Review No.50: The Hunger Games

So here we are the quarter-of-the-way mark to my 200 films and the 50th review is also one of the most anticipated films of the year in the largely hyped The Hunger Games. Though I'd heard some hype about it I wasn't aware that this film had been based on the first of a series of books that were popular among the same crowd who were into the better known Harry Potter and Twilight franchises. My companion to this screening was reluctant to accompany me as he feared another HP/Twilight type film and these are both franchises that he'd manage to escape for the most part. Though I'm yet to get his feedback he never seemed visibly bored throughout the film which I also found captivating especially the second half. For people like me who were unfamiliar with the stories The Hunger Games is set in a dystopian future where America is split into districts with those with the higher numbers being the most deprived. Following an uprising against the establishment every year each district is asked to offer up a boy and a girl aged between 12 and 18 as a tribute to compete in the annual Hunger Games an event which sees them try to kill each other off with only one surviving as the victor. The film's first half introduces us to our heroine Katniss Everdeen, played by Jennifer Lawrence, a girl who is a great hunter and who volunteers herself as Disrict 12's tribute as a replacement for her sister. The build-up to the games sees Katniss and male tribute Peeta journey to the capital along with eccentric escort Effie and Haymitch Abernathy the only District 12 tribute to ever win the games. While at the capital both Katniss and Peeta compete to impress the rich and influential and hope to gain sponsorship which will help them during the games with Katniss being ear-marked as one of the favourites. The film's second half is its strongest as we enter the games and Katniss has to use her wilderness expertise to survive while also befriending a young District 11 girl named Rue and also trying to save Peeta who recently expressed his true feelings for her.

Obviously The Hunger Games shares a lot of similarities with Battle Royale however the theme main theme here is survival and friendship rather than all out brutality although that is represented by District 2 nutjob Cato. What I mostly enjoyed about The Hunger Games was the contradciton between the wildly colourful and camp captial which is inhabited by strange rich types and the sparse wilderness of the games itself. Central to the film is the performance from Jennifer Lawrence who I've long admired since I first saw her as Kim Basinger's daughter in the underrated The Burning Plain she brings both a strength and vulnerability to Katniss which are both qualities this character needs to express. I think what I liked best was the fact that she never actively sought out violence and she only killed during the games when provoked by others. I have to say I cared less about Peeta as Josh Hutcherson was never a strong presence and therefore the romance between him and Katniss lacked credibility there were also some unintentionally hilarious segments where Peeta had to camouflage himself while in the games. While we're on cast members the campness of the film is reflected through Stanley Tucci as the horribly sugary TV host who treats the killing of young children as nothing more than part of a gameshow while the almost unrecognisable Elizabeth Banks was also fun as Effie Trinkett. It was Woody Harrelson who stole the show for me as Haymitch who was initially presented as a drunk but gradually became attached to both Peeta and Katniss and tried to aide their survival as much as possible. I thought the production design was great and James Newton Howard's score was also haunting and used to full effect during the scenes with no dialogue. At times I found that the plot dragged a little but I don't think there was enough appeal for me as there would be a fan of this franchise. But overall there was enough to keep me occupied and the film's final frame set up the sequel which is presumably on the way after the brilliant opening weekend The Hunger Games as enjoyed. I'm not yet sure what my friend thought of the film but suffice to say I myself was pleasantly surprised.

Verdict: While I'm not the target market for the film thanks to Jennifer Lawrence, Woody Harrelson and the production design I found myself drawn into the world of The Hunger Games and enjoyed myself enough to give this a 8/10

Review No.8: Rampart

A couple of year's ago I happened upon a film called The Messengers it didn't really do much box office here in the UK but it did get some awards buzz for Woody Harrelson who was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars. In Rampart Harrelson is reunited with director Oren Moverman as well as co-stars Ben Foster and Steve Buscemi to play Dave Brown a Los Angeles Police Officer who is described as the last renegade police officer. Brown is involved in the infamous Rampart scandal in which many officers were accused and tried of various crimes including unprovoked beatings and shootings both of which we see Brown engage in throughout the film. Brown's notoriety has come through his gunning down of a man accused of being a serial date rapist and as a result he has been given the name Date Rape Dave something his elder daughter revels in calling him. Throughout the film Dave beats up someone who rams into his car and later stages being attacked to take the heat off of him trying to take money during an illegal card game. As the story progresses Dave's lies and his life start to unravel as he isn't able to manipulate people the way he used to do.

The main problem with Rampart was that I never really warmed to the character of Dave who is someone that is constantly trying to get out of situations by bribing people or talking down to them and by his own admission doesn't like anybody. Harrelson was so great in The Messengers because he was part of a double act with Ben Foster but here Foster has a minor role and Woody is on the screen in almost every scene. He does a good job with what he's given but the script is riddled with stereotypes and tries to emulate the old noirish crime films of the 1970s but fails miserably. The moody lighting and mumbling characters only really works if the story is strong enough to back it up but I didn't really feel like that ever happened during Rampart. There are also some wildly miscast actors including Sigourney Weaver as Dave's police chief and Ice Cube as the man trying to bring him to justice. What I did like was Dave's relationship with his two daughters and I thought both Harrelson and the two young actresses were able to get across this complicated situation very well. But I never really warmed to Rampart because I found it slow-moving and very one dimensional which is a shame as I was really expecting to enjoy another film from the team behind The Messengers but this wasn't to be the case.

Verdict: Mainly down to Harrelson's performance this gets a 4/10