The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2

Here we are, the final instalment of The Hunger Games franchise. After loving the books, I was majorly happy with the first two adaptations of the source material. The third I was not so happy with and you can read my review for Part 1 here. Now here's the second part of the third adaptation and although a it has a lot of similar problems, overall it is a good send off for the franchise. Read on below to find out my full verdict.

So by now you know the cast, the amazing Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss, accompanied by Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth and the best supporting cast from your favourite TV shows of the last five years. Seriously, there are so many familiar faces from the likes of Game of Thrones and House of Cards. In this film the rebellion is in full swing in an attempt to bring an end to the pain and suffering in the Districts.

Now lets start with the good, like the rest of the series, Mockingjay doesn't take a half hearted stab at the source material, instead it takes it seriously and creates a very faithful adaptation of the text unlike other Young Adult franchises such as Divergent, which is pretty much a paint by number YA film with no heart or effort put into making a 'good' film. The Hunger Games stands out because it feels like a film in which an effort has been made to make it more than just a Blockbuster, it's also a social commentary on the world we live in today. Plus the films have some amazing performances from all involved!

There are some brilliant scenes in this film and a lot of these are extremely terrifying and hard to watch at points. There is a sequence in this film that could rival most horror movies and made me wonder how this film didn't get more than a 12A rating. These scenes are well executed and the effects are top notch. We've come a long way from the crappy fire in the first film.

When this film ended I was surprised at how much it hit me that this franchise had ended. It was about four years ago I got hooked on the books and I remember being extremely excited for the first film, this excitement may have diminished in 2015 but I was left thinking how much I would miss those early days of the franchise. It packed a punch that's for sure. If the split of the final book hadn't happened and a third film was made using only the best parts of Part 1 and 2 then this could easily be one of the best trilogies of this millennium so far.

So now onto the bad. Like Part 1 there were scenes in this film that just dragged! It suffered from something I like to call The Walking Dead effect, where there are some great set pieces and then the characters just mope around and engage in un-engaging conversations about how they feel until the next great set piece. Some of the scenes were so slow that it felt like it was intentionally trying to justify the split... well it didn't work guys. But hey, now they have twice the money!

Another problem I had with the film was the lighting, it was so dark in places that I could hardly tell what was going on, which sucked because some of the visuals were great, just a little tough to make out at times.

There are few key scenes that are brushed over surprisingly quickly, scenes of a spoilerish nature but you'll probably understand what I mean if/when you have seen it.

Like I said at the start of the review, it's a good enough send off to one the best YA franchises around, I doubt we'll get anything aimed at teenagers with a similar amount of quality any time soon. Or at least not what I have seen from other YA franchises following in The Hunger Games shadow. But then again I'm not the audience anymore, The Hunger Games got me in my final teenage years and I loved it and I am now sad it's gone, well until the announcement of the prequels or some other way to drain the life out of a decent film franchise! I am giving Mockingjay Part 2 a rating of 3.5/5.

What did you think of Mockingjay Part 2? Better than Part 1? Better than Catching Fire? Let me know in the comments below!

Thanks for reading!

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

I've been quite busy recently and haven't had time to write a review for the the third instalment of The Hunger Games franchise. I saw the film last week and my feelings are a bit mixed on it. Carry on reading to find out why.

So the third film follows the first half of the final book in the trilogy. Following pretty much after the events of the second film, we see Katniss in District 13, where she must help start the rebellion by being the 'Mockinjay' symbol to create war propaganda and unite the districts against the Capitol. I've read the books and was surprised they were going to split the last one into two films. Unfortunately every young adult franchise seems to do this now and Lionsgate are going to want to keep on milking The Hunger Games cow because it has made them a tonne of money. Because The Hunger Games franchise has been so well done, I thought this film might show me a viable enough creative reason for splitting the films. It does not. The film drags and hasn't got enough content to keep me fully engaged throughout. In my opinion they split the films where the book finally gets interesting. This means the second part should be pretty great but I am not longing for it like I was after watching the brilliant Catching Fire.

Katniss is a great character and she has always been played superbly by Jennifer Lawrence. This film is not an exception but does feel less like Katniss is helping move the plot of her own film. Obviously this is not a great time in her life but there is only so much upset Katniss I can take, she took a backseat in this one and rarely engaged in the action. This is similar to the book, however she does do a lot more in the second half, so I guess we'll just have to wait a year to see Katniss at her best.

Now don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad film. In fact there are quite a few really awesome and powerful scenes. The only problem is, is that the awesomeness is mixed in with long, boring scenes that drag. I just want to see the main character do something!

One of things I like about the films is that they can delve into the world more than the books did, because we aren't just looking at this world from Katniss's point of view. Mockingjay continues this and shows a really well developed and thought out world. We get to see some awesome rebellion scenes and find out more about the villains like President Snow, who was definitely my favourite character in this film. He is pretty darn scary. Donald Sutherland has brought way more to that character than I ever got from the books. I love all the political and social undertones to the film and they are the themes that separate this franchise from other young adult films. A love triangle is present but it never feels like the driving force of the film. I like that Mockingjay still feels different and cool.

So Mockingjay is an ok film with standout scenes but pretty dull ones as well. I feel if the third book was one film, with just the awesome scenes from part 1, and then whatever is to come in part 2, we could have been looking at one of the best trilogies of our generation. However this is not the case and the once superb franchise now has a dent in it, not a big one, but a dent none the less. I'm still excited for part 2 but not as much as I was last year after watching Catching Fire. I am giving The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 a rating of 3/5.

