The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2

**½

Our lives were never ours, they belong to Snow and our deaths do too. But if you kill him, Katniss, all those deaths, they mean something.

Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen in the final Hunger Games film.

This was the first Hunger Games film I did not see in theaters. Still, I wanted to know how it all wrapped up. It turns out that Mockingjay did not need to be two films and by bifurcating it the characters’ behaviors seem mostly arbitrary. It almost gets 3 stars for overcoming the loss of Philip Seymour Hoffman (Plutarch) during the filming. As Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) invades the capital she finally becomes the leader of the rebellion for which she had been cast as the figurehead. Julianne Moore’s President of District 13 has a heel turn once victory is in grasp. The love triangle around Katniss falls apart as Gale–Liam Hemsworth–the one truly decent character throughout the series basically betrays Katniss, and Peeta is still a madman who knows he will kill Katniss if left unguarded. Sound depressing? Well it is. Sound fun? Not really. I kept waiting for Katniss to turn to the sexually adventurous Johanna Mason—the criminally underused Jena Malone, The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys—as a burgeoning bisexual woman choosing someone who was reliably different.

Amidst the depressing betrayals and deaths, Katniss moves ever closer to President Snow (Donald Sutherland) so that she may kill him and end the rebellion. But in off screen action the rebels destroy the empire. Generally the look of the film is fine, although it came across as the least realistic of the four films. The low point was the subterranean chase by “mutts”. In the dark at the end of The Hunger Games, those “mutts” looked very threatening. Here, they look fake. Having worse special effects years later with a higher budget is a pet peeve of mine, I call it “X-Men Origins: Wolverining it”, which I addressed in my review of Deadpool.

Finnick (Sam Claflin) fighting some mutts in a sewer, Mockingjay – Part 2 © Lionsgate 2015.

All told I am glad I watched it so that I knew how the story ended. There is one excellent scene where Katniss makes a difficult moral choice that parallels the training exhibition scene from Gary Ross’ The Hunger Games. Francis Lawrence directed the final three movies, and unfortunately each has been less good than the prior film. In case the tone of this review has been unclear, this is an unspoilable film. Had I known what would happen—most of which is pretty predictable anyways—I think I would have gotten the same things out of it. Perhaps I would have enjoyed it more because I would not have been disappointed at lack of surprises.

Epilogue: This was some Harry Potter meets Notting Hill garbrid. Garbrid? Hybage? Hybrid + garbage = ??? At least we know that Peeta does not kill Katniss in the intervening decade.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1

***½

Miss Everdeen, it is the things we love most that destroy us.

Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) at a refugee hospital in one of the districts. © 2014 Lionsgate, Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1.

I went into this film with some hesitation, since Katniss Everdeen—Jennifer Lawrence, the second Mystique of the X-Men movies—has been cast as the leader of a revolution of which she has not been aware. Instead of forging on ahead ignoring this major issue, the film tackles it head on. Julianne Moore appears as the president of District 13 and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman reappearing as Plutarch, and they team up to use Katniss for the good of the cause. By doing so they addressed my concerns and allowed me to appreciate the story. Indeed, in that story Gale–Liam Hemsworth–from the books finally gets some screen time, even if he appears to have quit on his romantic relationship with Katniss. This departure felt odd since the love triangle around Katniss seemed very important.

This film left me wanting to know how the story ended, but it unnecessarily dragged on. I read none of the books, but apparently this one is no longer than the rest. I have trouble determining the penalty for making us wait for purely financial reasons. Other than that, this is just as good as the other movies. There is an added benefit of Jennifer Lawrence singing “The Hanging Tree.” In fact, once I post this review, I think I will listen to it on youtube.

Are you, are you
Coming to the tree
Where they strung up a man
They say murdered three.
Strange things have happened here
No stranger would it be
If we met at midnight
In the hanging tree.

Divergent

***

You’re supposed to be smart. If I wanted to hurt you, I would’ve.

Tris’ poor ear. Divergent © 2014 Summit Ent.

This film works as a standalone product. Certainly it is designed to be the first film of a trilogy, but as it was wrapping up—the end was exciting and the best part*—I wondered how anything would be left once our heroes took care of business. That said, it still seemed like a big book that got condensed down to something smaller than its readers would have liked, while also being longer than newcomers would feel was necessary. If you want to know what happens, that information is probably already in your head or is easily available elsewhere. Instead I will compare and contrast this with the more successful films of this genre: Harry Potter, Twilight, and The Hunger Games.

*According to Megan, who just read the book, this is also the most accurate portion of the film.

Professor McGonagall (Maggie Smith) with Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) with the Sorting Hat in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, © 2001 WB.

Harry Potter: Instead of being eleven and having a magic hat choose your (school) house, there is a test that determines which of the five factions a young adult shall choose to spend the rest of its life in. In Harry Potter there is an anti-cunning sentiment, whereas here that sentiment is very anti-intellectual.

Twilight: The main character, Tris (Shailene Woodley) tells her love interest, Four (Theo James), that she wants to take it slow. My understanding is that in Twilight the characters waited for marriage before sex almost killed its protagonist. Herein Tris has a fear of Four sexually assaulting her which has sparked much debate, but is actually pretty much a non-statement in the actual context of this film.

A composite of Gale (Liam Hemsworth), Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence), and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson).

The Hunger Games/Mockingjay or whatever: This seemed to be the closest parallel with a teenage girl as its protagonist and her un-requested role as revolutionary—which is non-existent for the first 5/6ths of the movies—who only wants to not die while living in a society where things have gone terribly wrong for most of the planet. Here there was no love triangle and the relationship between Four and Tris seemed more natural and exciting than anything involving Katniss. However, Woodley lacks the subtlety that Jennifer Lawrence has.

THEO JAMES and SHAILENE WOODLEY star in DIVERGENT, © 2014 Summit Entertainment.

 

If the true test of this film was would I want to watch a sequel of it, then it definitely passed. A parallel film that I would connect it to was Hellboy. A good director (Neil Burger—The Illusionist before Divergent & Guillermo del Toro — Pan’s Labyrinth between Hellboys 1 & 2) with interesting characters and the promise of something greater that produced something that should have been better. It may be worth noting that Hellboy: The Golden Army was not actually better than the original, but it did change up the flaws. And neither story came close to the magic of the source material. Hopefully Burger can do something with these books that del Toro could not.

My reaction to the 2014 Academy Awards

This is a live-diary from watching this year’s Oscars.

The monologue: I entered this with low expectations. Mostly because I do not like Ellen’s delivery.
“Bruce Dern is not pleased.”
I liked the Jonah Hill’s penis joke. But it was premised on Ellen having seen his before, which left me wondering, when had she seen it before?

Best Supporting Actor: I haven’t seen Dallas Buyer’s Club, but Megan my girlfriend really wants to see it, so I’m thinking fun date night movie! Nothing’s more romantic than emaciated/dying of AIDs in drag Jared Leto. He continues the proud transition of cross-dressing bringing home the gold! Also, way to remind us that there are more important things going on in the world than some awards.

Animated Heroes Montage: “Lawrence of Arabia. Citizen Kane. Ace Ventura. Our next presenter was in one of these. Jim Carrey.” Best line so far. Also, man Jim Carrey is still hilarious. What I don’t understand is why this was presented to us.

Happy by Pharrell Williams — Oh no! not another unpopular hat. Also, how has he not aged in the past 12 years? Also, why did he “hey!” Sidney Poitier? Questions! Questions without answers.

Achievement in Costume Design: The Great Gatsby! I am really glad this won. I was afraid that American Hustle would win this, but mostly a home run in the costumes in GG.

