Synopsis: Combatants and sweethearts Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) have returned victorious from the 74th Annual Hunger Games. While on a Victory Tour to Panem’s various downtrodden districts, revolution is in the air. The people see Katniss as a symbol of freedom, which, of course, doesn’t sit well with President Snow (Donald Sutherland), the country’s autocratic leader. To quell the revolution he and his head gamesmaker (Philip Seymour Hoffman) devise the trickiest Hunger Games yet, the Quarter Quell that will pit former winners against one another in the battle to the death.
• Richard: 4/5
• Mark: 3/5
Richard: Mark, I’m glad I saw the first Hunger Games movie because I’m not sure if I would have a clue as to what was going on if I didn’t have that background. I may have been taken in by the beautiful art direction, or Jennifer Lawrence’s intense performance, but I don’t think I would have been able to connect all the dots. Plot points become more obvious in the second hour, but for non-Hungerites it might be confusing. What did you think?
Mark: I don’t think anyone who didn’t see the first one would even be interested in seeing the second instalment. So the question becomes: how do they compare? And surprisingly, I kind of prefer the sequel. The issues of state control, of media manipulation, and of income disparity are sharper and less cartoonish here. But more important, the secondary characters are more interesting and better drawn. Some of the contestants are intriguing, like Jeffrey Wright’s techno-nerd, and his partner Amanda Plummer, doing her nutso thing. I even liked Elizabeth Banks and Stanley Tucci this time around — the characters seemed more grounded in the story.
RC: I do think this is a better movie than the first instalment. It is set decorated and costumed to within an inch of its life, but nonetheless has a gritty edge. It doesn’t feel like a budget big franchise movie and that’s a good thing. Visually as well as thematically it has more edge than any of the recent Marvel movies. And it skirts around the thing that upset many people about the first movie — the idea of kids killing kids — by setting the action between former victors ranging in age from in their 20s to in their 70s.
MB: You know what else it skirts around? The killings themselves, many of which happen off-screen, to protect the delicate psyches of our tweener population. But that’s OK; this isn’t really a film about body count. The only thing that left me queasy was the cliffhanger ending, with a plot twist that will seem arbitrary until we catch the next instalment.
RC: The cliffhanger ending is a bit of a shock after the almost two-and-a-half hour running time, but I felt as though enough had happened to keep me interested for the next one.
MB: And I think the next one may show Woody Harrelson to be the trilogy’s most valuable player.
I’m glad I saw the first “Hunger Games” movie because I’m not sure if I would have a clue as to what was going on if I didn’t have that background. I may have been taken in by the beautiful art direction, or Jennifer Lawrence’s intense performance, but I don’t think I would have been able to connect all the dots. Plot points become more obvious in the second hour, but for non-Hungerites it might be confusing.
If you haven’t seen the first movie, or read one of the 26 million copies of the book that are currently in print, here’s a glossary of terms to get you up to speed.
Katniss Everdeen: Sixteen year-old protagonist and citizen of District 12, a poor mining area in the dystopian nation of Panem.
Peeta Mellark: A baker’s son, who, according to Wikipedia has “extensive strength and cake decorating skills that contributed to the art of camouflage.”
Both are “tributes” chosen from the young people of District 12 and forced to participate in an annual Hunger Games, The Hunger Games, an annual televised event in which one teenaged boy and girl from each districts surrounding the Capitol are chosen by lottery to fight to the death until only one remains.
There’s more, but you’ll figure it out.
In the new film combatants and sweethearts Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) have returned from the 74th Annual Hunger Games victorious to become the toast of the nation. While on a Victory Tour to Panem’s various downtrodden districts, revolution is in the air. They see Katniss as a symbol of freedom, which, of course, doesn’t sit well with President Snow (Donald Sutherland), the country’s autocratic leader. To quell the revolution he and his head gamesmaker (Philip Seymour Hoffman) devise the trickiest Hunger Games yet, the Quarter Quell that will pit former winners against one another in the battle to the death. If Snow gets his way Katniss will be killed and the revolution squashed.
