have to award this film a provisional yellow light. I will upgrade it if it turns out the story was worth the long walk it's taking us on.

Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) wakes up in a resistance bunker in District 13. We see the events that happen right after the explosion in the games. Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) has been seized by President Snow (DonaldSutherland) and is being held to be used as a political pawn. The resistance wants Katniss to fight for them and become a symbol. Gale (Liam Hemsworth) is also in district 13 as he helped Prim (Willow Shields) and her mother (PaulaMalcomson) escape before District 12 was destroyed. President Alma Coin (Juilanne Moore) and Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman) are pushing Katniss to be the face of the rebellion.

The one thought going through my head for the entire film is this is Philip Seymour Hoffman's final role. This film, good or bad, will be his legacy. He was such a talented actor and I enjoyed almost every role he had. I savored each and every scene he was in. I remember hearing that some of the scenes in the second film are going to have to be altered or adjusted because of his death before filming was complete. I hope they don't CGI him poorly.

His loss really overshadowed this project for me. It will be interesting to see how they compensate for the lost scenes.  I know that there is no way to compensate for the loss of such a talented star in our universe.

The performances were great. I felt really connected with the characters. I had one issue with the community members of District 13. Peeta goes on screen publicly and denounces the rebels and what they stand for. I can understand the initial distant for him, but as the other propaganda material is broadcast he shows signs of malnutrition and abuse. Were they so blinded by their hate that the only one who saw what was really going on was Katniss? Even President Coin called him a traitor. This makes me worry about the type of government that will be taking over if they win the war. In case you haven't already guessed I have not read the books.

There is nothing earth-shattering or remarkable about the film. It really feels more like a preamble than a film. I am going to have to re-watch this film before I go see the second one. I am sure that the theaters will be offering this as well. If not I will Netflix the first one and then see the second one in the theaters... Or I will wait until they are both on Netflix.

Would you rather go to two hour and a half movies or one move for three hours?   

The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games - 142min – PG-13

I did a post on trailers that were good and bad. The trailer for this movie falls into the good category. They did an excellent job making me interested in seeing the film but did not give anything away. I got goose bumps when the main character broke ranks and volunteered to take her sister's place. I got them from that scene each time I watched it. I have to give this movie a green light because it delivers on what was promised. 

The movie takes place in a post war civilization where the winning side resides in the Capital and the rest of the land of Panem is broken up into 12 districts. Each district selects by lottery a boy and a girl to compete in a fight to the death. The Games are televised and everyone is forced to watch them as a reminder of who is in charge. In District 12 Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) volunteers as tribute to save her younger Sister Prim (Willow Shields). She is joined by Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) the male tribute for this session of the games. 

They are brought to the Capital and are trained by Haymitch (Woody Harrelson)a pervious winner from District 12, and presented to their stylist, Cinna (Lenny Kravitz), who is in charge of their image. He helps them make an impression. Together they do their best to survive. 

This movie was outstanding. I was so enthralled with this story that I didn't notice my usual pet peeves. I have never been a fan of the jerky shaky camera shots and this movie has its fair share. These shots were needed because they helped create tension and cover up the fact that we are watching children fight to the death. They did a great job of doing all of the violence off screen. We see a weapon raised a splatter of blood and a limp body. The use of the shaky camera shots were an excellent touch and not overused. 

This movie is definitely close to the book. They did cut some elements but they did a great job of keeping the main plot untouched. You didn’t need to read the books to keep up with the story but if you enjoyed the movie I suggest reading the books to get more in depth with the characters and their history.

The setting reminded me of Firefly, where the capital had advanced technology and the districts were living in Depression-era squalor. Right before the start of the games I was thinking to myself, am I really sitting here watching children kill one another? They did a great job of keep the intensity without glorifying the gore. 

The Director (Gary Ross) was an excellent choice because of his ability to visually tie in emotional connections with the images of the stories he tells. Looking back over his resume and I am a fan of all of the movies he has written. I never realized the connection to all of these beloved movies is because of one man. 

Mr. Ross, Thank you for making the movies you have, they have touched me and sparked in me the love of film I have today. Dave and Big are my favorites, who am I kidding all of them really.

Sorry, had to take a personal moment there after I realized who he was, and the influence he had on my life.

Warring Spoilers!!! May the odds be ever in your favor if you click here. 

Rue (Amandla Stenberg) dying made be cry and the revolt in her district made me want to join in tearing the capital apart. I was so emotionally involved I was drained at the end of it. I am still angry with the whole thing. I have to move on before I get my dander up again.

