Movie Review- The Hunger Games: MockingJay Part 2

PLOT - This is the final installment in the film franchise adaptation of Suzanne Collins' young adult series, The Hunger Games. Picking up in the middle of the third book, MockingJay Part 2, finds heroine Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), siding with the resistance and recovering from a violent attack by Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), who during his captivity with President Snow (Donald Sutherland), was conditioned to hate and mistrust Katniss.

The leader of the resistance, Alma Coin (Julianne Moore) wants to use Katniss and the other former tributes, to rally all of the districts to topple Panem and oust President Snow. As Katniss fights for the resistance, she begins to discover that not everyone is trust-worthy and that President Snow, might not be her only adversary.

LIKE- I don't often read YA fiction, but as The Hunger Games was an enormous hit, I gave it a go. I really enjoyed both the book series and the film adaptations. Although I read the book first, it was so long ago, that I truly didn't remember anything about this fourth film. I have no idea if it stayed true to the book, because my memory wasn't even jogged while I was watching it. The plot was a completely surprise. I enjoyed the various "game" traps that were set up around the capital to thwart the rebels. Collins did a great job with world-building in her series and I loved seeing it come to life in the films. It's very imaginative.

This last film is bleak and heavy. It's graphically violent ( not for children younger than older teens) and deals with heavy subjects, like PTSD. I did like the first two films more for their inclusion of fun/lighter moments- the Effie Trinket and Caesar Flickerman bits, used to balance the horror. This final film is 100% heavy and couldn't have been otherwise. It's the natural conclusion to the story.

The casting of the franchise couldn't have been more perfect, tons of star power. Phillip Seymour Hoffman was one of my favorite actors and it is bittersweet to see him in his last role.

DISLIKE- Admittedly, it ran a little long, especially in the first third. It's always a little funny when they split a single book into two films. 

 I enjoyed it, but Dan didn't. He enjoyed his nap instead. Afterwards, he asked why we would go to a teen movie. True, we were a little older than the target audience and there were some teenage girls getting all excited over Peeta and Gale ( Liam Hemsworth). For the record, #teampeeta!

RECOMMEND- If you're a fan of the franchise, you've got to see MockingJay Part 2.  If you haven't seen the others, don't bother coming in at the end. This last installment took three films to build to the conclusion and you're missing too much info (character development) to enjoy this as an isolated experience.  

Movie Review - Robocop

As California is experiencing a drought, I kicked off 2014 with my own drought. A movie drought. I had not seen any movies since the first week in January. This is probably the longest stretch of time that I've gone without seeing a movie in the theaters. I was feeling off and this had to be the reason!

It's not for a lack of good movies. We missed seeing most of the recent award nominees. We've just been too busy off adventuring and enjoying this unseasonably warm winter. On Sunday, I finally got back into a theatre, when Dan and I went to see the Robocop remake.

I never saw any of the original Robocop films. I saw this remake without a frame of reference. Admittedly, it wouldn't have been my pick, but Dan wanted a sci-fi/action movie and I was just happy to go to a movie.

The story follows Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman), a cop who is nearly killed when criminals place explosives in his car. His only chance to live occurs when the Omnicorp steps in and offers to save his live via an experimental procedure that will turn him into half man/ half robot. Naturally, Omnicorp is not interested in altruism and when their experiment encounters problems, Alex must fight for his life.

Let's be honest, late-winter is not the time when the best films are released. Robocop is clearly a summer blockbuster type of movie. However, it's also a movie that movie executives had the foresight to realize that it could not compete against the other summer movies. It's a decent movie, but it would easily get lost in the summer shuffle.

What makes this film go from mediocre to good, is the cast. It has plenty of star power with Michael Keaton, Samuel L. Jackson and Gary Oldman. These actors are fun to watch and if a less apt cast had been in play, this movie would have plummeted. I really liked Abbie Cornish as Alex's emotionally wrecked wife.

What also makes this movie entertaining, is it's corny. It takes itself very seriously, which makes it even more corny. It was a bit like Point Break. In particular, every scene with Samuel L. Jackson playing a conservative political pundit, is just plain ridiculous. Jackson's character reminded me of a slightly less flamboyant Caesar Flickerman from The Hunger Games. I think that makers of this film were attempting to make a very serious commentary regarding American society, especially through Jackson's character. The film definitely shows America in a negative light, as bullies and hypocrites. 

The special effects are great. There is a very memorable scene where Alex is shown his new body and the affects of his accident for the first time. It's gruesome. His lungs are on display and his brain is sliced open. The shock value wears off as the body parts are left on screen for a very long time.

The story and characters are solid. It ran a tad long, but overall, I felt entertained. You don't need to see this in theaters or even rent it. However, when it comes on cable, it's worth catching.