Makeup & Hairstyling: Only 3 nominees? That seems oddly small, but hey, what do I know about makeup/hairstyling?

American Hustle & Dallas Buyer’s Club & The Wolf of Wall Street: Amy Adams was really great. These actors looked like they had so much fun making American Hustle. Dallas Buyer’s Club looks good. But then again, the Wolf looked like it was more than an ad for drugs, so we will see.

Best Short – Animated: Kim Novak used to be hot in 1958. Thanks McConaughey for that awkward reminder.
Best Animated Film – Not Short: Congratulations to Frozen! You just beat a Miyazaki film! And were totally awesome! And there is a woman on stage! Whoa!

Ordinary/Extraordinary Heroes: Goosebumps!

Sorry, I almost missed the name of this category because of two young hotties, Emma Watson and Joseph Gordon-Levitt would be an obnoxiously attractive couple. Gravity probably deserves the Visual Effects Oscar, but damn this was a hotly contested category. Iron Man 3 and The Hobbit 2 were hard to beat.

That nice song from Her by Karen O — It’s a very nice song. I don’t remember it being only 75 seconds long though… But about the presenter, serious question, Zac Efron is an actor? He doesn’t seem like he can act. Even in previews he looks awful. Just awful.

Short Film (Live Action): Some year I will watch these before the awards so that I can have an f’n opinion. Just once I will. Oops, I missed who won, but the important thing is that I saw a clip from The Voorman Problem. Because it had Martin Freeman (Bilbo, The Hobbit) and Tom Hollander (a villain in the middle 2 Pirates movies), but that led me…
Short Firm (Doc): Music Saved My Life. …to Hollander’s IMDb page which has Gosford Park in it. Whenever I read those two words I think the exact same thing, “oooh, Gosford Park, I should watch that again.” Every time. No joke. I even thought that two days after I had just seen it.

Best Documentary: Whoa whoa whoa, slow down there, Bradley Cooper. Describing “documentaries” as “telling the truth for a living” is not true. That would be like saying the Fox News or MSNBC “tell the truth for a living.” Congrats to 20 Feet From Stardom, I hope that this leads to people watching Standing in the Shadows of Motown. Also, having that woman sing too loudly was not a good idea. Actually, it was a good idea, but just not well executed. Ick.

Governor’s Awards: Angela Lansbury, Pierrot Tosie (sic?), Steve Martin, and Angelina Jolie. Sounds like quite an assortment of people.

Best Foreign Language Film: The Great Beauty appears to be a movie about…who knows. Omar, on the other hand, is a movie I know I need to watch. Hany Abu-Assad wrote and directed it, just like he did Paradise Now. That was a great, humorous and human movie.

Nebraska, Her, and Gravity: Of those three I would prefer Nebraska to win, even though it is the only one I have not seen. Honestly, Gravity is good, but it has the depth of Rush without as interesting of a story. And the acting was not as good. And Her was a nice movie. I just hope for more.

U2’s Ordinary Love sounds pretty good, but I am not sure if I have heard it before. Also, what is Larry Mullen doing without a drum set? (oops now I see his drum)  And why is Adam Clayton not playing a bass line? (The point of this is to show that I know who the other two members of U2 are without looking it up.)

Ellen and the cellphone thing. Make it stop? Please.

Sound Mixing: It’s funny how incestuous this category was. Lots of multiple nominations for these sound mixers. But how hard is it to mix Sandra Bullock hyperventilating for 85 minutes? Also, space is pretty damn silent so…really? No other movie had better sound mixing?
Sound Editing: See above. Bonus thoughts, Alfonso Cuarón’s name has been pronounced three distinctly different ways by his employees. Thanks for NOTHING!

Supporting Actress: That clip for June Squibb was amazing. And Lupita Nyong’o just won with her first acting role. Sounds like she’s a natural.