President Snow is played by Donald Sutherland, and he does evil bad guy well. His menacing comments with Seneca (Wes Bentley) were supremely creepy.

Elizabeth Banks did an excellent job of completely taking the role and becoming something different, I had no earthly idea it was her under the makeup as Effie, I had to look up who she was I could not recognize her at all. Stanley Tucci is the best, nuf said.

Were there changes to this story you did not like, or did you think they left something out that you wanted to see in film? 

X-Men:First class

X-Men: First Class – 132Min – PG-13

While I was walking out of the movie I overheard some people saying “Sheesh! Can’t they get any comic book movie right?” Before I jump into the review I just wanted to point something out to the hardcore fans. Movies will never be just like the comic books. They are stories that are used as a starting point for films. There are so many different factors that go into making a movie that it is almost impossible to use the original storyline as an exact blueprint for films. You can read more about that later in the Movies IMHO blog. For today, I am just going to write about X-men.

X-Men: First Class tells us the story of the origins of Professor X and his school. It takes us back to the beginning even before the Professor was a professor. Learning about how the movie universe started was a good step in setting down the two different versions of the X-Men. Yes this movie takes liberties from the comic books, but it does do a good job of going back and laying out some of the past history between Professor X and Magneto. I liked watching the foundation of the war between the humans and the mutants. We see the development of the relationship and friendship that brings Charles and Eric together and how they worked with the same goal but from two completely different motivations. From an entertainment standpoint, this movie gets a green light from me. I know that some aspects were changed from the comic book but it was still an entertaining movie. Go and see it if you enjoyed any of the previous films.

We start this movie off back at the concentration camp where we see Eric Lensherr (Bill Milner) as a boy use his powers for the first time. It’s important to see the back ground of how Magneto (Michael Fassbender) became the person he is. We see how his life has shaped his outlook on life. Charles Xavier (Laurence Belcher) has a completely different origin and it’s interesting to see how the dynamic between these two friends evolves. Professor X (James McAvoy) and Magneto started a mutant movement with one ideal in mind but have two different concepts on how that should be accomplished. This movie also shows us the creation of the rift between friends and between mutants and humans. I see this movie as not an attempt to bring it closer to the books but more of a prequel to the movies’ storyline.

We also get to see how some of the other characters get their start, we see Hank McCoy (Nicholas Hoult) or Beast as he is know in the X-men, Raven or Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) gets an introduction, Kevin Bacon plays Sebastian Shaw the leader of the Hellfire Club. All of the performances were done well and the casting was great. Some of the characters they highlighted were either obscure or unknown to me. Azazel (Jason Flemyng) was a small character in the books. And I had never heard of Riptide (Alex Gonzalez). Angel was played by Zoe Kravitz and she was great, but I never heard of her character before.

The Director (Matthew Vaughn) did a good job of bringing this story to life. I have seen one of his other movies, Kick-Ass and enjoyed it. As far as an adaptation for a comic book story goes it was pretty spot-on for most of the movie’s elements. They had a great cast and a director who had a clear vision of what he wanted to relay. Vaughn’s cinematic timing is also good, we did not have an over use of mutant powers at the beginning of the film they build to a climatic end. John Mathieson who has been the cinematographer on several great movies is at the camera on this movie and it proves to be a good investment. Matheson’s eye for composition is great. One of my personal favorite films of his is K-PAX. Loved it.

I am going to go over some specific scenes that I really liked in the movie but I am hiding them under this Warrning Link below so I don’t give away any spoilers.

WARNING!! THERE BE SPOILIERS HERE!!

One of the most touching scenes and makes me feel almost bad for Eric is when Charles shows him how to tap into his power. The way they did that was really good, it allowed us as viewers to get behind Eric’s tough exterior and let us see how much pain he is still in.

One of the others is sticking with me is how close Raven and Charles were, I have not followed the books but I think this is a huge departure from the comics. I liked watching her start out with the ideals of Charles but ending up facing the reality that Eric presented her. Again, it gave me more of a connection to her as a person than just a bad guy.

Rose Byrne did a great job as the token human in the group; she played a CIA agent who is a characterization of who she was in the books, but still an advocate for mutant human relations. I did not want to mention her in the main review I thought her new role would have been a spoiler for some.

There are others but I just wanted to test out this feature incase I really wanted to talk about the movies in detail and still keep the spoilers away from people who do not want them.

Ok this week’s question is going to be, what side are you on, do you side with Magneto and side with The Brotherhood of Mutants, or are you with Professor X’s X-Men? Let me know what team and why in the comments.