Hunger Games Mocking Jay Part 1

If you haven’t seen or Hunger Games and Catching Fire Or read the trilogy by Suzanne Collins then I suggest you do so before you decide to watch Mocking Jay.  While some may argue that a movie has to be evaluated independently, those who haven’t seen the prequels will never be able to understand the story completely.

Hunger Games : Catching Fire

Apparently Gary Ross (Director of Hunger Games) turned down the opportunity of directing the sequels.  After approaching 8 more directors including the likes of Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity) and Joe Cornish (Star Trek 3), the opportunity landed on Francis Lawrence’s table who has then proceeded to give us a rendition that tempts me to ask him to remake Hunger Games 1.

A Time To Kill

One way to get a near perfect rendition of a book into a movie is to get the casting correct.  And most directors have a favourite casting director.  With Joel Schumacher it would be one Mali Finn.  Finn has most JS movies to his credit and other big names such as The Untouchables and Hot Shots to his credit.  He had also done The Client (John Grisham) with JS before this one.

Hunger Games

I was walking past Crossword in Vashi on Thursday i.e. 22nd March 2012 and I came across this 6 x 3 drop down of Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games. I honestly had no clue that it was a book and therefore had to pick it up – despite Crossword’s attempts to deny me the right to buy a book thanks to their gross mismanagement (the guy in the store had no clue to where the book was kept). They finally managed to find it in the Young Fiction section and I was wondering as to why is it that it is kept there of all places. Add to it, it’s a trilogy which I am told is in fashion today. So there is Hunger Games 2 (Catching Fire) and 3 (Mocking Jay) which are already made by the way and slotted for release in 2013 and 2015 it seems. Talk about planning.

Hunger Games starts with a quick backgrounder on how 75 years back, a whole bunch of states in the US rebelled against the government at that time. Of the 13 districts, one was obliterated and no signs of life were left. The remaining 12 now owe their life and allegiance to what is described as the Capitol. The Capitol, in an attempt to keep their memories fresh, holds the annual Hunger Games. Each District (currently based on profession) sends 1 boy and 1 girl between the ages 12 to 18 to a no holds barred fight to the death which in turn is telecast live to the entire population who now don’t have a choice but to view it.

This time around, the draw of lots picks out Primrose Everdeen (Willow Shields) who is all of 12 years old and has no clue on how to fight – leave alone one to the death. Her sister Katniss Everdeen’s (Jennifer Lawrence) on the other hand is a fighter to the core and survivor. She has been taking care of the family since her father’s passing. She loves her little sister to death. And so it isn’t surprising that she volunteers in place of her sister to be part of the 74th Hunger Games. The story is about Katniss’ fight for survival.

The book is reasonably paced I thought. Not the best of writing but quite pacy. The movie on the other hand turns out to be quite slow and stretched in parts. A bit too much of time is spent on the build up and very little on the actual action sequences. And surprisingly hardly any special effects. The movie is quite true to the book with very few liberties taken. The good part is the effort taken to show the dialogues that happen behind the scenes before the decisions are taken by the team that runs the show. And there is a sneak peek into President Snow’s (Donald Sutherland) character which is absent in the book. And why is there so little use of music? Anyways, read the book if you can before the movie. 6 on 10 overall. Not something that you will sorely miss.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1187553561/

The Eagle

Yes this is yet another one of those Gladiator kind movies. But this time in Anno Domini. 140 AD to be precise. Around the time when the Roman conquest had reached the northern part of Britain. Marcus Aquilla (Channing Tatum) asks to be posted as a commander in Britain much to the surprise of the legion. Rome’s conquest of Britain is not going too well with the spirited Northerners pushing the Romans back. This led to the creation of what we know today as the Hadrian’s Wall which runs right through the centre of Great Britain. In times like these, it is indeed surprising to see a young man who could have been posted anywhere to specifically ask for Britain. The previous commander doesn’t even wait to be formally relieved by Marcus and takes off. Marcus, however is quick to earn the respect of his soldiers when he commands an ambush on a local tribe that is after Roman blood. The respect for Marcus only increases manifold when during a second fight, he shows exemplary valour in standing up and facing near certain death.


It is only around this time that it becomes a bit clear as to what is his driving force of moving to Britain. His father was the commander of the ninth when the legion’s golden emblem was taken away in an ambush. His father lost his life in the bargain and could not save The Eagle. Now there are way too many old mother’s tales doing their rounds about what exactly happened and Marcus wants to know the truth and put an end to all the speculation. His plans are set back significantly thanks to a very bad leg – remember he stood up and faced death. He loses consciousness and almost his leg. We he does come around, he finds himself at his Uncle’s (Donald Sutherland) place somewhere in Britain. During his recovery, he saves a local boy from being killed in a regular fight against a gladiator. Esca (Jamie Bell) becomes his slave in return for saving his life. Things come to head when a couple of politicians come to visit his uncle and talk loosely about his father and how the loss of The Eagle was an insult to Rome. Having said that, they are still not willing to do anything about it. Marcus decides to take matters into his own hands and crippled leg and takes off with Esca to find The Eagle.

The Eagle exposes director Kevin MacDonald’s inability to produce a solid movie like his previous attempts in the absence of a good cast. For that matter, any director with a cast like this one would have struggled to give a decent end product. In that context, I tip my hat to Kevin Saar. Although the movie tends to be a drab in parts and MacDonald fails to hold your attention throughout, the end product would have been much worse with someone else if I were to hazard a guess. The sheer incompetence of Channing Tatum to emote on screen is not only very obvious but also gets onto your nerves after a point in time. And Jamie Bell doesn’t help too much either. What stands out is that in a movie like this – all Gladiator – Spartacus type is the absence of a woman and therefore thankfully the movie doesn’t drop to being soppy. One of the few saving graces. Needless to say, I don’t have anything against actresses and all of you would be very familiar with my stance on the fairer sex. Its just that I have always strived to find a reason to have an actress and unnecessarily up the romance / glamour quotient in a movie about the Roman Legion. On that hopefully “not perceived as sexist” note, I give this movie a 5 on 10. Kevin MacDonald – better luck next time with the casting.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2014091801/