The Hunger Games Catching Fire

ACTION/ADVENTURE

Girl Still On Fire

8.75 out of 10 | Movie and DVD

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Rated: PG-13  For intense sequences of violence and action, some frightening images, thematic elements, a suggestive situation and language
Release Date: November 22, 2013
Runtime: 2 hours 26 minutes

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Director: Francis Lawrence
Writers: Simon Beaufoy, Michael Arndt, based on the novel 'Catching Fire' by Suzanne Collins
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, Jack Quaid, Taylor St. Clair, Woody Harrelson, Josh Hutcherson, Willow Shields, Donald Sutherland, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Stanley Tucci, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Lynn Cohen, Jena Malone

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SYNOPSIS:  Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark become targets of the Capitol after their victory in the 74th Hunger Games sparks a rebellion in the Districts of Panem.

REVIEW: Francis Lawrence, director of I Am Legend and the upcoming The Hunger Games: Mockingjay films, takes over the reins from Gary Ross and brings Katniss and Peeta back to the games. Simon Beaufoy (127 Hours) and Michael Arndt (Oblivion) adapt the second book from Suzanne  Collins in the hopes that the tributes from District 12 can survive.

Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence, X-Men: First Class) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson, Epic) have returned to Panem's District 12 as victors of the 74th Hunger Games. Living in the Victors Village, the best homes in the desolate community, Katniss still desires to leave with Gale (Liam Hemsworth, The Expendables 2) into the forest and away from the rule and oppression of President Snow and the Capitol. Sensing an uprising in the Districts, President Snow (Donald Sutherland) urges Katniss to portray the 'in love' winner with Peeta to quell the ideas of rebellion. When their victors tour results in squabbling crowds and unrest, Snow changes the rules of the game by announcing that the 75th Hunger Games, the 3rd Quarter Quell, will reap its tributes from the past winners of the event. Peeta and Katniss are forced back into the fray as the games commence, banding together with some if the other tributes in order to stay alive and to remember who the real enemy is.

Jennifer Lawrence returns as the reluctant heroine Katniss in the second of the Hunger Games series. No longer novices from the first film, Katniss and Hutcherson's Peeta better understand the political machine behind the oppression and fear of the Capitol and the presidency. Katniss sees graffiti of her signature mockingjay everywhere she goes, signifying a change in attitude of the populace against the government. Winning the 74th Hunger Games in front of the entire world with the virtue of love and sacrifice has sparked a faint, but strengthening, life of hope throughout the Districts.

A darker and more stark entry, Catching Fire starts by reintroducing Katniss and Peeta in the aftermath of winning the Hunger Games. Winners of the games and living a slightly better life than their District 12 neighbors, the pair suffers a strained relationship as each tries to rationalize their true feelings. Katniss still loves Gale, Peeta pines for Katniss, and President Snow desires the continued success of his rule in the Capitol and over the Districts. More entrenched with politics and subterfuge, Katniss and the others have to deal with more painful emotions and the realization that they are again forced to fight against an almost infallible opponent.

Jennifer Lawrence has an even more raw edge in her second outing as Katniss. Josh Hutcherson, as Peeta, shows that he is not just that defenseless young man from the 74th games, growing into his role as a leader and defender of District 12 and Katniss. Under-appreciated Woody Harrelson shines as Haymitch, the tortured former winner of the Games. He straddles the line between gifted diplomat and ragged alcoholic. Effie Trinket, played by Elizabeth Banks, is softer and more humanized, showing that living in the shine and decadence of the Capitol does not necessarily mean that she has no heart. Philip Seymour Hoffman steps in as the new games master Plutarch Heavensbee. Sutherland and Tucci are phenomenal in their returning roles.

From a fairly faithful adaptation of the book, to superb performances by a stellar cast, to a story that seems to start off as a retread but ends up with intrigue, action, pain and suspense, Catching Fire takes The Hunger Games to the next level. Katniss may be the Girl on Fire, but she may set all of Panem ablaze.

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The Eagle

Never Say Never

[Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell, Donald Sutherland]

image from screenrant.com

RANT: The theatre lobby was filled with the elderly and the young, one going to see the Metropolitan Opera in HD, the other to see the new Justin Bieber movie, Never Say Never. When I spoke to the concession attendant if she had Bieber Fever, she exclaimed that the young girls were coming out of the presentation in tears! Never Say Never is the the YouTube generation's answer to A Hard Day's Night.

SYNOPSIS: In 140 AD, a young centurion assumes command of an outpost in Roman-occupied Britain, desperate to regain his family's honor after the disappearance of the Ninth Legion and its eagle standard, led by his father, in Northern Britain 20 years earlier.

The Eagle is based on the Rosemary Sutcliff novel, The Eagle of the Ninth. Directed by Kevin MacDonald from a screenplay by Jeremy Brock, The Eagle s a depiction of one roman soldier's struggle to face uncertain dishonor due to his father's legacy of disappearing with the Ninth Legion and its eagle standard 20 years previous.

