I’ll be covering all four of the Hunger Games films in one review, each one of the… ‘quadrilogy’? Would that be the term? Well, since Mockingjay was split into two parts, would that technically make it a trilogy and ⅓?
The Hunger Games movies are adaptations of the trilogy novels by Suzanne Collins. They’re one of the more popular ‘young adult teenage rebel against a corrupt dystopian future government’ type of books, others including Divergent, Maze Runner, and… I guess the Giver? But I really don’t want to ever talk about the Giver. Ever.
The movie takes place in a future version of North America, where there is no United States, but a new country called Panem. It’s divided into 13 districts and one capitol, and the president is a ruthless and corrupt dictator that wants to keep the people at his command. To do this, an annual ‘game’ was established where each district would send two of their children to fight to the death, and the winner’s district gets rewarded with food and fortune. The main character is Katniss Everdeen, played by Jennifer Lawrence, who is by now a household name. Katniss volunteers to join the games one year, and she quickly turns the balance of the corrupted government on its side, starting a rebellion and all that fun stuff.
I’ve only ever read one of the books, the first one, specifically (it’d be weird if I read them out of order, right?). I didn’t particularly care for it, since I was forced to read it for a stupid class. I think because I was forced to read it is why I pretty much skipped out on the whole franchise. But in just the last couple days, I sat with a friend of mine and we watched the first three installments before going to see Mockingjay Part 2. And I have to say…. it was decent.
I didn’t hate it, but I still didn’t exactly like it, either. I do recognize them as fairly well made films, with great acting and great effects and set pieces. But I still don’t think I’d buy them on Blu-Ray or anything.
The first installment, simply called The Hunger Games, came out in 2012, and started a new era of films based on a series of books following the end of the Harry Potter series. Almost everyone I know went crazy over this movie when it came out. In my recent viewing of it, I can’t say that I was too impressed. Don’t get me wrong- it’s well acted, well written, has good special effects (aside from the infamous flaming dress), but the main thing that ruined it for me was the way it was shot. The shaky cam and quick cuts was so disorienting and it was sorta hard to tell what was going on, and it really detracted from what could be awesome scenery and good action. I mean, I would hardly know if it was good scenery and action because I could hardly see it! The only other thing that bothered me was some of the character development. As sad as people say Rue’s scene was, I didn’t feel much because there wasn’t much shown between her and Katniss compelling me to like the character or care for her. If more time was dedicated to that, then that’d be great. There are other little quirks to the film that I think could have been changed, like some of the sound effects, some acting, but my main issue is still with the camera work.
If it weren’t for the abysmal camera work, then I wouldn’t be so bothered by the movie. It’s decent, but I don’t think I’d care to see it again. Even my friend, who is a bigger Hunger Games fan than I am, knows that this movie isn’t as well made as it should have been.
But I agree that Woody Harrelson and Stanley Tucci are the best part of the whole thing. I love those two.
Final Rating for the Hunger Games: 29 / 50
The second film, Catching Fire, which was released in 2013, was a huge improvement. For one, they changed directors, so no more shaky cam. The shots are beautifully framed, the sets are nice, the special effects are a heck of a lot better (especially the fire clothes), and the character development is vastly superior. I actually care about these characters for once! I thought the game itself was much more interesting, and the traps were cooler. Honestly, I think this is the best movie out of the four of them. I have little to no problems, aside from Katniss constantly yelling “PEETA! PEETA! PEETA!!!” and all of the scenes where Peeta is in danger, just to come back out pretty much unharmed (except for the ending, anyway). Tucci and Harrelson are still my favorite characters, but I also got attached to Finnick.
Overall, I thought Catching Fire kicked ass. I give it a score of one Haymitch thumbs up gif.
Final Rating for Catching Fire: 44 / 50
Mockingjay Part 1, which came out in 2014, continued directly where Catching Fire left off. I wouldn’t say it was disappointing, but when compared to Catching Fire.. it just isn’t as good. To me, anyways. I didn’t think it kept up the awesomeness that Catching Fire started, but I wouldn’t say it’s a bad film by any means. It’s simply too slow moving and uninteresting most of the time, although (SPOILER) Katniss shooting down a plane that crashes into a hospital was pretty funny. I have a dark sense of humor, yes.
But in all seriousness, it’s just that I think it should have been kept as one movie instead of splitting it into two parts. This is coming from the guy that fully supported and loves the fact that the Hobbit was split up into 3 movies. Now let me tell you why I think it worked better for the Hobbit and not Mockingjay.
Firstly, so much happened in the Hobbit. I have read the book, and many, MANY things were just glossed over or barely fleshed out. Splitting it into 3 parts gave more depth to the story and the characters, and the stuff that they changed or added, I felt like it contributed to the world and the story. Plus, it makes it feel like more of an adventure. But with Mockingjay, on the other hand, it’s an average sized book that covers everything that happens, in detail, in depth, in the average amount of pages within said average sized book. There was no need. Heck, the only reason Mockingjay was split into two parts to begin with was to make more money. And because Harry Potter did it. Also, with the Deathly Hallows, it made sense to split that one in half as well because of all that happened within that ENORMOUS book. It simply did not need to happen to Mockingjay.
Final Rating for Part 1: 35 / 50
Part 2, which came out just recently (by the time this review was posted, anyway) concluded the story. Everything finally went down, people died, there was good action, good effects, well done intense moments, and a decent ending to a slightly more than okay series. I honestly don’t have much to say about it other than… it was good.
Final Rating for Part 2: 44 / 50
Overview:
While not a particularly bad series, I wouldn’t say that these are some of the best films to come out in recent memory. Again, that’s what I think. I know there are probably some people who will read this and be fuming that I didn’t outright adore and worship these movies like they do, but in all honesty, I don’t hate these movies. And I’m not going to stop people from loving them if they do. They see what I don’t in these movies, probably because they weren’t forced to read and overanalyze the book for a stupid class like I was. If you love it, then keep on loving it. But I still don’t care for the Hunger Games series as a whole. I was content with Catching Fire, but the series didn’t keep that flame of greatness lit for me as it went on. A part of me feels like I sort of missed out on something great… but whatever. No use in dwelling on it.
AVERAGE FINAL RATING: 38 / 50
(FOR ALL 4 MOVIES)
So… that global phenomenon is over. What’s next? Who knows, but hopefully it’ll be interesting.
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