Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
So, I hope everyone saw the first Star Wars Episode VII trailer that was released over the weekend? Wasn’t it amazing? I don’t think I can wait a whole year...
Oh, please excuse me for a second, I was getting carried with myself there. I forgot, there’s a film review to write!
Strangely though, it’s actually quite relevant. Walking out of the cinema after watching The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (yep, that’s both a colon and a dash in the title; clearly being concise isn’t on the agenda when there’s a brand name to promote), I felt like I’d just watched a two-hour trailer for Part 2, also due next winter.
With the dangerous combination of film companies whose sole moral seems to be avarice and a rabid teenage fanbase receptive to gobbling up every crumb offered to them, the ‘multiple-part’ denouement for novel adaptations seems to be the latest Hollywood disease.
While it was arguably justified for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and Breaking Dawn, both hefty tomes in their own right, squeezing two movies out of the much slimmer Mockingjay is pushing it a bit. And if The Hobbit contains nine hours of film, then I’m an Elf!
Still, it is what it is, and while Part 1 is not inherently a bad film, it’s just a little, well, dull. After the relentless pace of the first two films, which contained superb world-building and fascinating characters, anchored by the exhilarating Hunger Games themselves, it’s disappointing to find this chapter almost entirely devoid of any action or urgency.
Unlike the first two movies, there are no Hunger Games to be found here. If you are new to the franchise, I’m sorry to admit that you won’t have a Jabberyjay’s chance in Panem of understanding what’s going on. See what I mean?
At least with the previous instalments, you could kick back and enjoy the carnage on screen even if the over-riding story of oppression and rebellion went over your head and you didn’t know your Districts from your Tributes.
Here you don’t have a choice; exposition and terminology hits you like a freight train with brake failure. You’ll probably notice excited book nerds nudging their neighbour and whispering in their ear after a small nod to future events or a long-departed favourite character, but you’ll be sat wondering why you’ve paid money for a gobbledegook lesson.
In the absence of a ‘Previously on ...’ montage at the beginning of the film, you’re thrown in at the deep end and expected to get up to speed very quickly. Without wanting to spoil the previous films for all of you uninitiated, essentially things pick up with main heroine Katniss Everdeen (Lawrence) in hiding in a secret rebel facility underneath District 13.
Reunited with her family and best friend Gale (Hemsworth), she meets President Alma Coin, leader of the rebels, who wants to use Katniss as a propaganda tool in the war against the evil, opulent Capitol and its hated leader, President Snow.
Katniss’ actions in the previous Hunger Games have unwillingly sparked riots and revolutions across the country, and now Coin wants her to become the ‘Mockingjay’, a symbol of the rebellion and a united banner to fight under. However, Katniss is reluctant to co-operate with anyone until Peeta (Hutcherson), her on-off friend/lover figure (it’s seriously complicated), is rescued from Capitol hands.
That, in a nutshell, is practically the whole film. Nothing much happens, it just plods along entrenched firmly in ‘sequel set-up’ mode with no discernible beginning, middle and end. What could have been condensed into half-an-hour somehow racks up a monstrous run time that occasionally sparkles but often baffles.
What the movie does get right is its casting. Three films in, there’s no hint of going through the motions and in Part 1 we see arguably the most convincing performances yet as emotions are stretched to the limit with the all-or-nothing nature of the rebellion coming to the fore.
Lawrence in particular naturally exudes charisma (and an inordinate number of tears; if the authorities in District 13 put a rain bucket next to her bed every night, the rebels would never have to worry about a water shortage in their underground lair) and is entirely convincing in her role as the lynchpin of the rebellion. Admittedly, if there is one sole reason why an extra movie slotted into the franchise is justified, it’s that her indescribable beauty can grace my eyes for an extra couple of hours.
I should also mention, after witnessing many parents taking their young kids to see this film (including our ‘responsible’ editor, Stan!), that this is in absolutely no way a kids’ movie. We are shown visual evidence of genocide, murder and genuine instances of horror, with an intelligent political subtext about the atrocities of dystopian authority figures permeating the story. Despite many comparisons with the Harry Potter series and the like, this will genuinely frighten the little ones, so respect the age rating!
Ultimately, having read the books and knowing what happens in the end, I assure you that there is great stuff to come in Part 2. However, I’d have preferred it if the director had sprinkled a few of the upcoming set pieces into this movie rather than putting all of the eggs into one explosive basket.
So, for the second time this weekend, this excited fan is left wanting much more. Alas, I’ll have to wait a whole year for the main event, but I’m positive it’ll be worth it.
