It only took me about a month longer than everyone else to see the new teeny bopper flavour of the moment, but I finally got there. Comparisons between The Hunger Games and the Japanese film Battle Royale are inevitable considering they have the same basic premise. Of course, Suzanne Collins, author of the novel, claims she had never even heard of Battle Royale when writing it.... let's give her the benefit of the doubt. There are more than enough point of differences between the two, however, to hopefully not have people bang on about it too much. Firstly, Hunger Games spends about the first half of the movie looking at the lead up to the tournament of death, whereas Battle Royale thrusts us almost immediately into the action. Secondly, the thematic elements are pretty different. Whereas Battle Royale was effectively a study of the issues surrounding teenagers and the way they were treated by people in authority, Hunger Games is more of a satire of political dictatorships and oppression of the lower class etc. So enough on that.
So yeah, I think everyone is familiar with the story, teenagers battling to the death for a televised reality show, which was set up as punishment due for a failed coup against the government by the different "districts". Jennifer Lawrence's character volunteers in place of her younger sister. There's a love triangle thrown in for good measure.
The set up to the actual tournament feels like it goes for about half the movie, and it's all fairly mundane stuff. There are some attempts made at character development but it all falls a bit flat and didn't really make this viewer care about what was to come. Then the tournament starts and things do kick up a notch, but not all that much. There are a couple of nice action scenes, a descent side story involving our heroine and her relationship with a young girl she tries to work with, but the love triangle that is apparently supposed to be a big part of the story goes nowhere, and one third of the triangle hardly even appears in the movie. If it was, as I suspect, being set up for something bigger in the next movie then they didn't do a very good job.
Jennifer Lawrence is a really fine actress and almost carries the movie on her own back, but at the end of the day it kinda feels like one of those fantasy/adventure kids shows they put on Saturday mornings or after school, just with a bit more violence. Verdict - Ok, but wait for DVD.
*** out of *****
Friday 27 April 2012
Wednesday 18 April 2012
So anyway,
Yeah. Been slack. Too busy watching The Wire (it IS the greatest TV show of all time. If you disagree you're just plain wrong.) I think I'll just look at three films, even though I've seen more. Can't be stuffed with the other ones 'eh.
A Separation
As I already said in my last post on my top 10 from 2011, this film is amazing. Beginning with an Iranian couple (cause, you know, this is an Iranian film) explaining their reasons for separating to a judge (which immediately draws the viewer in as they speak directly to the camera) the focus soon shifts as the male in the relationship is involved in an incident with his new housekeeper which has far reaching consequences for his family and his housekeepers family as the matter goes through court. From here the journey is best experienced spoiler free, so I wont mention any other plot elements.
What I will mention however is the incredible depth in which A Separation explores the nature of truth as viewed by the different characters, how their circumstances mould their perspective of it and how far they are willing to bend the truth, especially given their religious and family values. The film offers a study of your average family and how they are affected by illness, separation and tragedy, and does so with both subtlety and poignancy.
A Separation is a film so thematically rich yet at the same time instantly accessible that it would undoubtedly be studied in English classes for years to come, if only it were in English. I'm not sure that this is still actually showing at the cinema but be sure to pick it up the first week it come out as a new release. Or illegally download it if you have no conscience. Just make sure you see it.
***** out of *****
The Raid
Unlike the above movie, The Raid has no philosophical musings on the nature of truth and will never be studied in any depth whatsoever, but it completely kicks arse. This Indonesian action film is about a group of cops trying to take down a major crime boss who's created a fortress for himself in a high rise building, so full of henchman that no one has had the balls to try and topple his empire. Until now.
As far as story goes, that's all you really need to know. Then settle yourself in for some of the most over the top, beautifully choreographed action set pieces you're likely to see. The real beauty of the whole thing though is that even though the action is relentless and non-stop it never feels chaotic, there is an order to it and you can always tell what's going on. There's also an incredible amount of thought put into actually making the action scenes mean something. For example, toward the end of the movie the big baddie's number one henchman has a lengthy fight scene with one of the top cops. Due to the length of the fight you may think it's a climatic battle, however, nope, it instead demonstrated how much of a complete bad arse this guy is and made the final fight mean all that much more.
Despite the majority of the focus being on the action, there was also enough effort put in to make you actually care about what is going on. The opening scene shows our protagonist training hard, leaving his pregnant wife reluctantly to go to the job, establishing him as a hard working, caring man wanting to provide for his family. We want him to succeed. A subsequent shot shows the main antagonist brutally slaughtering three men he has tied up for no apparent reason. We hate him. These two simple scenes achieve more in the way of actually getting us to give a damn in five minutes than most action movies do in the entire film ***cough*** Expendables ***cough*** Actually, no need for the coughing, The Expendables was terrible.
The storyline was basic, but surprisingly not terrible, and there are actually a couple of nice twists thrown in for good measure. If you haven't already got the picture, this is a completely bad arse action movie (no I can't think of a better expression), again proving that for some reason Asia just completely blows Hollywood out of the water when it comes to the genre.
