Today's Review: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

I had the privilege of reviewing the next installment for The Hunger Games last week, and here's the result as posted on MovieScene today:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/151677/the_hunger_games_catching_fire_-_recensie

It got edited down a bit due to length, as is usual for my MS reviews. Some of the sentences don't run as smoothly as my original intention was, but you get the gist: I was quite positive about the film. It was a worthy successor to the first film and in many ways surpassed it. Nor was the much dreaded love triangle, though still present, as much as an obstacle for the flow of the film and the attention of the audience as I initially feared. Though still not perfect, Catching Fire did about everything The Hunger Games did, except bigger and to more gripping results.

This was also my first major press viewing. Whereas most of the ones I attended so far drew crowds of no more than 20 people, this particular screening witnessed at least 80 attendees from all over the country. It was a more formal showing too, complete with security taking the audience's cell phones in custody to prevent potential illegal copying. They didn't find one on me, much to their surprise and my entertainment. Furthermore, the distributor tried to bribe us with copies of the book and a neat little mockingjay brooch. Considering my 8/10 rating, they might as well have succeeded. I'm currently reading that book, which is odd, since I haven't read the first novel and I usually refrain from reading Dutch translations from books originally written in the English language. Maybe it's simply a good read, even though I preferred the movie (which follows the original text fairly closely I must add). To top it all, the screening was held at my actual job location, so I surprised and frustrated my colleagues, hard at work at that time, by appearing on the job only to disappear into the theatre to watch a film they all desperately wanted to see for themselves. And of course I bragged about it the rest of the week, for such is my nature. All in all, I much enjoyed this first big shot press screening of mine and I sure hope more will follow (though sadly I just lost out on the second Hobbit film).

It seems the odds where in my favor on this one.

Today's News: Hot off Comic-Con 2013

A double portion of news today from MS, but Comic-Con tends to have that effect everywhere on the Internet:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/148730/avengers_2_gaat_avengers_age_of_ultron_heten

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/148731/nieuwe_trailer_the_hunger_games_catching_fire

So we have a new trailer for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Avengers 2 got itself a name and hence, a lot more speculation for the fans to endure for the next few years. The former news is the least intriguing, since this trailer would have been released around this time of big summer blockbuster movies anyway, to get people excited about the upcoming big winter movies. It's a good new trailer, with more emphasis on character and emotion than on story and action like the teaser featured. It's agreeable to see Catching Fire won't ignore such pivotal aspects, even if they lead towards a major Twilight-y love triangle - you know, the type with one girl and two boys, and nobody seems to opt for a simple threesome - we can't care less about. The notion of another Hunger Games with Katniss as the star seems redundant, but is a vital strategy for the regime to kill off the champions of the resistance against its regime, and of course this time it won't be just teenagers killing each other, as they have rebellious plans of their own. Blatant recycling of plot elements seems absent for now. And with a stellar cast like this (Philip Seymour Hoffman!) this is still a sequel to look forward to, despite all the teeny aspects.

Naturally it's the second installment of The Avengers, fortunately still directed and written by Joss Whedon, that we can look forward to even more. We'll have to wait a while longer for it, but we still have ample Marvel movies leading up to it (though it seems Ant-Man will now follow this finale of Phase 2 instead of precede it, thus paving the way for Marvel's Phase 3). But with 50 years of Marvel Universe history there is plenty to think on as details slowly dripple in. One such detail, a major one in fact, is the official title, which now has been revealed to be Avengers: Age of Ultron. It leaves no mistake who the villain of the piece will be: the genocidal, haywire android Ultron, originally built by Henry "Hank" Pym (Ant-Man/Yellowjacket/Giant Man/wife beater). In this post for MovieScene I suggested Pym will most likely be established in Avengers 2 via his connection to Ultron, and afterwards fully fleshed out in his own Ant-Man flick, but time has already caught up with that, as it has now been confirmed Pym will not be present in Avengers: Age of Ultron at all. Whedon has stated the origin of Ultron will be explored via other means, the most obvious idea being Tony Stark will create the misantropic machine instead while assembling new Iron Man suits (after his last single adventure he needs some after all). This remains to be seen no doubt. Maybe Whedon will surprise us, as he has done before in the past (he's a fairly talented writer after all). The other big question now is whether Ultron will be portrayed by a guy in a suit - he is rather anthropomorphic so it's not inconceivable - or whether he will be a fully computer generated character with the voice work done by some incredible actor. My best bet? Get Andy Serkis to perform his usual mo-cap magic. You can't go wrong with that route.

But where's Thanos in all this? Great idea, Whedon, getting us all worked up on a villain-to-end-all-villains and then seemingly ignoring him! Or could he be in Guardians of the Galaxy after all...?

Today's News: Hunger Games 2's promotional campaign is catching fire

Here's a pretty picture I posted on MovieScene today:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/147107/nieuwe_poster_the_hunger_games_2

It's an interesting new poster conceptually. It looks old and weathered, like a Seventies' political propaganda pamphlet (which is a good sign), or a worn out romantic dime novel (which is not so appealing). I like the subtle way the advertising campaign of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire hints at the plot development of the movie itself. Katniss Everdeen starts as a celebrity in the Capitol, very much against her will, as demonstrated in the previous two posters released, where she donned one of those ugly, creepy Capitol beauty dresses to fit in with the local fashion which obviously didn't suit her. Those previous posters were dubbed 'teaser material' by the studio execs responsible for their release. Now we've arrived at the first "official poster" (such an odd term really, as if the previous material wasn't official Hunger Games stuff), and Katniss has shedded the attire the Capitol would have her wear in favour of her old, simpler garments, returning to who she really is and hence who her followers, the exploited masses yearning for freedom from tyranny, want her to be. Armed with her trusty bow she will make her stand and fight for those fans that follow her as the symbol for liberty she has become, rather than the fake champion of a morally deplorable Capitol show designed to keep the Districts in line by killing their kids publicly the shady rulers of this world designed her to be. This poster amply shows her stand, soon not quite so solitary anymore as the country will be plunged into full-scale war thanks to the choices she made. And so the perceptive audiences will have half the plot spoiled for them already simply by looking at a bunch of posters. No matter, those that watched the first film knew this was coming anyway; it's all about execution from this point on.

I'm fairly excited at the prospect of this movie. I've come to appreciate Jennifer Lawrence as a capable young actress and a witty girl (and I sure did like her covered in blue paint!). I liked the first movie despite minor shortcomings. I only hope those flaws, especially the dreaded love triangle, will not be the main focus in Catching Fire. After all, there's still plenty of elements of this particular dystopian society left unexplored apart from indecisive teenagers hungry for one another. However, there's a strong risk that will be the prime ingredient of the second installment, since The Hunger Games continues to carry a Twilight-esque stigma as being a 'teeny action flick', despite Twilight being - fortunately - over and done with. And being copied to death in unsuccessful rip-offs (The Host, Beautiful Creatures, The Mortal Instruments), something The Hunger Games clearly isn't in any way, except for the inclusion of a love triangle. But there's a real chance that's exactly what the studio means to exploit in order to attract all those teen girls that helped make Twilight so much dough. Who needs regular audiences if you have legions of obsessive fangirls backing your finanical interests?

At least this poster is spared two hunky guys standing behind Katniss, her face suggesting she's more concerned with which one to pick instead of kicking Capitol scumbag ass. So far, I like the posters, I like the trailers, but I will refrain from my expectations catching fire whilst caught in the hype, since there's still plenty of story elements that might lead to severe disappointment.