Let's Review: Mad Max: Fury Road

I haven’t really seen the previous Mad Max films but I was aware of them. It wasn’t through lack of interest that I hadn’t gotten to them it was always just something on my list for later. That said when the trailer came out for Fury Road I found myself to be very excited since it looked like a really over the top action flick. My surprise came when the reviews started to come out and each one of them gave the film perfect scores. My excitement doubled to see this film. So did the film live up to the hype? Let’s review Mad Max: Fury Road.

The Negative

The film is a massive action set piece with very little breathing room. That said when the film actually does take a moment to stop and collect itself the entire pacing comes to a dead crawl. This pause isn’t unwarranted as it took a lot of effort on the part of our heroes to reach this point but at the same time it almost singlehandedly derails the momentum the film had going. I’m not sure how the film could have reached this point without killing the speed but as it is now this moment just feels out of place.

Everyone has gone mad. I mean that is the point of a Mad Max film after all but what I really mean is sometimes it becomes impossible to really invest yourself into this world because absolutely everyone in it has gone bonkers. Even when you think you are following completely sane characters in their venture for freedom, the film goes out of its way to remind you that they all have sanity issues and that is the only reason some of them are surviving at all.

The Positive

Everything has gone mad. Yes it can be a positive as well. The main driving force behind the Mad Max universe is that with everyone being insane you are going to witness some of the most insane action sequences. I simply must applaud director George Miller for his mastery in executing some of the most over the top and death-defying car stunts ever put to film. You do wonder how they pulled the majority of these stunts off with CGI being used to a bare minimum within this feature.  

This film is a marvel to look at. Between the high octane stunts and the gorgeous desert landscape, this movie captivates the audience. I honestly didn’t want to remove my eyes from the screen for even one second in case I missed another fantastic site to gawk at. Director George Miller has stated that he is releasing a version of the film that will be entirely in black and white. I’m really intrigued to see this version and how the new dynamic will change up the visual splendor this film provides.

One of the greatest aspects of this movie is the acting. Of particular note is Tom Hardy’s Mad Max who has surprisingly little dialogue yet says so much through simple gestures or looks. Max’s story arc of redemption is very subtle but one that is accomplished wonderfully. Nicholas Hoult also turns in a rather bizarre performance of War Boy Nux, but one that fits perfectly within this world. It is Nux’s story arc that really gives us a glimpse into how the main villain operates. The true star of the film is Charlize Theron’s performance as Imperator Furiosa. Theron’s performance commands every scene she is in and honestly eclipses everyone else in the film.

In Conclusion

I think that Fury Road lived up to a ton of the hype that it had going when it first came out. I also feel that the film probably isn’t as perfect as many critics make it out to be. This movie is a marvel to behold with insane stunts and wonderful performances by the entire cast. The issue being if you’re not into action films with insane over the top stunts performed by equally insane characters; this film is just not for you. I can see a great number of people not enjoying this film simply put because it’s not what they are into. For those who have been looking for a masterful work of art within the action genre, this is exactly what you have been waiting for. 4.2 out of 5.

Let's Review: Avengers: Age of Ultron

It can be near universally agreed upon that the first Avengers film was an astounding success. The plans for Phase One of the Marvel Cinematic Universe went off perfectly and culminated in one of the greatest superhero flicks of all time. That said, the hype for Age of Ultron could not have been higher. While I feel as though Phase 2 as a whole had a more disjointed plot with the buildup not necessarily being as clear as Phase 1, getting to see all of the Avengers back together again is certainly something I would look forward to. So did the sequel meet the hype of the first? Let’s review Avengers: Age of Ultron.

The Negative

Now I’ve been told that I have been picky about CGI in film in the past so I decided to check on the opinions of a few of my friends and they agreed with me. The CGI in this film was downright awful. Now it wasn’t every scene but it was rather obviously where their time and effort had been placed. The opening in particular is awful to look at. The scene looks like a poorly edited green screen mash up than a team action sequence. The interaction between the real world and the CGI was equally awful. There were many scenes between the Hulk and Black Widow where the two touch hands but it is glaringly obvious that she is holding her hand up to nothing. I do wonder if the film was pushed forward in order to meet the release date and they just couldn’t fix up the scenes to the perfection they could have been.

I think this film could have done much better had it been 5 hours long. I think the film was trying to handle way too much plot that it just couldn’t handle in a 2 and a half hour run time. The story just felt like it was rushing through every moment in order to reach the proper plot points it had to in order to be done. Now I’m not saying this is necessarily a bad thing as I was thoroughly enjoying the entire story I just feel that a little breathing room to give every character their moment to shine would have been nice. This was something handled very well in the first film, but not so much here.