Cinematography: I don’t know if Gravity deserved this or not. It’s such a gorgeous movie, but maybe that was the special effects, or Cuarón’s direction. If this nice man is truly responsible, then Cuarón probably does not deserve best direction.

Best Editing: Captain Phillips deserved this over Gravity. Seriously. Unless Gravity won this for being the shortest movie, this is inappropriate.

Guinan! Remember? Whoopi Goldberg was on “Star Trek: The Next Generation”. My Uncle Terry loves The Wizard of Oz, so it is nice for me to see it come up. Let’s cut to the montage! No!!! Not Pink! What the fuuuu?? What demographic are you aiming for with this??

Production Design: Great Gatsby with a second win. This was an amazing year for production design. This could have easily gone to American Hustle or Gravity on merit.

Chris Evans grew a beard? Uggg. First Chris Hemsworth and now him? My ranking as most attractive man with a beard keeps slipping! Most Inspiring Characters: After Katniss Everdeen I had this thought about 30 seconds later, Whoa, mark this moment! There was one shot where there was a woman! Sure, she was out numbered 5-1 by men, but there was an actual, real life woman in this group! And Sandra Bullock and Sigourney Weaver. So it’s a victory for equality! 4.5 women to only about 75 men!

In Memoriam: The ones who made me saddest were Jim Kelly, Elmore Leonard, Peter O’Toole, Richard Griffiths, Roger Ebert, Harold Ramis, and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Philomena, Captain Phillips, and 12 Years a Slave: I really wish I would have seen 12 Years a Slave already. I still like Captain Phillips best.

Let It Go performed by Idina Menzel: this is a very good song. Disney tapped into their storied past to pull this out one and let a real singer/actress sing/act in Frozen. I bet this wins for best song.

Best Score: Whoa, fix that chin, Jamie Foxx! Gravity won.
Best Song: Who the fuck are Paul Hewson and David Evans? I literally have never seen Bono and The Edge’s real names before. Shocking! Knowing that Mullen and Clayton are in U2 finally paid off! Also, tears alert for that shout out to their daughters.

Best Adapted Screenplay: Not a surprising win for John Ridley and his adaptation of 12 Years a Slave.
Best Original Screenplay: Her and Spike Jonze win. This means it’ll be another 6 years until he puts out his next movie.

Best Director: this should go to my favorite living director Paul Greengrass. Maybe I am biased? Part of me thinks that someone whose best film is still Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban might not deserve the best director academy award, but he is also not a native English speaker so I am pleased that the Academy could look past their prejudices to award this to him. At this point we have realized that Ellen has gone on way longer than she should have with her gags. We have also caught up to the DVR, which is never fun.

Best Actress: And the award for least bad Sandra Bullock performance in her career goes to…Sandra Bullock in Gravity. Seriously. It was a compromise to get me to watch a movie with her in it. WHAT!? Cate Blanchett won! I am shocked. She’s looking all Galadriel tonight in that dress. I am now realizing that I have no idea what her accent is. She made me forget that she’s Australian.

Best Actor: Christian Bale talking is so good! Him and Fassbender are probably the best two actors going. Leonardo DiCaprio was better in Gatsby than he was is Wolf, even though he was very good in Wolf. Also, I was on the Chiwetel Ejiofor bandwagon way before this movie. As was Joss Whedon who cast him in Serenity. But Matthew McConaughey pulled it in. He has one from one of the most underrated actors, go back and watch him in Lone Star and A Time To Kill, to, with this award and True Detective he is now overrated. Not because he is not an excellent actor, but because he is not one of the very best.

Best Picture: It is sad that the presenter for the best picture just won a razzie for his movie this year, Will Smith. 12 Years a Slave won! Yay! I was so scared that Gravity was going to win. If you would have asked me, will the guy whose last movie was an NC17 one about a sex addict ever win an Oscar my answer would have been no. But congratulations to Steve McQueen, who has always fought against the odds, by even not changing his name since the shadow of the late Steve McQueen is a big one. Putting Michael Fassbender in all of his movies is also a good idea too.

Good night all, and this was a good night.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Has there ever been a movie where the protagonist’s feelings do not matter to the story that has worked? Not a movie where his or her feelings were those of indifference, or simply not there at all—like Tom Hanks in Road to Perdition—but one where the very plot and purpose of the movie continues on without the protagonist’s feelings impacting the story. Katniss Everdeen–Jennifer Lawrence–has a man she used to love, or still loves, or would or could love if they were alone—Liam Hemsworth’s Gale. She pretended to develop feelings for Peeta–Josh Hutcherson–feelings she must publicly display for the rest of her life, lest President Grumpy Face kill her family and the families of those she loves. As the movie goes on Katniss appears to actually care for Peeta, and perhaps to reciprocate his feelings for her.

Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), nameless-faceless-voiceless peace keeper (???), & Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) showcasing their love at a Victor Rally. © Lionsgate.

In the beginning Katniss provides almost no evidence for her actual feelings about Peeta. Fortunately, that makes no difference for the story, a story in which she is cast both as the protagonist and as the helpless ship stuck in a typhoon with gods blowing her about. Having seen these two movies now, I can say that the manifestations of feelings are retroactively suspect. In The Hunger Games she had to learn how to use people to stay alive. She learned a little too well to be trusted now, even by the audience who roots for her. The only two emotions that seem genuine in Katniss are fear and sadness.

Katniss listening to Gale (Liam Hemsworth), same © as above.

However, there is another way to view Katniss’ transformation and her previous displays of emotion—she is super traumatized. Both she and Peeta suffer from horrible nightmares. It actually casts Haymitch–Woody Harrelson–in a much more favorable light, even while he continues to drink himself to sleep every night. There are no victors of the Hunger Games, only survivors.  Meeting more of the former “victors” shows this, with a subtlety that is found nowhere else in the movie.

Johanna Mason (Jena Malone) training for the 75th Annual Hunger Games. © ditto.

Besides Haymitch, my two favorite “victors” were Johanna and Finnick, played by Jena Malone and Sam Claflin, respectively. I have loved Jena Malone for over a decade, from Donnie Darko to The Dangerous Lives of Alter Boys to Sucker Punch. She always surprised me with her performances. On the other hand, I had no idea who Sam Claflin was. He is apparently a newcomer to acting, getting his first appearance on screen in 2010, 14 years later than Malone, who is only two years his senior. This must be his best role so far, since he has appeared in Snow White and the Huntsman—with the other Hemsworth—and Pirates of the Caribbean 4—a movie which only my friend Curt appears to have enjoyed. I hope that they both return in parts 1 & 2 of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay.

Finnick Odair meeting Katniss. © Lionsgate.

Back to Catching Fire, I enjoyed how every victor was a damaged champion. Katniss changed. Peeta lost much of his innocence and his compassion. Johanna has lost everyone she loved and now relishes the thrill of battle again. Finnick won at 14 and became a slut, with power as his desired payment. In the capital society wants to view these victors as champions and winners, but they are all trauma victims. While they did not all deal with their traumas in the same way, only they can truly understand each other’s situation.

Less subtle, but equally crucial to the success of this film is its riveting story. It had too much to cover to ever linger too long in one place, or with one group of characters. My biggest criticism of the film was its ending. It was bad. It was ridiculous. It was ridiculously bad. It was Garry Marshall level bad. Believe me or do not, but with mere minutes to go the film decides to almost directly reference The Matrix Revolutions. It proves that Katniss, the person, had nothing to do with the story. Even the Matrix 3 did not do that. That said, the action scenes were more convincing here than in the original Hunger Games. Four of the supporting actors—Malone, Claflin, Harrelson, and Philip Seymour Hoffman—were excellent. Without the ending this would have gotten a higher rating than The Hunger Games, instead, it gets the same: ****.