The movie plays like a cross between Deniro's The Mission and Kostner's Dances With Wolves, with Crowe's Gladiator sprinkled for flavoring. In the beginning, we join Marcus Aquila (Channing Tatum) as he boats upriver to the Roman outpost in the Southern Britain outlands. Upon taking command of the garrison and its soldiers, Aquila quickly sheds the legacy of his father by returning the outpost to shape, heading off a midnight attack by the local tribes and demonstrating conspicuous valor while rescuing his patrol from the hands of the local tribe. The first act sequences are quicker paced, providing story, character set-up, conflict and action.

The second act slows down considerably with the introduction of Esca (Jamie Bell), the slave saved by Aquila from the arena and tasked to be a servant to Aquila during his recovery from the outpost battles. As Aquila and Esca ride into the unknown north beyond the Hadrian Wall chasing rumors that the Ninth Legion's eagle standard has been rediscovered, little is gained on film, except the grandeur of the Scottish Highlands on celluloid. Some discoveries are made to point the duo ever closer to Aquila's goal, leading to a slowly building close filled with betrayals and possible redemption.

One of the obvious issues of the film from the beginning for me was that there was no bother to provide even the slightest accent to any of the Roman characters. Almost all had fine American pitch and tone. Only when we encounter the Scottish tribes are we treated to anything that requires a close watch or subtitles. At least we get to enjoy Jamie Bell's brogue once Esca is introduced. And the ending rides into the credits like a strange homage to a buddy cop flick.

I am a fan of historic period actioners. Learning about the Hadrian Wall was cool. And every time I see Channing Tatum, I am reminded of Josh Hartnett - is it just me? Regardless of any of the positive takeaways from The Eagle, it is probably best to let it land on DVD.

Worth: Netflix

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The Mechanic

Mr. Fix-It

[Jason Statham, Ben Foster, Donald Sutherland, Tony Goldwyn]

image from ize-stuff.com

RANT: Even though I could rant about something non-movie related, I still find new things to rant about during my movie going experience. The first is that I bought a new water bottle, so that I can stop ingesting all of the carcinogens from the reused Poland String bottles. That's a good thing. The second is that, although I am all for saving concession money by bringing your own foods, you should remove your food from the store or home from their crinkling plastic store bags so that the rest of us do not have listen to you rummage around with whatever you are hunting for at the bottom of the bag through the entire third act of the film. Come on, people!

SYNOPSIS: An elite contract hitman teaches his trade to his assassinated mentor's son.

Simon West, a better known director for television action series like The Human Target and The Cape, brings Jason Statham to the screen with a role that plays to all of the actor's strong points. Rebooting the Charles Bronson 1972 film of the same name, Statham portrays Arthur Bishop, a stone-cold assassination machine. Tasked with eliminating his longtime mentor, Harry McKenna (Donald Sutherland) by the shadowy government-affiliated corporation run by Mr. Dean (Tony Goldwyn), Bishop finds himself at a moral crossroad. Once he completes his contract, Bishop runs across Harry's son, Steve (Ben Foster), who is looking for vengeance for his father's assassination and for training in the trade by Bishop.

The opening sequence of the film lets us in on Bishop's methods and exactitude when he attempts to kill a Colombian drug lord within his heavily fortified estate while said drug lord takes an afternoon swim in his indoor pool - all the while with armed security watching from the mezzanine above. The contracts that Bishop undertakes all run to completion like clockwork, all intricate and exact.

But once Foster's Steve McKenna comes looking for training and payback for his father, it seems that Bishop smooth running world may be encountering a few speed bumps. Two of the contracts that Bishop assigns the younger McKenna end up as such skin-of-you-teeth events, that you really do feel bad for what Bishop has to deal with - even though the resulting action is fun to watch.

From the beginning with Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Statham exudes that steely, confident and calculating demeanor that has landed him a couple action franchises (Crank and The Transporter series) and has put him into many other films that require the same skill set. Strangely enough, I think even now that many may still not consider Statham a full-blown action star to the caliber of Stallone or Schwarzenegger. In The Mechanic, he still delivers - and with style!

Ben Foster, one of my personal favorite actors to watch, brings a subtle crazy to his role of Steve McKenna. His intentions seem straightforward as he hones his skills to face his father's killer but every directive from the expert Bishop seems to be more of a suggestion to McKenna, as he finds his own more personal and visceral way of dealing with the issues of the day.

Tony Goldwyn and Donald Sutherland round out the main cast, one as the man who pulls the strings on every contract, the other as Bishop's now wheelchair-bound mentor and friend. All of the other cast, from Bishop's prostitute female companion to the whiskey loving old man who watches Bishop's New Orleans skiff, are simply colorful background to the main players.

If you are a Jason Statham fan, this film comes in ahead of Death Race, but behind The Transporter and The Italian Job. But as with any of his films, The Mechanic is definitely fun to watch.

Worth: Matinee or DVD

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