Average. I'm surprised that this one is getting so many positive reviews. It was basically a rehash of the first movie... After a slow 45 minutes of what should be a more exciting fallout from the first installment, we get the drawing of names followed by training in the Capitol, then the actual games in the wilderness topped off with some sort of twist. It reminded me of The Matrix Reloaded. Basically a subpar sequel to a good movie. This one even ended with Reloaded's abrupt cliff-hanger and a similar shot. I did like that the games included adults this time around, but ultimately it didn't feel any different. That and Jennifer Lawrence is always a pleasure to watch but again, the movie on the whole didn't impress me. Hopefully the Mockingjay two-parter will be better. I haven't read the books but I get the impression that we'll learn more about how the system came to be and Katniss will somehow bring it down.
It's only a 'rehash' if you aren't paying any attention. There are plenty of parallels with the first book/movie - in both the book and the movie - but what's emphasized is the contrast. Back then it was all about survival, now it's all about the rebellion. Back then Katniss came in trying to survive and seeing the other Tributes as her enemies, now she's trying to give her life for someone else, and other Tributes are her allies. Back then the other Tributes were trying to survive and out to get each other, now half of them are ready to even sacrifice themselves for the rebellion. Back then it was made to seem that being a Victor is the 'happy ending', now you know it's just the beginning of another type of slavery. Etc.
On the other hand, Stanley Tucci and Woody Harrellson were in fine form, which made up for Snow's 'onedimensional-ness' and Kravitz' less interesting portrayal of Cinna, as did Elizabeth Banks' performance as Effie (she seemed to be less 'aloof', which made her more interesting and likeable) and the performances of Phillip Seymour Hoffman and the actors who played Finnick and the 'nerd guy' (whose name I can't remember).
Jeffrey Wright as Beetee.
I took my daughter to see the first one and man, I don't get the appeal of this series. They take these kids from their homes and their families to fight each other to the death but before that they put them in a room together with a bunch of weapons and teach them to fight and yet none of them take that opportunity to attack the establishment forcing them to kill one another? What's wrong with these kids?
Yes, because it's so easy to rebel all on your own in an oppressive dictatorship where you will be immediately killed and tortured if you disobey, or your family will be killed and tortured, or your entire district will be bombed and destroyed. That's why there haven't been any cruel, oppressive dictatorships throughout history - people always immediately rebel and bring it down.
And you're old enough to have a daughter? If you were a pre-teen, at least you'd have an excuse.
I also don't see the appeal of Jennifer Lawrence. She's got the one dull look on her face in every movie she does.
Do you even have eyes?
Peeta is worthless, Katniss should of let him die. At this point I'm rooting for the establishment.
Seriously. WTF?
My only quibble is Josh Hutcherson's Peeta... I'm bothered by just how useless he really plays the role... My daughter says that's how it's written, that he is clumsy and somewhat of a weakling... But Josh, as an actor, looks too sturdy and strong for the part... He just seems miscast..
Seriously, WTF? "Useless"? "Worthless"?! There's a guy who is smart, sweet, and charming in an unassuming way, a great public speaker, knows how to manipulate the audience against the Games, compassionate, caring, peaceful but knows how to fight when he has to protect someone he loves, is bothered by the injustice of the rich exploiting the poor, is generous and gives his money to the families of the fallen Tributes, rebels against the regime in every small way he can by giving the speech and honoring them and by painting Rue - the dead 12-year old girl - in front of the 'Gamemakers to remind them of their culpability, and by dropping the 'baby bomb' - and he's the first to raise the hand in salute at the reaping; takes care to make the final moments of the dying morphling easier; is incredibly selfless and ready to sacrifice himself for someone he loves, supports her every step of the way, cares for her emotionally and is able to calm her down when no one else can (because Peeta is far more emotionally stable of the two - Katniss can protect herself well physically, but she falls apart emotionally several times in CF) and isn't bothered by her getting more attention than he is, and doesn't whine and act jealous and pull any Nice Guy (TM) crap because he thinks she's not returning his feelings, endures the entire fake marriage situation even though it's painful to him - as a matter of fact, he's ready to die for her and wants to give her the choice to go home and be with the guy he thinks she wants (which makes Katniss finally realize it's Peeta she wants).
How the heck is he worthless or useless? Or an "ingenue"? Because he's not an asshole? Because he's not aggressive or ruthless? Because he doesn't constantly press Katniss with jealousy and interrogations about how she feels or act like she owes him romantic love/sex, the way Gale does? Because he doesn't kill 20 people in 2 seconds, while spouting one-liners?
Seriously, what is wrong with you, people?!
