How serendipitous it was that the week Mark chose ‘Battle Royale’ (2000) as his recommendation of the week I was also planning to do ‘The Hunger Games’ for Franchise Friday. His choosing that film pretty much confirmed that I would do this franchise which, if I am being honest, I wasn’t exactly excited for. I feel like I missed the train on being interested in this franchise and so, perhaps harshly, I was not expecting to have a good time with it. But I have been proven wrong before and I was hopeful that this would be another situation where that was the case. Shall we find out?
The Hunger Games (2012)
I watched this film in the cinema when it first came out and I remember thinking it was decent, although it didn’t hook me enough that I felt any urge to revisit it. Now that I have revisited it, I can confirm that I feel very much the same way. This film is fine. I am obviously not the demographic it is aiming for and so the fact that I enjoy it as much as I do is a pretty good indicator of its quality. It executes on its premise well even if it is not entirely original, the cast all do a good job, and I was never bored. So yeah, pretty decent film. But I do have issues with the film, mostly in its editing. Mostly it is fine, and the film looks okay, but there are two scenes I want to focus on to explain my issues with the editing in this film. The first is the scene just before Katniss goes into the ‘Hunger Games, and the second is the reaping ceremony (or where the tributes are picked). The scene where Katniss is about to go into the ‘Hunger Games’ is annoying because it is also the best scene in the film and would have been great if not for one editing choice. The scene is mostly brilliant, with the performances, sound design, and editing perfect in really building tension. And then it cuts to a random woman telling us what we are seeing, completely pulling you out of the tension. The film sacrifices a great scene to hold your hand in sense of the plot and it really annoyed me. And then we get to the reaping scene which is horrendous. Seriously, it was bafflingly bad. It's like the editor was on crack, just cutting from one extreme close up to the next every other second it seems. It looks horrendous and I was audibly exclaiming how much I disliked it during the scene. It doesn’t help that the camera doesn’t stop bloody moving. I was very worried the whole film would be edited like this, but it calmed down and became fine after this, so I have no idea what was going on for that scene. Genuinely one of the worst moments of filmmaking I have seen in a long time. The rest of the film is fine though, and I enjoy it enough, and if the rest of the series can stay on this level or above, I will be a happy boy.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
Well, well, well, isn’t this a turn-up for the books. Maybe unfairly I half expected this franchise to decline from that first film, and rapidly. However, not only is that not the case, but this film is actually better than the first film. And in what may come as an even bigger surprise, I am now invested in this franchise. I know, I am shocked too. But it is true, this film was a lot of fun. It still isn’t anything spectacular, and there is definitely a lull in the middle when it effectively just becomes the first film again. But everything either side of that was genuinely good. First things first, this film looks miles better than the first film. The basic visual style in terms of mise en scene and the like remain similar but in terms of how the film is shot and edited it is miles ahead of the first film. Performance-wise it is also a better film, and I think that is actually more because the plot is a bit more involved, so the actors have more to chew on. The first film is all based around the ‘Hunger Games’, this film has the threat of ‘Hunger Games, a growing rebellion, government interference, and a love triangle all going on. I do want to mention the love triangle because it is the biggest issue I have with the film. Not because it is badly executed, in fact, I think it is pretty well done. It is more that I just don’t care about it. In the first film, it was fine because it wasn’t as focused on, but it gets much bigger attention in this film. I get why it is there, this is, after all, a teen fantasy franchise and they need themselves a love triangle so they can get their Edward vs. Jacob thing going. But, as a 24-year-old man, I don’t care and think the film could do without it. The film also has a host of new characters who are much more interesting than any of the side characters in the first film, and they're all performed well. We also get a lot more of Donald Sutherland and also are introduced to Philip Seymour Hoffman which is always a bonus. So yeah, surprisingly an enjoyable film without being great. But I am now invested, and I am now genuinely curious as to where the story is going. I don’t think I know who I am anymore.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
I worried that the final section of this franchise being split into two films would affect my enjoyment of them. I wasn’t wrong. This film suffers big time from ‘Part 1’ syndrome where the film effectively becomes all set up for the next one as nothing more than a way to get more money off people. And whatever, this isn’t the time to go into that. But it is important to note because the fact that this film is used as set up for the final film means that it is bloody boring. This film drags so damn much, and that is because the filmmakers are dragging out a section of narrative that didn’t need to have its own film. The film is effectively made up of four different scenes on repeat for two hours. So, as you would expect from a film like that, it starts decently strong. But it gets through those four scenes very quickly and then it really goes downhill quick. This is the shortest film in the franchise, but it feels the longest by some way. The series has also done a full one-eighty on how it looks. The first looked horrible technically but decent visually, the second film was good on both fronts, and this one remains technically well done but is now dull to look at. It makes sense narratively I guess, but the film is effectively made up entirely of grey, brown, and black sets and costumes. In other words, dull. Even in the Capital, which was where the other films managed to get a lot of their colour from, it is suddenly dull because it is basically all shot I the dark. In every other aspect, the film is still pretty good. I’ve already mentioned that on a technical level the film is decent without being exceptional. All the performances are great, and Julianne Moore being added to what is already a great cast is nice to see. But I can’t look past how bored I was watching this film. Hopefully, the last film will make up for it.
The Hunger Games: Mocking Jay – Part 2
Can’t say it did. There is a twenty-minute spell of this movie which is both awful in how it feels so out of left field, and great in how it feels so out of left field. The rest is all pretty much the same as the last film, except now it has an end goal and so doesn’t drag as much (although it does still drag). I feel like this film was also heavily burdened by the fact that the last film completely knocked my investment in the series so all the moments which should of being big emotional beats passed me by. Again, I can’t really say anything against how the film looks or is shot. It is very similar to the last film in that respect and so there’s nothing else to add for that. The same goes for all actions which has remained as solid as it has throughout the whole franchise. But anyway, let's get into those twenty minutes, shall we? This moment starts with all our heroes down in the sewers of the capital when they are attacked by blind monsters. Yes, I said monsters. Why monsters? I don’t know. There has been no indication that monsters exist in this world beforehand or, if there was, I fully missed it. But anyway, there are monsters now. And the film has suddenly turned into a mix of ‘The Descent’ (2005) and ‘Aliens’ (1986). It is really dumb, but it is also the most exciting moment in the film and so I have absolutely no problem with it being there. I also didn’t care all that much by this point so having something happen that was completely stupid was fine with me. This scene is immediately followed up with a scene where we meet a character who has the face of a cat. Again, why? I have no idea. It is hinted that she was made to have a cat face, but there is absolutely no other build-up for it or mention that this is a regular occurrence. Again, I am not complaining. I love this kind of insanity in these films because it at least gives it some kind of entertainment. But these twenty minutes are not enough to make me like the film, and for me, I think it is a pretty disappointing end to the franchise. But, again, this film isn’t made for me so maybe it did it for the super fans. Didn’t do it for me though.
It had looked for a short while like this was going to be a franchise that would blow my expectations and that I would genuinely enjoy, but it instead ended up being a franchise of two halves. I enjoy the first film enough and can definitely see the appeal, and I enjoyed the second one quite a bit. But the final two parts of the film fall apart for me and I found myself not caring and bored, which is not exactly a glowing recommendation. That being said, and as I have mentioned before, these films are not for me and I can see why they were so popular. I won’t be coming back to them though. So, we move forward towards another franchise and next week is a BIG one.
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