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 Expendables 2

Expendable Viewing

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Rated: R  Strong bloody violence
Release Date: August 17, 2012
Runtime:  1 hour 43 minutes

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Director: Simon West
Writers: Richard Wenk, Sylvester Stallone, Ken Kaufman, David Agosto, Dave Callaham
Cast:  Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Liam Hemsworth, Scott Adkins, Nan Yu

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SYNOPSIS: Barney Ross and the Expendables are recruited again by Mr. Church for a job as payback for the previous mission they did not come through on. When one of their own is murdered, the Expendables seek revenge.

REVIEW: Simon West, director of Jason Statham's The Mechanic and Angelina Jolie's Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, takes over directing duties from the first film's Barney Ross, Sylvester Stallone. Based on the original characters created by Stallone and Dave Callaham, writing duties are shared by Stallone, Richard Wenk (The Mechanic), Ken Kaufman (Space Cowboys), and David Agosto (Big Canyon). Just when you thought every blockbuster action star from the 80s and 90s received screen time in the original high-octane action adventure film, more well-loved but forgotten come out in force.

Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone, Rocky Balboa), Lee Christmas (Jason Statham, The Mechanic) and the rest of the Expendables carry out a mission in Nepal to recover a rich Chinese business. Upon their return to the States, Mr. Church (Bruce Willis, REDS) confronts Barry about the five million dollars that he lost during Barney's previous mission for Church. Forced to carry out a retrieval mission for Church, Barney is also saddled with a new recruit named Maggie (Nan Yu, Speed Racer), who Church threatens bodily harm to Barney and the Expendables if she is hurt. Heading to Albania by plane, Barny, Lee, Gunner Jensen (Dolph Lundgren, Rocky IV), Hale Caesar (Terry Crews, Bridesmaids), Toll Road (Randy Couture, Setup), Maggie, and young ex-Army sniper Billy (Liam Hemsworth, The Hunger Games) scour the countryside for the wreckage of a plane with a special cargo that Church does not want to fall into the wrong hands. When Barney and his team do retrieve the special device, they are ambushed by a group of mercenaries named the Sant, led by Vilain (Jean-Claude Van Damme, Kung-Fu Panda 2). Forced to hand over the device to the Sant, Barry is given one more emotional blow when one of his Expendables is killed by Vilain. Vowing revenge against Vilain, Ross, Christmas, Maggie, and the rest of the team look to hunt down the Sant regardless of the consequences from Church or anyone else.

I remember when Stallone's The Expendables came out in 2010. What a nostalgic rush! A action flick with many of the greatest names of action from the 80s, 90s, and today on the same screen in the same darkened theater. It was an action geek's dream come true to see Stallone and Lundgren back together again (and on the same side this time). And even though Willis and Schwarzenegger were shown in the trailers, and we knew for certain they were playing characters in cameo appearances, we geeked out even more. Add in Jet Li, Terry Crews, and Randy Couture, and you had a hell of a top-billed mindless bullet- and blood-filled slug fest. Now, two years later, we get to add in Jean-Claude Van Damme as the villain Vilain and Chuck Norris as the lone wolf merc Booker to the character credits, with expanded screen time for both Willis' Mr. Church and Schwarzenegger's Trench. The expectation is that everything will be just that much bigger and better.

Heightened expectations may be one of The Expendables 2 main problems. With so many A-List action stars, there doesn't seem to be enough story for anyone. Willis and Schwarzenegger do get more screen time, but the time they do spend in front of the camera is primarily gun-toting money shots and cheesy one-liners. Hey, I am all for the cheesy one-liners, but they seemed expected and forced - only working half the time. And some (not all) of the action sequences are so silly that I was reminded of the Police Squad television series, or even the 80s Hasbro G.I. Joe cartoon. Mercenaries can't be that bad of shots with so much lead flying around. Hell! Even I can hit the heart of a paper target at fifty feet with a 9mm Glock 17! But while I complain about the gunfights, some of the more 'up close and personal' bloody and bone-crushing fight sequences are great. Jason Statham's knife play is excellent, especially when he dons the cleric's robes. Lundgren, Crews, and Couture make every shot count with their brawling prowess. And Van Damme shows that he still has it when the final showdown takes place between him and the pursuing Expendables.

Stallone remains the stoic reluctant mercenary who realizes too late that the life he chose is not the life he wants. At least he is good at it! Gunner and Yin Yang have made up so we do not get any team betrayals, and now that Lee Christmas has made up with his girlfriend, we do not get to see any Stateside ass-kicking. This time around all focus is on the mission and the villainy of the Van Damme's profiteering mercenary Sant leader Vilain and his lieutenant Hector (Scott Adkins, El Gringo), and what the Expendables are willing to do to stop them. There is plenty of bloody action and gun play to go around. The addition of Norris, Nan Yu, Hemsworth, and the expanded roles for Willis and Schwarzenegger fill the screen with plenty of action talent and multiple possibilities.

The addition of young blood sniper Billy the Kid by Liam Hemsworth and Nan Yu's Maggie does do something obviously different to the sequel. It makes the others look old! When Billy is told to take point by Ross he sprints up the hill with his ruck and weapon, leaving the others to wonder if they even had it in them to do the same. The writers, director, and actors are good sports about admitting that they are aging dinosaurs in a world of a younger breed. Their crankiness offers a few genuine laughs, especially when 'old married couple' Ross and Christmas nag at each other through most of the story.

The Expendables 2 is what you should expect from such a film. Lots of gun play, explosions, spraying blood, testosterone-filled quips and one-liners surround a lightly plotted story tying it all together. It is not necessarily better than the original, but it does continue in the same vein. Van Damme and Adkins are better villains than The Expendables David Zayas' General Garza in terms of physicality, but the quasi-political intrigue brought in by Eric Roberts' James Munroe and Willis' Mr. Church seemed bigger in scope in the original, if not bad-ass-ier.

