So kicking off my third set of Advent Calendar posts, let's talk about the Hunger Games films. Now I will admit, I haven't really properly talked about this series since it first began which I am really sorry about. But I haven't ignored them at all. The first two films I never really got the chance to see them at the cinema and I really did want to see them, but was too busy to do so, so I settled with getting the Blu-Rays instead and today, I will give you my thoughts on Hunger Games, Catching Fire and the first part of Mockingjay and I will say that much like with Harry Potter, I have read the books which were written by Suzanne Collins who I have great respect for much like with J.K. Rowling. I was going to save this until part two of Mockingjay came out, but I figured that you guys have waited long enough so let's talk about the 3 films that have come out so far:
The Hunger Games
The films take place in a dystopian, post-apocalyptic future in the nation of Panem and talks about this event called The Hunger Games. This event is one that is seen on television where the participants who are dubbed tributes and are boys and girls between the ages of 12 and 18, take part in, by force. While the name of it may imply that you eat in the games, that isn't the case at all as the aim of the game is a fight to the death and the last one standing is crowned as the victor. All of this takes place in an arena and there is no escape from it until the last man and/or woman standing that is. The games occur because the Capitol uses it as punishment for a past rebellion that the poorer districts did (look on Wikipedia for more in depth information about the games). In the 74th Hunger Games and in District 12, Katniss Everdeen (played by the younger Mystique, Jennifer Lawrence), a quiet but independent and fierce 16 year old woman, volunteers herself in the place of her younger sister as one of the two tributes in District 12, the other being Peeta Mellark (played by that guy from the Journey films, Josh Hutcherson), a baker's son who is quite charismatic and is in love with Katniss. They are escorted to the Capitol by chaperone Effie Trinket (played by Wyldstyle herself, Elizabeth Banks who I swear in this film looks like the Hunger Games equivalent of Lady Gaga) and their mentor who was a former District 12 victor but also an alcoholic, Haymitch Abernathy (played by zombie apocalypse survivor, Woody Haeerlson) and prepare themselves for the games where they will either win and will survive as a result, or lose and die. I had my doubts, but I have to say, this is a really good film that manages to get the tone of the story right and is well directed and well acted throughout. Though the costumes for some of the characters I have to say, do look a bit over the top and I'm not a fan of shaky cam at all and I felt that this film did have quite a lot of that, but its not as bad as Man of Steel. Still, its a great film that gets the series rolling on a very strong note. Let's hope the next 3 can retain that strength or surpass it all together. 9/10
Catching Fire
So Peeta and Katniss return home after winning the 74th Hunger Games where Katniss gets a visit from President Snow (the series main antagonist, played by Donald Sutherland) who convinces Katniss to use the victory tour as a way to show her love for Peeta and not as a rebellious act against the Capitol as her victory has inspired rebellions across the nation. Haymitch, their mentor encourages them to pretend that they still love each other just as long as the media has their eye on them. With everything going down and a load of kill threats from Snow, Snow then announces that the next Hunger Games will serve as a Quarter Quell whereby the participants will be the victors of previous games. Katniss and Peeta enlist themselves for this event (much to the dismay of the former who wanted Haymitch in the place of Peeta) and as they prepare themselves, Snow plans to kill them all, thus setting the tone of Mockingjay. In my opinion, this feels like a much better film than its predecessor as there is no more shaky cam for the entirety of the film and like before, its well directed and everyone plays their parts well. I'm actually starting to now enjoy the series and this film has hyped me up for the 2 part finale which as you can expect, follows a trend that the Harry Potter films started whereby the last book of the series would be split into a 2 part film (or in the case of the Hobbit. 3 very long parts) and for some film trilogies it works, but for many, its not really necessary nor needed which is what I felt with the Twilight saga. However I think it will work well for Hunger Games in the way that it did for Harry Potter where its likely to have an all out war against the villains and many characters throughout both films will be killed off no doubt. 9/10
Mockingjay - Part One
So slight spoiler alert from here on out so watch the films if you rather not be spoiled. Anyway, so after literally destroying the Games forever, Katniss finds herself in District 13 where she is given the role of the Mockingjay which is presumably a symbol of hope and has her as a role model for the rebellion which is led by President Alma Coin (played by Julianne Moore who according to Wikipedia, is a big fan of the series and wanted to be in it as this character). Though reluctant at first, after making a deal with Coin to find Peeta and allow her sister to keep her cat, and then Coin saying that the deal is off if she fails her duties, she agrees to be the Mockingjay and will do her very best to unite the districts against the Capitol, or suffer the consequences. Now as much as I enjoyed this film like the previous two, this one didn't have as much action in it, but like before, it does have some very strong performances all around and making the whole situation intense and emotional. As the first film that I watched at the cinema instead of buying it on Blu-Ray, I enjoyed it a lot and look forward to how it all ends. 9/10
And that's it. It is a great series of films that I think aren't as credited as they need to be. I mean there are some people I know who hate these films due to a misunderstanding, but I personally like these films and hope that there will be more things like this in future. More film adaptations of very popular books that everyone likes is what I personally would like to see, but nothing like Twilight please because whoever thought of that idea clearly doesn't know what they are talking about (yes Stephenie Meyer, I'm looking at you). 9/10
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