Here's hoping the second part is a lot better!

What did you think of Mockingjay Part 1? Are you still excited for the final instalment next year? Let me know in the comments below.

On a different note, the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer came out yesterday and it looks incredible! I grew up on Star Wars and I cannot wait to go see a new one in the cinema! Go watch it if you haven't already!

Thanks for reading!

SDCC 2014 Thoughts #1

Last year I did a few posts on some of the news coming out of San Diego Comic Con and my thoughts on it. Since every SDCC is like a second Christmas, full of pop culture news and announcements for us nerds, I thought I would do the same this year as well. I'll be posting all things that I think are cool from the Con so not every piece of news from every angle of the event will be reported. Man do I wish I was there...

 It may just be the first day of the con but we have already been treated to some gems, beginning with a bunch of awesome exclusive posters including The Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, Mockingjay Part 1 and The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies which can be seen below.

I especially love the Avengers ones, they are awesome! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that some form of teaser trailer will be released at SDCC and then online over the weekend! In other news Warner Brothers brought the cowl and cape of Batman from Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice to the show. It doesn't reveal much else to what we've already seen apart from the fact that it is dark grey and not a shade of blue that a lot of us fans would have liked to have seen. However I do still like the look they are going for with the Batfleck costume.

And if you wondering where the man himself was, well WB have just released a new official pic of The Batfleck.

Looking good! All this and it's still just Thursday, it's a good weekend to be a nerd.

Check back later for more updates on what going on at SDCC.

What do you think of all the latest SDCC news? Let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading! 

My Most Anticipated Films of 2014

It's that time of the year where we can look to the future of films in 2014 and see which ones will be on our 'must watch' list. So before I go back and review this year, take a look at the films I am anticipating the most in 2014. And to make this list more approachable for American audiences I have not included films that came out this month in the states. If I had, Her and The Wolf of Wall Street would be at the top of my list! 

10. The Hobbit: There and Back Again (December)

Although I disliked the second outing in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit trilogy, I am still cautiously optomistic about the third and final outing. It's going to be an epic spectacle with the showdown with Smaug and The Battle of Five Armies about to commence. I look forward to seeing a trailer for this one but I am still not going to get my hopes too high.

9. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (November)

I was pleasantly surprised at how good Catching Fire was, which has made Mockingjay, the first part of a two part finale of The Hunger Games, go up on my list. It will be interesting to see what the first film contains after the studio have split the book into two films. As a reader of the books I know there are a lot more twists and turns in place that I cannot wait to see on the big screen. 

8. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (May)

Spider-Man is my favourite superhero but after 2012's disappointing first film I am being cautious about how excited I get for this one. The trailer looks awesome but they seem to have gotten rid of a lot of ideas and themes of the first film making this look like it could be just another Raimi esque film instead of taking a completely new direction. Sony have faith in the franchise now as they have just announced they are opening up the universe with spin off films for Venom and The Sinister Six, I won't know how I feel about this news until I see the latest instalment in May. Fingers crossed it doesn't disappoint. 

7. Muppets Most Wanted (March)

The Muppets reboot with Jason Segal turned out to be one of my favourite films, it was fun to watch and very, very funny. Although we are missing our human lead in the sequel I have no doubt that it will be great. I only need to leave the cinema half as happy as I did last time for this one to be great! 

6. Godzilla (May)

Any film starring Bryan Cranston and Elizabeth Olsen will have my money but if that film also happens to star Godzilla well then thats just a bonus. Wait, the film is also directed by Monsters director, Gareth Edwards? I want. I want now. This film has the potential blow your mind, just check out the trailer. This is definitely one to watch!

5. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (April)

The Avengers made Captain America cool and now he just seems to be in his element after the new trailer for his second film came out earlier this year. It looks to be a lot of fun and no trailer has got me so excited for a new film like this one. I can't wait to see where they take Cap next!
4. Tusk (TBD)

Anything coming out of the weird and wonderful mind that is Kevin Smith's will put my bum in a cinema seat, unless of course it's a sequel to Cop Out. His latest film is based on an idea he had from one of his podcasts when he saw an advert on GumTree from a man asking for somebody to be his human walrus. Smith then turned this advert into an idea for a creepy messed up horror film that will see him re-teaming up with Micheal Parks to create a human walrus hybrid suit thing. It's going to weird but no doubt awesome.

3. Interstellar (November)

Any film from Christopher Nolan has my money. Any film starring Mathew Mcconaughey has my money. Well then Interstellar is a no brainer then because it has both! I think it's about space and black holes but who cares, it will no doubt be exceptional. 

2. X-Men: Days of Future Past (May)

With Bryan Singer back at the helm tackling the X-Mens biggest story yet, we will no doubt get excellence. Crossing over between the future and the past this could be an epic adventure that nothing can top. Oh wait, they just announced X-Men: Apocalypse for 2016!? The X-Men franchise is going to big places, I for one cannot wait!

1. Guardians of the Galaxy (August)

I want to see how Marvel handle this film because it's something a bit different to what we've seen before. It has a walking, talking, gun holding Raccoon. It could be awful but I have faith, especially with the leaked Comic Con footage from earlier this year looking very, very good. It tops my list because I can't picture how its going to look in my head but I have no doubt that Marvel wouldn't have invested in this risky project if it wasn't going to be amazing. I can't wait to see how Guardians of the Galaxy turns out!

What are you're most anticipated films for 2014? Let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading!