The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 Review

Director: Francis Lawrence
Writers: Peter Craig (screenplay), Danny Strong (screenplay), 2 more credits
Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth

Synopsis:
With the Games now destroyed and in pieces, Katniss Everdeen, along with Gale, Finnick and Beetee, now end up in the so thought "destroyed" District 13. Under the leadership of Commander Coin and the advice of her friends, Katniss becomes the "Mockingjay" and the symbol of rebellion for the people.

Review:
In Mockingjay Katniss finds herself in district 13, a secret district most people in Panem believe no longer exists. Which is understandable as everyone is hidden underground in a secret bunker. Katniss makes a deal with president coin thanks to the help of Plutarch that ensures the safety of the tributes held in the capitol and a mission to rescue them, in return Katniss is "the Mockingjay" a symbol of rebellion throughout the districts.

Jennifer Lawrence embodies Katniss flawlessly once again on screen and gives a stunning performance as the female hero of the movie shooting down two capitol jets with her enhanced bows created by Beetee. Jennifer wowed the audience when she sung during the film, the song is also featured as the first credits song but sung by Lorde. Who knew Jennifer could sing?

Once again Elizabeth Banks' portrayal of Effie Trinket gives the film the light and laughs it needs, Mockingjay is dark, the darkest of the three books, which is quite hard to fathom when you know that ultimately the books/movies are centered around teenagers fighting, wars, death and poverty.

Haymitch is sadly absent throughout most of the movie, but the few scenes he is in he steals with his jokes on being sober and about his relationship with his best friend Katniss.

Josh's performance as Peeta steals the movie for me, Peeta is now in the possession of the capitol and he's secretly being conditioned to say and do what Snow wants him to. Watching Josh as Peeta is absolutely heart-breaking as you see him slowly come to realise what has happened to his home, his family and to Katniss. Peeta's final scene in this movie is gut wrenching and sure to bring the audience to tears.

Fans of the books will be pleased to know that the team behind the making of the movie have done an amazing job at converting the story from sheet to screen in a way that enhances the story more than expected and that warrants the need for a part two, is it November 2015 yet?.

A moment of respect is featured at the beginning of the credits that pay tribute to the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman who passed away last year whilst filming Mockingjay P2. 

Star Rating:
4 Stars

Interstellar Movie Review

Director: Christopher Nolan
Writers: Jonathan Nolan, Christopher Nolan
Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain

Synopsis:
When a wormhole (which can theoretically connect widely separated regions of spacetime) is discovered, explorers and scientists unite to embark on a voyage through it, transcending the normal limits of human space travel. Among the travellers is a widowed engineer, Cooper (McConaughey), who must decide whether or not to leave his two children behind to join the voyage and attempt to save humanity from an environmentally devastated Earth by finding a new habitable planet in another galaxy.

Review:
This movie felt like it tried to accomplish two simultaneous and somewhat incompatible endeavours

First, it was thought-provoking. Many questions were raised. What would life on earth be like if our climate runs amok? What happens to government when we all have to live hand-to-mouth? Are "they" out there communicating with us? Is it the essence of humanity to survive, or is it to pioneer, and, by extension, evolve? Second, it was also an adventure. I watched this in a full IMAX theater, with eighty bajillion watts of Super Thunder-Round Sound, or whatever the kids call it now. The visual effects definitely shine on the IMAX screen. The format switches occasionally, and usually imperceptibly, between 70mm for the scenes with dialogue, to IMAX format for that full-on dose of retina-overload spectacle. This movie is a wonderfully fun ride through a strangely familiar extra-galactic world. There are also plenty of tense moments, after which you realize you've been holding your breath.

I'm glad I went to watch this. That said, I think the film suffers a little from trying to be both an adventure thrill about the dangers of space travel, let alone an actual confrontation with a nemesis, and also a multi-layered allegory involving the dimensional tangle of time, gravity, love, and what it means to survive.

It asks more questions than it explores. While it fills in for the missing answers with white-knuckled brushes with death, it wasn't as intellectually satisfying as I hoped. I spent an hour discussing the thoughtful components with a friend. In the end, we were grasping to find symbolism, metaphors, or other messages about humanity. We never coalesced "the message" of the movie.

But did we need to? It was, as I said, also a thrill ride. The adventurous climax was a little less than terrifyingly dramatic; I can't say I had the same post-climactic cathartic experience as I've had for other movies. But it was a definite end, closing most of the open plot points. I certainly felt moved by the characters' resolutions.

I was suspicious that Matthew McConaughey could convince me that he was a space-ready engineer; it turns out that he didn't need to, because he did convince me that he was a dad that loved his children as much as any dad could. I think all the leads delivered solidly: Caine, Lithgow, Hathaway, Damon, Chastain, Affleck... I connected with the characters and felt their pain and happiness.

Hans Zimmer played up the drama in the music a little heavily, I thought, and unnecessarily. It wound up creating the opposite of the effect I think he intended. Many of the scenes could have used a lighter touch, musically. Some of them worked brilliantly.

Although I had my quibbles, the final analysis is that I would definitely choose to watch the movie a second time, but I'm not making plans to, for now. 

Star Rating: 4.5 Stars