The Positive

I think the film’s greatest success is its depiction of Ultron. Ultron is just a mere child and his personality as well as his actions reflects that. Ultron ultimately reflect his creator in that he mostly acts like the bratty child of Tony Stark. This depiction really threw me off though it was an absolute pleasure to watch. One of the great things the film provided was the contrast between Ultron and Vision. Both of them realize that humanity is doomed but whereas Ultron sees that destroying them now would save them all, Vision views it as a privilege to stand by humanity until the very end. The two represent the extremes of Tony Stark’s own personality and the struggles he is dealing with moving forward with the Avengers. Ultron represents death whereas Vision represents life. Moving forward from this film I look forward to seeing how they handle Stark’s character progression.

I am a big Hawkeye fan and if you were like me then you wondered why there has been such a drought of Hawkeye in any of these films. He certainly is there but he is also certainly the least developed member of the team. This film goes out of its way to correct that by having massive Hawkeye development moments. He bizarrely brings a sort of real world view to this realm of superheroes and it’s a rather fantastic performance. Hawkeye got just the right amount of character development he needed that he was sorely lacking in all of the other films.

I honestly loved the plot of this film especially the character development given to the massive amount of cast members. As I stated early I just wish the film could have been longer to allow these character moments to breathe a little more. As an example, I felt like Thor really acted like Thor from the comics for the very first time in this film. He is a king from a supernatural realm, he would obviously act accordingly to the visions granted to him by Scarlet Witch and go seek council about what he saw. This plot thread gets very little screen time but was one of my all time favorite moments in the film. I just wish there was more time to expand out these moments a little more.

In Conclusion

I think after I saw the movie and walked out of the theater I honestly hated it. I told you I am fairly nitpicky about my CGI in films, but after sitting on it a few days I really got the chance to mull over what I really liked about the film and came to realize that I actually had a really great time with this film. I don’t think it’s better than the first Avengers film, but I doubt many things could outshine the planning put behind that. I highly recommend seeing this film especially since my only real complaint is that I wish it had been longer. 3.9 out of 5.

Top 10 Corrupting Artifacts

In my opinion, one of the greatest story tropes for evil spawning into a world is an ancient artifact being re-discovered and that particular item corrupts its user to the point of becoming the next great evil. I’ve always enjoyed the thought of an all powerful item that may seem worth it at the time, but will ultimately lead to the doom of everyone involved with it. With the return of Majora’s Mask on the Nintendo 3DS; I’ve decided to put these cursed items into a top 10 list. As per usual I have a few runners-up:

-The Crown of Flame (Hellboy)

-The Sands of Time (Prince of Persia)

-The Mask (The Mask)

Now without further delay, here is my top 10 corrupting artifacts.

10 -The Death Note (Death Note)

What happens when a shinigami, a death god, becomes bored and decides to ‘misplace’ his death journal in the human world? A journal that allows you to control who dies and how they die is probably one of the most terrifying powers released into the hands of one person. The morality of the person who uses it is probably already questionable at best but once they fully tap into the potential of the Death Note, they just might envision themselves as gods of a new world order.

9 -The Infinity Gauntlet (Marvel Comics)

The six infinity gems are ancient relics of the universe that literally represent aspects of the universe itself. Hold one gem and you can control that aspect of the universe. If you hold all six at once, you are the universe, shaping and molding it as only you see fit. No matter how pure hearted the wielder is, eventually the gems will change your perspective. Everything will just seem so small and meaningless in the wake of your awesome power to control all of reality…no, all of your reality.

8 -The Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter)

“There were once three brothers travelling along a lonely, winding road at twilight”

If Death is congratulating you on besting him and offering you tokens for your victory, you best be wary of the gifts you receive. Death is a manipulator with a sense of irony, if Death feels that you have cheated him somehow, he’ll find a way to make you suffer before you die more than likely with the item you have sought after most. Even after the Deathly Hallows left the possession of the three brothers their winding road through history has lead many people who have sought them out to a bloody end.

7 -Orange Lantern (DC comics)

“Mine.”

The emotional spectrum is a vast power source that draws its energy from specific emotions with different colors matching different emotions. One of the worst ones to get a hold of is the orange lantern which represents the emotion of avarice. Those who dare to touch it perhaps even glance at it will be consumed by greed. Anything that person use to be now belongs to the orange lantern. There is only one orange lantern member and that is because sharing will never be allowed. All other members of the orange lantern corp. are the souls of those who have tried to take it for themselves and failed.

6 -Ice King’s Crown (Adventure Time)

 “…I see the visions always, whether or not I wear the crown. They tell me the secrets…the secrets of ice and snow…that the power of the crown will save me with its frost.”