“Hunger Games: Catching Fire” is a better movie than the first installment.
Set decorated and costumed (as played by Elizabeth Banks, District 12 minder Effie Trinket has the most elaborate futurist art deco costumes since “Metropolis”) to within an inch of its life, but has nonetheless has a gritty edge. It doesn’t feel like a budget big franchise movie and that’s a good thing,
Visually as well as thematically it has more edge than any of the recent Marvel movies. And it skirts around the thing that upset many people about the first movie—the idea of kids killing kids—by setting the action between former victors ranging in age from 20s to 70s.
It creates a world with it’s own rules, style and customs and does so convincingly. In part it’s comprised of things we’ve seen before in everything from the human sacrifices of Greek Mythology to reality television to stories of government corruption on the news, but author Suzanne Collins and director Francis “I Am legend” Lawrence tie it together to create something new.
In many ways it breaks the mold of what we expect from a young adult a blockbuster. The focus is on the characters and the underpinning of romance that snakes throughout the story. The action sequences are few and far between and it takes almost an hour before any of Katniss’s trademark bow-and-arrow dexterity comes into play. (Silly complaint: the number of arrows in her quiver changes from shot to shot! Just when you think she’s out, arrows magically appear.)
Sure there’s poison fog, angry animals and vicious victors but it’s about survival and relationships not the wholesale slaughter of the characters. It’s grim, shot in hues of grey with a perpetually overcast sky, which lends it a classic feel, more like 1970s sci fi than the brightly couloured eye catchers Hollywood makes these days.
“Hunger Games: Catching Fire” has a who’s who of a cast—Woody Harrelson, Lenny Kravitz, Jeffrey Wright, Stanley Tucci, Jena Malone, Brit heartthrob Sam Claflin and Amanda Plummer—who all perform well, lending some gravitas to the story, but it is carried by Lawrence whose vision for Katniss is as straight as an arrow.
Josh Hutcherson grew up on film sets. As a child actor he worked with Julianne Moore and Annette Bening in the Oscar nominated The Kids Are Alright. He also appeared with Tim Robbins and Kristen Stewart in Zathura. So it’s safe to say he’s used to seeing stars on set. While shooting The Hunger Games, however, he saw stars of a different kind when Jennifer Lawrence “threw an incredibly perfect kick right to my temple.”
“It was a complete accident,” he says, “but I went down and saw stars. She was crying and saying how sorry she was and I was trying to comfort her, even though I was the one in pain.”
Taking a kick to the head was one of the challenges of making the action film, but Hutcherson says the main test was making a movie that was true to the spirit of the book.
“The world outside Hollywood has this idea that when a big book is made into a movie it’s only so Hollywood can cash in on it. That is not at all what our mission was. We didn’t want this to be the book on tape version, but we wanted to tell the story as if you were reading it in the book. Pretty much everyone involved with the movie from the actors to the cameramen and grips on set loved the books and wanted to see it done properly.”
The story, he says, resonated with him but it was the character Peeta that drew him in.
“I liked who Peeta was as a person,” he says. “He really believes strongly in not changing his beliefs no matter what kind of circumstances he’s in, and that is something I’ve always prided myself in believing in.”
As a result he makes an indelible impression as the idealistic Tribute from District 12.
“If there is one character I want to be known for it is definitely this,” he says. “The books are extremely powerful and the character is someone I really connected with.”
The process of making the film so satisfying, says the nineteen-year-old actor, that even if he didn’t get to play Peeta again–but don’t worry, he will–he is happy.
“Liam (Hemsworth) said if something happened and we didn’t get to make another one of these, we’re so happy having this be the one, and I agree,” he says. “We don’t feel like an open wound where it needs to be healed up. This is its own, free-standing thing.”
Now that Harry Potter has cast his last cinematic spell and “Twilight” is fast fading into that breaking dawn, Hollywood is looking for the next best young adult sensation.
But how do you replace one of the biggest movie franchises of all time and the series that gave us warring werewolves and vampires?
How about with a blockbuster that feels like an indie film? “The Hunger Games” is poised to become a massive hit, but it feels more like a character study than the start of an epic payday for Tinsel Town.
Based on the first book in Suzanne Collins’s mega-successful series, “The Hunger Games” is set in Panem, a dystopian world ruled by a fascistic leader (Donald Sutherland). Each year the state hold The Hunger Games, a battle to death between twenty four players, two from each of the country’s districts. The televised games are equal parts “Miss Universe,” “American Idol” and “Death Race.” The story follows two “tributes” from District 12, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), two reluctant warriors whose survival is at stake.
From its opening moments “The Hunger Games” feels more intimate, thanks to some inventive hand held camera work, than you’d expect. And that’s a good thing.
As fans of the books know, the focus of the story is the characters. Sure they are thrown into a wild situation, but knowing and caring about Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark—admiring Katniss’s inner strength and courage or Peeta’s big heart—is as important to the success of the story as are the action scenes or the dystopian premise.
The result is a film that feels more mature than the “Twilight” series, although all the Young Adult tropes are very much in place.
Jennifer Lawrence has found the role that she will, likely, forever be associated with and brings substance to it. She imbues Katniss with a rich inner life—you can see the machinations of the character churning behind her eyes. This level of performance is critical to the success to not only this film, but also the inevitable sequels.
She is ably supported by Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, Wes Bentley, Donald Sutherland Lenny Kravitz (who could easily have a second career as an actor) and Josh Hutcherson, but make no, mistake, this is her movie. She’s in virtually every scene and her growth from venerable shy girl to sly competitor is the beating heart of the story.
I enjoyed the subdued feel of “The Hunger Games,” but I couldn’t help but wonder what a truly visionary director like Terry Gilliam might have done with this material. Likely not handed in a PG-13 movie, but his imaginative, twisted take on a world where kids kill one another in reality shows would have been interesting to see.
Which is not to say director Gary “Seabiscuit” Ross has dropped the ball here. Not at all, he’s made a film that is both epic and intimate, timely—imagine the Kardashians with knives and bloodlust—which doesn’t pander to its audience.
“The Hunger Games” is somewhat formulaic in its approach, but it also is a (potential) blockbuster that puts the story and characters first and the special effects second. That’s a welcome formula.
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island,” The sorta-sequel to “Journey to the Center of the Earth” is a family action movie about people who treat the writings of Jules Verne as a Foder’s Guide to adventure.
Josh Hutcherson (soon to be seen in “The Hunger Games”) is Sean Anderson, a Jules Verne nerd who, with the help of his step-father (Dwayne Johnson a.k.a. The Rock) pieces together the location of the famed Mysterious Island using clues intercepted on a ham radio. Plane tickets in hand they head off to see if the place really exists. Along the way they meet a crazy helicopter pilot (Luis Guzmán) with a beautiful daughter (Vanessa Hudgens) several giant bees and tiny elephants and are reunited with Sean’s long lost grandfather, explorer Alexander Anderson (Michael Caine).
“Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” is a cross between “Gilligan’s Island” and a Saturday afternoon serial. From “Gilligan” it gets its silly sense of humor–“You know, if we die down there,” says Sean “Mom’s going to kill us.”–and from the serials it gets its sense of family friendly sci-fi fun.
Oscar winner and knight Sir Michael Caine rides on the back of a giant bee and The Rock cuddles a tiny elephant and Luis Guzmán tries to mine an active volcano made of gold.
It’s all harmless good fun. Not really memorable, but Caine is in crazy old coot mode, Guzman is gonzo and despite state-of-the-art special effects, the whole thing plays like an old fashioned kid’s adventure story.
Synopsis: Combatants and sweethearts Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) have returned victorious from the 74th Annual Hunger Games. While on a Victory Tour to Panem’s various downtrodden districts, revolution is in the air. The people see Katniss as a symbol of freedom, which, of course, doesn’t sit well with President Snow (Donald Sutherland), the country’s autocratic leader. To quell the revolution he and his head gamesmaker (Philip Seymour Hoffman) devise the trickiest Hunger Games yet, the Quarter Quell that will pit former winners against one another in the battle to the death.
