The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part II

My parents took me to see Mockingjay tonight. This is the fourth installment in the Hunger Games series, making the second half of the third book into a movie, a tradition I really am not sure I like. I didn't think it worked for Harry Potter where it got us one really boring 7th movie followed by all the action in the 8th. However, I think it worked for the Hunger Games. If you read the books, you know that much of the revolution was not in the books because it all followed first person from Katniss' thoughts. In a movie about a revolution, that really wouldn't work, and splitting the third book into two movies allowed them to insert a revolution that made things work.

While the previous movie focused on efforts to get Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) away from the capital, this movie focused on the revolution against the capital. Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) expresses a surprising amount of independence for a female main character, and heads out with a small group to kill Snow (Donald Sutherland). So that's what the movie is supposed to be about, but in the end we're left hanging as Snow convinces Katniss that someone else was responsible for her sister's death and needs to die more than he does. I'm not entirely convinced on his explanation, but I think it's supposed to be true.

Also, I must confess that I was always on Team Gale (Liam Hemsworth). I knew, after reading the books, that Peeta ends up with Katniss, and they are as happy as people can be after going through what they went through, but it still hurt to see Katniss turn away Gale at the end so coldly. It's not like he killed her sister.

The movie gave me a bit of a fright when the mutts came after them in the sewers but that scene was over soon enough. It made me cry when Katniss threw a temper tantrum over her dead sister. It made me smile when Finnick got married. What it didn't do was make me laugh. It's a little darker than the previous three movies in the series.

Overall I give it an A.

Peanuts

My husband and I went to see the Peanuts movie tonight. He has a lot of nostalgia about it, but I really don't. I watched one of the movies as a kid, but not the regular cartoon, and I wasn't really into it. The Peanuts movie had stuff for both of us, and was really good. 

For me, I saw a lot of myself in the Charlie Brown character - always trying to do good things and always having them turned on their heads. And no, I can't fly a kite. I found the movie touching and funny in about the right combinations. Lucy reminded me of many of the kids I grew up with, except that I was fortunate enough that by high school most of them had forgotten about me. She gives Charlie perfect advice, and then tells him he'll never be good enough to follow it, insulting him the whole time. 

My husband complained that the movie was a little too long. It came in at only 88 minutes, so I'm not sure how much shorter they could have made it and still called it a full length movie. I admit that it did feel like more than 88 minutes to me, too. I estimated 100 minutes after looking at my watch, but that must have included the time for the new Ice Age short at the beginning. 

Speaking of the Ice Age short, can I tell you how fed up I am with Ice Age shorts? How much attention can people give to a rat that wants an acorn? It's old and tired. I hated it the first time I saw it and nothing has changed that opinion. It also put me into a bad mood as the movie I actually wanted to see began and almost ruined the whole thing. Fortunately the first of many scenes that reminded me of my life (Charlie Brown knocking over a fence when everyone is trying to see the new girl) came quickly and I was able to refocus on the present movie. 

For a 50 year old cartoon, these characters really pinpoint childhood still. I guess the more things change the more they stay the same. Nothing seemed out of place either for life growing up or for the show. 

Overall I give it a B+

Star Wars : A New Hope

Here we have the story of Luke Skywalker as he meets Obi Wan Kenobi and Leia as well as C3PO and R2D2, and becomes a Jedi - the last of the Jedi. They have an adventure on the Death Star before escaping to the rebel hideout, a feat which is a lot less impressive when you realize they were allowed to escape so they could be followed, as evidenced by a conversation in which one character says to Vader "I'm taking a huge risk here. You'd better be right." And then the Death Star appears right at the rebel base. So basically the first 3/4ths of the movie they didn't do anything really impressive. They just shot at guards who weren't shooting to kill, and Obi Wan committed suicide by Vader.

After Obi Wan's suicide, I think the movie really ignores a vital fact, which is that it is disturbing as hell to suddenly have voices in your head. I mean, as a schizophrenic, I would know. And the very first thing I thought when Obi Wan says "use the force, Luke," to this guy who could hardly fight a droid a minute ago was "HOLY SHIT THERE ARE VOICES IN HIS HEAD AND NOW HE'S GOING TO FREAK OUT!!!!" because in any realistic universe, that's exactly what would have happened in this moment.

So I guess we assume that being a jedi is going to protect Luke's mind from the voice of his dead friend. Or something. And Luke puts his targeting gear away and fires using the force for the first time to destroy the Death Star. This is the first time in the movie something happened that wasn't what the bad guys wanted or expected.

The graphics were amazing for 1977 and still stand up to be considered good today. When you look at the opening scene you are immediately wowed by the size of the ships, and the power obviously belonging to the empire. The Stormtroopers were impressive, and Vader's imposing size and presence on the screen lets you know immediately that this is the bad guy. Although he's only on the screen for 17 minutes, he stays with you throughout the movie. This is how you create a bad guy.

Overall I'll give it a A-, and I look forward to seeing the rest of the series before episode 7 comes out next month.