The Expendables 2 will make some money from those who blood lust for bullets, blood, and all things action. Action movie junkies are a finicky bunch, but they have never let a cheesy story get in the way of a popcorn bucket and a mindless good time!

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WORTH:  Rental

The Hunger Games

The World Will Be Watching

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Rated: PG-13   Intense violent thematic material and disturbing images - all involving teens.
Release Date: March 23, 2012
Runtime: 2 hrs 22 mins

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Director: Gary Ross
Writers:  Gary Ross, Suzanne Collins, Billy Ray
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Banks, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Wes Bentley, Stanley Tucci, Donald Sutherland

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SYNOPSIS:  Each year, the Capitol of Panam requires each of its 12 Districts to subject one boy and one girl to compete in the Hunger Games, where the twenty-four Tributes must fight to the death until only one competitor remains.

REVIEW: Gary Ross, writer and director of Pleasantville and Seabiscuit, has proven that he understands the minds of youth and the perils and pitfalls of the competitors of sporting events. Taking the characters from the first book in 'The Hunger Games' trilogy written by Suzanne Collins, Gary Ross, Billy Ray (State of Play), and Suzanne Collins herself bring the inhabitants of Panam (a future ruined North America), its Capitol, its surrounding districts, and the competitors in the annual Hunger Games to life.

In District 12, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence, X-Men: First Class) cares for and hunts for her sister Primrose (Willow Shields, Beyond the Blackboard) and widowed mother, and toys with the notion of leaving the district with her friend Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth, Knowing). As the 74th Annual Hunger Games approaches, representatives from the Capitol headed by Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks,  The Next Three Days) come to the district for the Reaping, the selection of one boy and one girl between the ages of fourteen and seventeen to serve as Tributes for the game. Every family's request for government assistance asked for during the year between games equates to an additional ballot for one of the family's children of age. When Primrose is selected as District 12's female tribute, Katniss volunteers. Also selected from the district as the male tribute is Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island). Together they accompany Effie back to the Capitol to prepare for the Game. Drunkard Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson, Zombieland), tormented winner of the 50th Hunger Games, is selected to mentor and prepare the pair for the televised fight to the death. Joining the District 12 prep team is stylist Cinna (Lenny Kravitz, Precious) and District 12 representative Effie. During training, Katniss and Peeta prove they are not simple poor district trash, and that they may be contestants to contend with. Although there are 24 Tributes in total, the most arrogant and cable competitors are embodied in District 1 tributes Marvel (Jack Quaid), and Glimmer (Leven Rambin, One Tree Hill) and District 2 tributes Cato (Alexander Ludwig, Race to Witch Mountain) and Clove (Isabelle Fuhrman, Orphan), 'Careers' who train their entire youth to compete. Once the games begin, Peeta and Katniss are on their own in a camera-filled, electronically-controlled, forested domed death arena.

Starting with the characters, Jennifer Lawrence ended up being an excellent choice for Katniss. Athletic and strong, the Katniss character still exudes innocent and resistance to the status quo of the Games. Hutcherson plays Peeta with strength and cockiness, until he realized he is really in over his head. Stanley Tucci (Captain America: The First Avenger) and his blue hair add the glitz and glamour as the Hunger Games Master of Ceremony and co-anchorman Caesar Flickerman, seeming like the Ryan Seacrest of a failed dystopian future. While Caesar comes to the screen as the bright shiny face of The Hunger Games, Wes Bentley (Gone) and his orchestrated beard directs a team of producers and technicians to capture every moment of the televised games and, sometimes, change the unscripted event with some additions and nudges of his own. Eiizabeth Banks is nearly unrecognizable as the powdered-face, geisha-painted lipped, Effie. The other stand-outs are Amandia Stenberg as the petite, pint-sized Tribute Rue (Colombiana) and the barely-seen but important Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorne. And Donald Sutherland's President Snow, although soft-spoken, carries with him an experience and political and personal agenda that will certainly be explored further in the additional films.

I will be the first to admit that I never heard of Susan Collins trilogy of Scholastic books until The Hunger Game film was announced. And as a true cinest, I did not want to jump on the book reading bandwagon for fear that my movie going experience would be tarnished with ruined story plots and blown surprise reveals. In spite of that admission, I will admit that I did bone up on my Panam universe history just to be prepared for the Hunger Games. Ross, Ray and Collins do successfully recreate the written word from Collins' first Katniss novel into a freshman film that does not lessen the experience for the uninitiated. From the locales to the costumes to the actors and characters, The Hunger Games is something to behold. Maybe a little lengthy and slow for my taste (please do not crucify me, 'Hunger Game' book fans!), I do realize that several secondary characters and scenes from the original book were downplayed in order to keep the most important elements. I also realize that a few scenes were quick and concise to get important story points across to the audience, and to keep the film propelling forward.

With intense scenes like the start of the 74th Hunger Games at the Cornucopia followed by retreats and periods of waiting with Katniss roped onto a high canopy tree limb, the story did have periods that were a little uneven for me. The character development of Katniss and Peeta through the course of the game did help to keep my interest between fights in the last act. Knowing that it was important to focus on Katniss during the games, I did find that Seneca Crane and his televised reality show production got a little forgotten for a time toward the end.

The Hunger Games hype is sweeping across the country as the film opened to a non-sequel box office record breaker for its opening night midnight screenings. Will The Hunger Games replace the Twilight Saga as the next big thing once Breaking Dawn: Part 2 premieres this November? First it was Harry Potter, then Twilight, now The Hunger Games. If the box office is any indication, that very well may be the case.

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WORTH: Matinee and DVD