And all I knew about the movie was that it's something like Battle Royale. So for Battle Royale to get the Hollywood treatment, I too thought it couldn't go wrong. But of course they had to prove me wrong.
I was really disappointed with the way the story developed. I don't know if that's how the book was written but it just ended really badly for me.
First, the first half was a bit too slow. It's as if the director was milking the moment when the kids would finally start killing each other.
Second, the fireball thrown at Jennifer Lawrence's character. Why were they trying to kill her off with fire? Same thing with those overgrown dogs. Why throw them in? It made no sense when the story was about the kids going head to head.
And how did some of them decide to band together to kill off the rest of the players? I would have liked to see how the conversation started and who deecided to join up with who first because they would have to turn on each other in the end.
Finally, the love story. Totally unnecessary and was not developed, or even started, well. Reminded me so much of Twilight.
But director Gary Ross, even with the few little details that I disliked, did deliver an entertaining movie. The hype of the game, the ominous nature of it all, and the little action sequences that came so rarely - especially with the knife-thrower, Ross did well in those respect.
Hey Del.First off, love the reviews. Love the new site. It's quite refreshing really and I look forward to hearing more from you here.Next, I would like to speak about this movie. I see that you have questions regarding the storyline, but I assure you, that there's a reason for everything.The first half yes, it was a little slow but that's how introduction goes. There was something raw about Jennifer Lawrence's character, and I think they did an awesome job with developing her character.------Major Spoilers ahead.------As for the fireball and the mutant dogs, those were explained in the book. They were artificially made by the Capitol to make the games more interesting for the people to watch. Think reality tv. Yeah, it's a head-to-head-fight-to-the-death kind of game, but they mentioned that not 100% that you will die at the hands of your opponent. It could be through dehydration, by infections, by 'natural' disasters and so on. Let's say the tributes refuse to fight and decide to hide far away like Katniss did. Wouldn't it be a little boring if there wasn't any action on her part? That's what the Capitol's trying to do. To entertain their own population and speed up the killing process, by coming up with artificial random disasters to lure Katniss to the career tributes. She had no choice but to run OR kill.And in the games, it's possible to create an alliance among the other tributes. You will see more of this in the second movie, Catching Fire. The strong kills the weak one by one, whichever way is easier for them to win. That's their strategy, their choice of poison. Anywho..their main goal was to kill Katniss anyway, because her score was 11, the highest among the rest, so she was a huge threat, that's why they wanted to make sure she was dead first. The mutant dogs were an additional prop like the tracker jacker bees I guess. It was the finale after all.Finally, the love story.....if you watched the movie carefully..........they weren't in love. They were only acting it out..... to get sponsors. That's the beauty of it. If you listened to Haymitch, their mentor, he tried to sell the idea of 'the star crossed lovers from District 12' to the 'producer/gamemaker'. The viewers would love it (it all comes down to reality tv, everyone loves drama). This is so they could win the crowd and have them supporting them and sending them goodies. This is why Haymitch told Katniss that Peeta practically saved her life, when she wanted to kill him for confessing his love in public. Sponsors are vital in the games. "You call that a kiss? -H" Remember this note from Haymitch to Katniss? It's a sign from him that he's urging her to act more realistically in love. But then again, Peeta may have really felt something for Katniss, while she's so engrossed in keeping each other alive. So you see, their love story is so much more complicated than that sparkling vampire flick called Twilight.------End of spoilers-------To be honest, I didn't love the movie when I first saw it. I thought the fast paced camera work was a bit too much and I kept going ahead of myself because I already read the book, and disappointed myself in the end. But the second time I watched it, I let my expectations down, and was surely wowed by the little details and writing. Some things need not be said, but you just have to follow the directions to know what's really going on. You really get to see the whole picture more clearly and you'll know why they did it this way or that. I do think it's a very intense story, and a cruel one at that.I hope I could clarify some of your questions, and understand that the hype is all worth it for this movie. I have to hand it to the director and cast for they did the book justice.Anyway, cheers. Have a great day.
ReplyDeleteHi Amy. Great to have you back on the comments section :)And thanks very much for clearing up a lot of the missing holes for me. They make more sense now! Glad to see you still have your passion for movies.Keep them coming in!
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