Well, this one is complicated in all kinds of ways. To be completely honest, I'm not sure I can even begin to make an unbiased review, but I'm going to try...
To begin with, the plugged in review echoed a lot of my own
sentiments on this one. If you are
looking for a list of moral issues with the film, this is a pretty good place
to start. There is not much I can add to
the discussion regarding black and white, this is here and that isn't, content:
But herein lies the problem.
This story has long since taken on a life of its own, for me. And yet, I have been accused of over thinking things a time or two...
In terms of strictly
entertainment value, I would have to say, "skip this film". In fact, it was pretty disturbing to me as
the clock struck midnight... and 1:00... and 2:00... and as I continued to
process things past 3:00... and 4:00... to think of the reactions I observed in
the theater around me.
Profanity is always unnecessary. Always. It is even more unnecessary when there is one
misuse of the word, "Hell" in the entire literary trilogy. Nothing else.
I cannot quite wrap my mind around why the screenwriters felt that it
was a good idea to sprinkle the profane here and there, throughout the film. I struggled with the same thing in regard to
The Hunger Games. And my mind is blown
as to why God's name is ever uttered in this dystopian society where there is
no knowledge of God, at all. None. Even if I was someone who didn't care much
about these things, it would be a disconnect for me. But apparently most everyone else in the
world doesn't share this sentiment, because, I kid you not, many people laughed out loud at most of the uses of
profanity. Connecting with the story, I
found this phenomenon to be quite disturbing, as the profanities were slipped
in at some of the most serious times - during Peeta's gift to the families of
the dead tributes of district 11, Haymitch uses "s***", and everyone
laughs. When we should be learning of
the terrible mistreatment of victors, by the Capitol, and our hearts should be
softening toward Johanna, there's a "d***", and everyone laughs. At the end of the film, when Katniss, in
angst, should be running her fingernails down Haymitch's face and deeply
mourning the (at least temporary) loss of Peeta, she instead is calling
Haymitch a "son of a b****", and everybody laughs. How is this stuff funny? Even if I thought that profanity was funny (which
I don't), I don't see how I could have found these situations humorous in any
way. But, then again, when the story isn't
fully developed, maybe people don't really get it.
I am almost positive the teenage girls sitting behind me didn't
even know there was a story. They just squealed every time Peeta and Gale
made appearances. That got old real
fast.
The violence in Catching Fire struck me as less intense and
disturbing than that of The Hunger Games.
In and of itself, this should be a red flag. I understand that the intent was to keep the
gore minimal enough to avoid an R rating, but I think we have to remember that
this story is supposed to be horrible.
No one should walk away feeling like they have just experienced an
enjoyable movie. The point is that this is horrific. When the credits roll, you don't want anyone
sitting there thinking, "Wow! I
sure wish this could happen to me!"
At its heart, this is a story about oppression, war, and revolution. It's not supposed to incite warm fuzzies.
That said, I'm not a real lover of violence, but I would have been OK
with more graphic material in order to stay true to the terror of the story. There were a few moments during The Hunger
Games when I had to look away. There are
moments during The Lord of the Ring trilogy when I have to look away. Nothing in this film made me feel that way,
and my primary concern about that is that it is a scary thing to become
desensitized and lulled to sleep in regard to the repulsive nature of the
games.
And then, rounding out the "big three" in regard
to moral content, is the issue of sexuality.
I was pretty worried about what they were going to do with Finnick's
sugar cube scene and Johanna's tree costume.
Overall, I felt that these were handled tastefully, and although I'm not
prepared to give an all clear for 13 year old boys to engage in this material
(mine sure won't), I think it was less intense than I expected. That may not be saying much. We do see Johanna's bare back (from the waist
up), hence my caution to parents of young boys.
Other than that, I thought the costuming was actually quite
beautiful.
And now, the actual content (and why I will never be satisfied
with how this story plays out on the big screen unless they decide to release
extended versions of the movies that are each 8 hours long)...
SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!
DO NOT READ BEYOND THIS POINT IF YOU DON'T WANT CONTENT!
I am just going to admit it, I liked the movie. I did not love
the movie, but I liked it. I thought
that the screenplay hit on most of the major points that I found to be
essential to the story, and it was relatively true to the book. I didn't think there was enough detail, but
that's probably to be expected. Books
are almost always better than the film version.
Here's what disappointed me most. I am going to try to be chronological.
The conversation between Katniss, Haymitch, and Peeta in district
11 is too sterile. I read quite a few
pieces about the need to make Peeta a stronger character in this film, and in
my opinion, that was the place to do it.
He should be livid about the personal games that Katniss and Haymitch
play with one another, behind his back.
Plutarch doesn't flash his Mockingjay watch and tell Katniss,
"It starts at midnight?"
Really?
I didn't feel that nearly enough time was given to the
months leading up to the quarter quell and the relationships between the
characters. I would have liked to have
seen the whole scene from the book, between Gale and Katniss, at the little
stone cottage deep in the woods. I
thought the scene where Katniss is out hunting and finds the fence electrified,
causing her to jump from a tree back into the district, resulting in her
injury, was essential. Peeta's
"always", while not left out, entirely, feels out of context. As I write about this, it is becoming
apparent that, for me, it's the small things that make up the whole.
Along the same lines, regarding character development, I
felt that the other victors were seriously neglected. At the very least, I felt that more attention
needed to be paid to the reaping. This
is what makes them human. Although I
know she was little more than an extra, even in the book, I think it would have
elicited pretty strong emotions, for example, to show Celia's reaping, with her
children clinging to her as she is dragged off to the games. I think the exchange between Seeder and
Katniss, regarding the safety of Rue and Thresh's families would have added to
the story. Why not make it clear that
Chaff is Haymitch's best friend? These
types of things would only have taken a few more seconds of screen time.
I thought the casting for Finnick was awful. If somebody disagrees with me on this, please
feel free to say so, but it just didn't work for me. The scene where he's reviving Peeta was
pretty sad, and then when Peeta is revived, Katniss is like, "Do you want
to stand up?" And then Peeta, who
was essentially dead, is just healthy again?
And everything is too easy in the arena, not all that unlike
last time. The effects of the poisonous
fog are too short lived. These people
are supposed to walk around with their skin falling off. If you wanted comic relief, the joke that
Katniss and Finnick play on Peeta would have done it. Haymitch sends a note explaining the spile. Finnick doesn't have to carry Peeta, and subsequently,
Katniss doesn't have to carry Mags.
The parachutes of bread
are conspicuously absent.
At this point, I have pretty much written off any hope for back-story
on either the Mockingjay pin or Haymitch's games. I'm going to hold to the opinion that this is
a shame.
Still, there were definitely some exceptional moments. As much as I didn't care for Finnck too much,
there is something very convincing about his reaction as he is watching Katniss
panic over Peeta's brush with death. I
also thought the scene with the spinning cornucopia was intense and that the
connection between Johanna and Katniss, there, was an excellent addition to the
story. Effie's transformation is
remarkable, and I love how we begin to see the shift in her worldview, creating
the thought that anyone, even the most narcissistic, materialistic, unyielding
person can learn to love and choose to change.
I also thought the theme of self sacrifice for the sake of others ran
pretty deep in this film, paralleling the book.
And that's probably the number one attribute that makes this story worth
telling... and re-telling...
And so I find myself ready to sign off on this one, knowing
that as soon as I hit "post", I will think of a dozen more details I
wish I had included. And next year, I'll
do it all over again, and I really, truly hope that splitting Mockingjay into
two movies is going to help with the development of the teachable moments and
lasting truths that can be taken away from this narrative.
L.
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