The Final Stretch
June 10, 2015
The final installment of The Hunger Games adaptations is here in trailer form before it hits theaters in November.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2
Second Portion Disappointment
March 26, 2015
Insurgent (2015).
D: Robert Schwentke. DP: Florian Ballhaus. W: Brian Duffield, Akiva Goldsman & Mark Bomback. Starring: Shailene Woodley/Theo James/Miles Teller/Ansel Elgort/Kate Winslet/Naomi Watts/Jai Courtney/Mekhi Phifer/Zoe Kravitz/Octavia Spencer/Ashley Judd/Maggie Q/Daniel Dae Kim. (Based on Veronica Roth’s novel of the same name)
In a market saturated with young adult adaptations, it is difficult to standout and stand alone within your series of films. The Divergent Series, written by 20-something Veronica Roth, chronicles Beatrice/Tris Pryor (Shailene Woodley) as she lives in a city built around factions defined by personality traits. Last year’s Divergent covered Tris leaving Abnegation (selflessness) to join the Dauntless (fearless) when she came of age. This year’s adaption of the second novel, Insurgent, picks the story up again with Tris on the run as the Erudite faction leader Joanna (Kate Winslet) continues to seek out and destroy anyone classified as divergent. Yes, that’s a lot of names. And no they aren’t all necessary.
Insurgent is the weaker of the two films, but for a variety of reasons that also have to do with the strength of Roth’s series to begin with. Now out of the faction training world, Insurgent must cover massive amounts of ground as Tris and her group of Dauntless go into hiding and then on the run. A beautiful overhead tracking shot opens the film, but is sadly used again and again. Joseph Trapanese’s score pulsates way too frequently, actually detracting from the drama and action onscreen. This simply is the more difficult book to tackle well.
What is probably the saving grace of the series is Woodley. Sporting her cropped hair needed for last year’s The Fault In Our Stars, Woodley does provide some realism and access to the heaviness of the choices Tris must make. However, unlike the previous film the audience gets so sense about the progression of her personal life. Not to gripe, but the decision to have sex with her boyfriend Four (Theo James) is a weighty and complex one. Here it is brushed past like it’s just plausibly acceptable, like the three male screenwriters simply did not know how to handle writing that scene. James is still all beef cake thunder as Four and the couple do have chemistry even if the age discrepancy from what Roth wrote gives me the giggles.
Insurgent certainly moves at a clip as it spatially must cover lots of ground and no one is given many chances to breathe. Sadly this means that certain characters are removed and plot beats changed. If the film were better this wouldn’t be a bother. What surprisingly doesn’t elevate the series is Winslet as the baddie, despite her best efforts. Her cold is just not cold enough. But she’s better off that Naomi Watts who appears as the factionless leader who doesn’t look powerful enough to have ever been in Dauntless, no matter how much metallic eye shadow is slathered on her face. I think it’s a diservice to audience by Summit to have us try to believe this dystopian reality is crumbling, but the potential new leader has time for a full face of make up? While they live in a warehouse…
Ultimately, Insurgent is able to handle its violence realistically with the tole, like in the novels, weighing heavy on its characters. Yet the end seems surprisingly upbeat, which makes me wonder what else might be changed down the road. The special effects during the simulations are also beautiful, but did not warrant a 3D release. Lastly, what can be taken away from the film is the humor and charm of Miles Teller. An actor not to miss from last year’s Whiplash, watch out for him and go back to see his film The Spectacular Now with Woodley, just might change your viewing of this series.
Where is the Courage to Make One Film not Two?
December 23, 2014
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014).
D: Francis Lawrence. DP: Jo Willems. W: Peter Craig & Danny Strong. Starring: Jennifer Lawrence/Josh Hutcherson/Liam Hemsworth/Philip Seymour Hoffman/Woody Harrelson/Julianne Moore/Donald Sutherland/Elizabeth Banks/Stanley Tucci/Sam Claflin/Jena Malone/Natalie Dormer/Jeffrey Wright/Willow Shields/Mahershala Ali. (Based on Suzanne Collins’ novel of the same name)
This holiday season began with the much awaited third installment in Suzanne Collins’ young adult The Hunger Games series. Picking up where Catching Fire left off, the film finds Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) awakening from the all-star games to the world of District 13, thought to be completely destroyed. She is quickly asked to become to symbol of the resistance, the mockingjay, and must decide where her loyalties fit in this new terrain.
Francis Lawrence, a primarily television and music video direct whose last feature film was 2011’s Water for Elephants, picks up the series seamlessly. There is a nice visual continuity between the film and its previous two, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and The Hunger Games. This is difficult, but possibly an expression of his work with cinematographer Jo Willems. This team has the harder task of creating an atmosphere even bleaker than the previous films and much more transitional as one novel has been stretched into two films.
Peter Craig and Danny Strong’s script is adequate, but just simply cannot pack the same punch as the story ultimately feels thin. The emotionality of the cut off point for this film falls flat and unfortunately emphasizes the romance rather than the action and choices of Lawrence’s Katniss. This is the harder text to adapt as it lacks a games, but it should have been split into two films.
However, the saving grace in Mockingjay – Part 1 is Lawrence as Katniss. Shouldering the emotional weight of the film, her determination through trauma is felt through the camera and she is able to take the audience on a journey through understanding her own pain. Her chemistry with Hemsworth’s Gale is finally given service here, which Lawrence is able to give considerable depth too. It is nice relief to the rest of the film as one almost forgets that Katniss is only a teenager. Philip Seymour Hoffman is rather great here as Plutarch, giving extra sparkle to his lasting memory. Julianne Moore steps well into President Coin, but her severe gray wig actually distracts from her controlled performance.
Ultimately, the film serves its series well but cannot eclipse the extremely well handled Catching Fire. I would argue that Mockingjay is the least engaging of the novels and actually the most sad. As young adult fiction goes, it rounds out the series very well, a rare fete as this novel is so distinct from the first two. Therefore, I am inclined to forgive aspects of the film as the source material is just not the same. But we will all just have to wait and see how part two plays out.
A Spirited Summer Weepie
July 6, 2014
The Fault In Our Stars (2014).
D: Josh Boone. DP: Ben Richardson. W: Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber (based on John Green’s 2012 novel of the same name). Starring: Shailene Woodley/Ansel Elgort/Nat Wolff/Laura Dern/Sam Trammell/Willem Dafoe/Lotte Verbeek.
At this point no one can deny the box office potential of a young adult fiction film adaptation. However, in a post Twilight and Hunger Games landscape the competition is fierce. With disasters like last year’s Mortal Instruments the turn away from large franchises might find some success with a film like The Fault in Our Stars.
Based on John Green’s new novel, the film harkens back to the basic chemistry of teenage existence. Two youngsters who find a connection and try to navigate their new love. And in this case the leads happen to have cancer, meeting in a cancer support group. Yes tears are inevitable, tears that for me, came in the cinematic experience rather than when reading the book. In a rare occurrence I actually prefer the film to the book, mostly for its visceral quality.
The pitfall of this genre is the hidden borderline between teenage drama and melodrama. Luckily, The Fault In Our Stars never crosses into that territory. Written by the screenwriting team behind The Spectacular Now (2013) and 500 Days of Summer (2009), the script’s ability to handle the subtle and the overt in Green’s plot is admirable. (Both of those films are superior to this one thought.) The film is driven by the chemistry of its leads, Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort. Playing siblings in this year’s Divergent, the pair have an ease about them that shines through the painful context of their courtship. Woodley chopped her hair off to play Hazel, which gives her wiry frame a prepubescent look. Hazel has been through a lot of grown up pain, but has not experienced the emotional life to match it.
The Fault In Our Stars is also loyal to its source material, removing excess story lines and characters that helps keep the film focused on the leads. The stylistic choice of using test bubbles to show the teens texting each other also helps the flow of the story and counteract Hazel’s voice-over. Yet the leads’ charms cannot distract from the obvious use of musical ques to jar the audience. The poppy soundtrack actually distracts at some beautiful moments, especially on the couple’s trip to Amsterdam to meet Hazel’s favorite writer. Played by Willem Dafoe who wasn’t nearly as grotesque as one would imagine from the book, but thankfully didn’t gimmick it up. Ultimately the film doesn’t bring much that is new to the teen landscape, but at least puts down the weapons and creatures in favor of some feelings.