**** out of *****
21 Jump Street
Based on an old American cop drama that I've never seen, so no nostalgia for me. The TV show was apparently quite serious. The film is co-written by Jonah Hill (who also stars), so you know it's not. Hill and Channing Tatum (in the first role he's played where he's not completely wooden) play a pair of idiotic beat cops who get re-assigned to a project requiring them to go undercover at a high school to expose a drug dealing operation. While Hill was the nerdy outcast and Tatum was the jock when they were at school together, things have changed since their days as students, and the cool kids are now the environmentally minded hippie types who Hill finds it easier to bond with.
While 21 Jump Street probably doesn't break any new ground when it comes to the buddy cop/comedy genre, it does provide plenty of laughs including some clever self referential humour, and actually delivers some decent action toward the end. The characters a likable and make you care, the relationship between the two leads is developed adequately. Pretty good.
***1/2 out of *****
And that'll do for now. Other new movies I've seen lately but can't be bothered writing about are th US remake of Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (four stars), Another Earth (three and a half), and John Carter (lets call it three). Wont be so slack with future new film.... for real.
A Separation
As I already said in my last post on my top 10 from 2011, this film is amazing. Beginning with an Iranian couple (cause, you know, this is an Iranian film) explaining their reasons for separating to a judge (which immediately draws the viewer in as they speak directly to the camera) the focus soon shifts as the male in the relationship is involved in an incident with his new housekeeper which has far reaching consequences for his family and his housekeepers family as the matter goes through court. From here the journey is best experienced spoiler free, so I wont mention any other plot elements.
What I will mention however is the incredible depth in which A Separation explores the nature of truth as viewed by the different characters, how their circumstances mould their perspective of it and how far they are willing to bend the truth, especially given their religious and family values. The film offers a study of your average family and how they are affected by illness, separation and tragedy, and does so with both subtlety and poignancy.
A Separation is a film so thematically rich yet at the same time instantly accessible that it would undoubtedly be studied in English classes for years to come, if only it were in English. I'm not sure that this is still actually showing at the cinema but be sure to pick it up the first week it come out as a new release. Or illegally download it if you have no conscience. Just make sure you see it.
***** out of *****
The Raid
Unlike the above movie, The Raid has no philosophical musings on the nature of truth and will never be studied in any depth whatsoever, but it completely kicks arse. This Indonesian action film is about a group of cops trying to take down a major crime boss who's created a fortress for himself in a high rise building, so full of henchman that no one has had the balls to try and topple his empire. Until now.
As far as story goes, that's all you really need to know. Then settle yourself in for some of the most over the top, beautifully choreographed action set pieces you're likely to see. The real beauty of the whole thing though is that even though the action is relentless and non-stop it never feels chaotic, there is an order to it and you can always tell what's going on. There's also an incredible amount of thought put into actually making the action scenes mean something. For example, toward the end of the movie the big baddie's number one henchman has a lengthy fight scene with one of the top cops. Due to the length of the fight you may think it's a climatic battle, however, nope, it instead demonstrated how much of a complete bad arse this guy is and made the final fight mean all that much more.
Despite the majority of the focus being on the action, there was also enough effort put in to make you actually care about what is going on. The opening scene shows our protagonist training hard, leaving his pregnant wife reluctantly to go to the job, establishing him as a hard working, caring man wanting to provide for his family. We want him to succeed. A subsequent shot shows the main antagonist brutally slaughtering three men he has tied up for no apparent reason. We hate him. These two simple scenes achieve more in the way of actually getting us to give a damn in five minutes than most action movies do in the entire film ***cough*** Expendables ***cough*** Actually, no need for the coughing, The Expendables was terrible.
The storyline was basic, but surprisingly not terrible, and there are actually a couple of nice twists thrown in for good measure. If you haven't already got the picture, this is a completely bad arse action movie (no I can't think of a better expression), again proving that for some reason Asia just completely blows Hollywood out of the water when it comes to the genre.
**** out of *****
21 Jump Street
Based on an old American cop drama that I've never seen, so no nostalgia for me. The TV show was apparently quite serious. The film is co-written by Jonah Hill (who also stars), so you know it's not. Hill and Channing Tatum (in the first role he's played where he's not completely wooden) play a pair of idiotic beat cops who get re-assigned to a project requiring them to go undercover at a high school to expose a drug dealing operation. While Hill was the nerdy outcast and Tatum was the jock when they were at school together, things have changed since their days as students, and the cool kids are now the environmentally minded hippie types who Hill finds it easier to bond with.
While 21 Jump Street probably doesn't break any new ground when it comes to the buddy cop/comedy genre, it does provide plenty of laughs including some clever self referential humour, and actually delivers some decent action toward the end. The characters a likable and make you care, the relationship between the two leads is developed adequately. Pretty good.
***1/2 out of *****
And that'll do for now. Other new movies I've seen lately but can't be bothered writing about are th US remake of Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (four stars), Another Earth (three and a half), and John Carter (lets call it three). Wont be so slack with future new film.... for real.
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