As for what your daughter says, she's wrong. He's not a weakling or useless at all, in fact he's emotionally the strongest people in the books. As for his physicality, Peeta is supposed to be "medium height, stocky", strong and muscular - he's been lifting bags of flower around his whole life, and he came second in the school wrestling competition, after his elder brother.
If you have any identification with people in general, I can't help but think that the scenes at the whipping post or the murder of the old man during the tour are pretty sensational followups. I could see thinking the system and Snow are too schematically EVIL but dull? What an extraordinary criticism.
This is a YA film and movie. The fact that it's "politics" are not expected and seen to be Ruritanian stems more I think from the mental poverty and artistic mediocrity of the majority of contemporary productions. To put it another way, it's obvious the movie looks forward to things changing, in a semi-magical and vague and inchoate way, rather like a child looks forward to growing up. Since so much "art" is slavishly devoted to the foolish proposition that change is neither possible nor desirable, instead of the inevitable consequences of common lives, this teen book aspect of the movies just isn't very engaging for some people.
I don't think you're making any sense.
But the movies don't really seem to have set up a triangle so much as to have split the object of sexual love, Gale, apart from the romanticized object of a purer, nonsexual love. This too is very YA.
This is hilarious. If you read the book, you'd know why. Katniss feels no sexual love for Gale. He is her oldest friend and hunting partner since she was 12 and almost like a brother to her, although she gets very confused when he starts showing romantic interest in her. None of Gale's kisses produce any sexual desire in her. The only person she feels sexual desire/erotic love for is Peeta - and the first time she feels sexual desire (which she was totally clueless about before) is while they are kissing on the beach. Previously she felt some stirrings during one of their kisses in the 74th Games (in the book they kiss many times, but most of these were fake).
One of the few things that are bothering me is that the movies don't make her relationship with Gale entirely clear, and they also don't make it clear that Katniss is very opposed/clueless/repressed about romance and sex. She doesn't want to marry or have children (because of the prospect of losing them to the Games) and doesn't think she's capable of romance in her circumstances (which they do make clear in the movies) and she's also probably subconsciously afraid of ending up like her mother, who became depressed and catatonic after her husband's death (which we did see in the first movie).
I was also disappointed that they didn't make the beach kiss more passionate. It's still better than the lukewarm kisses she gives Gale (in the book there's just one, when he's unconscious and almost dying, and it's a tender kiss just like in the movie) or her confused passivity when Gale kissed her. But in the book, she and Peeta are passionately making out on the beach for much longer and Katniss is feeling "a new kind of hunger", and it's a question how far they would have gone, if the lightning strike didn't remind them they were in front of the cameras, and Finnick didn't wake up and interrupt (in the book, it was midnight and everyone else was asleep while they were on guard duty).
But, while the movies have failed to make such a distinction between her feelings for Gale and her feelings for Peeta - perhaps in order to keep the idea of the 'triangle' alive - I really don't get where you're pulling that stuff about 'sexual love for Gale' and 'nonsexual love' for Peeta from. Really, did you just pull that from you know what? Where did Katniss show any 'sexual love' for Gale? And more so than for Peeta? Heck, they didn't even touch in the first movie when they were chatting in the woods, didn't do anything but hug when she was going to the Games, and in this movie, none of her two kisses seemed very 'sexual'.
Or are you just saying that because you find Gale hotter?
I have no idea how Liam Hemsworth's rather limited screen time leaves us anything to make a definitive judgment on. This is especially true since he is supposed to be the sexy one but it is deliberately ambiguous as to whether Katniss is a virgin (or genuinely has sexual urges.) What actor can make anything out of that?
It's sadly less clear in the movies, but if you paid any attention, you would have realized that she was a virgin, and that Gale has never been anything but a close friend who only kissed her for the first time at the beginning of this movie. He even says so.
And Gale is indeed supposed to be 'the sexy one' out of the two - to the girls in District 12. (In the context of the whole of Panem, Finnick is supposed to be 'the sexy one'.) But not to Katniss. She doesn't even think in terms of 'sexy'.
.
(Gale) will have a very important role in Mockingjay movies, as he does in the book. Not so much as a possible love interest, mind you. For other reasons.
You think you can require us to read the book first! Get over yourself.
So I was right. Your argument is, stripped off of the pretentious wording: "This guy is taller! Therefore every woman will naturally find him sexier and prefer to have sex with him!" What extremely stupid, shallow, gender stereotyping, biological determinism bullshit. It's pretty clear who's the vicious reactionary here. Yeah right, women are all subconsciously looking for tall guy genes for their future babies, because that's how their sexual urges work, and we're also looking for those who hunt the biggest game and provide for the women and children waiting in the cave, that's what's all about. Maybe you should talk to more women.