Originally a Wish Crown created by the ice elemental, Urgence Evergreen, the crown’s original purpose was to grant Evergreen the power to eliminate an oncoming comet that was going to destroy all life. Unfortunately the crown ended up in the hands of Evergreen’s assistant, Gunter, who used the crown’s wish granting power to try and become a great wizard like his mentor. This wish granted Gunter great power of ice and snow, but sadly drove him insane, morphing him into a mad copy of his master. Thus whenever someone puts on the crown, they are now forced to relive Gunter’s horrible mistake.

5 -Sith Holocrons (Star Wars)

Those who stand on the Dark Side will not live on in the Force upon their death, thus the only way to pass on their knowledge is to leave recordings, known as holocrons. Jedi holocrons usually teach wisdom, Sith holocrons whisper only power. Sometimes just the promise of power is enough to corrupt even the purest of spirits. Most Sith seek out immortality, but ultimately only live on as recordings, leading other poor souls down the corrupted path they had once taken themselves.

4 -The Millennium Items (Yu-Gi-Oh!)

In ancient times of Egypt, the Shadow Games ruled the land. Mystics and sorcerers employed their arts to access the immense power of the Shadow Realm, which caused chaos throughout the lands. Eventually, control and access to the Shadow Realm was bound to seven golden artifacts known as Millennium Items. Now the Shadow Games can only be enacted by the wielders of these items. Beware the use of the Shadow Realm’s dark energies can corrupt any man….and the spirits that dwell within the items can corrupt even more so. 

3 -Majora’s Mask (Legend of Zelda)

"You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?"

The mask was said to originally be used by an ancient tribe in hexing rituals, other rumors suggest that it was forged from the last remaining will of a demon, either way the mask possesses a will of its own. It may allow users to wear it in order to get some bizarre sense of fun out of the twisted whims of its host’s body, but ultimately the mask is corrupting the user and forcing them towards acts of pure evil. No sane man would wish the moon to crash into the Earth, only the insane machinations of the mask would see something like that as a fun game.  

2 -Soul Edge (Soul Calibur)

“Transcending history and the world, a tale of souls and swords, eternally retold…”

After being bathed in the blood and hatred of countless individuals, this cursed blade eventually developed a demonic soul that took the name Inferno. Now whenever the blade is grasped, it drives its wielder completely insane, overriding their mind with its own demonic lust. The blade craves more blood, but even more so, it craves the souls of those its slain.

1 -The One Ring (Lord of the Rings)

“My precious…..”

If for a second you thought anything else might be at the top of this list, there is something severely wrong with you. The one ring was forged with the thought to rule over all of Middle Earth. Sauron placed much of his power into the ring, something that greatly enhanced his abilities, but made him almost entirely dependent on the ring for survival. The ring has a will of its own and will subtly enact its own plans. The ring’s greatest power is that it makes you want to possess it above any other wants or needs.  Whether corrupting users into wraiths or leading them to unfortunate ends, the one ring seems to have more control over its bearers than they do over it. 

Let's Review: Jupiter Ascending

The Wachowskis are producers that I always love to see pop up. While I don’t believe they have had a film as successful or memorable as The Matrix, I always believe their films are worth the watch. If nothing else their films are always a technical and visual marvel to behold. That said I am always hopeful that their next movie will take me on an imaginative thrill ride the way The Matrix did. So was I astounded by their latest exploit? Let’s review Jupiter Ascending.

The Negative

This guy is quite literally the personification of the male romantic interest trope. He is a bad boy, who has a bad history with authority, who also happens to be genetically spliced with a wolf but bred without a pack to look after meaning he is literally a “lone wolf” character, who also happens to be a fallen angel who had his wings removed, who also happens to need to be taught how to love someone else, who also happens to be a daring swashbuckler who fights using rollerblade like hover boots, who also likes to brood about his past without going into great detail, and so on. The more details I learned about his character the more I wondered just how many more tropes they could pile on top of him. The romantic storyline in this film was incredibly cheesy and poorly written. Mila Kunis tries her best with what she has been given, but whenever the film wants to suddenly drive forward the romance plot it always feels incredibly forced and clunky.

This film suffers from a damsel in CONSTANT distress plot line. While the story has a constantly moving plot with continuous action sequences, the majority of the film is spent with Kunis’ character being in some sort of peril and Tatum’s character having to rescue her out of it. Some scenes literally play out exactly the same way. At times I felt like I was re-watching the exact same action sequence just in a different setting. It almost becomes cliché by the end of the film where Kunis’ character is being held prisoner once more and only manages to get out of her jam with the bizarrely resourcefulness of Tatum’s character.

The Positive

If I were to describe this film, I would call it the modernization of classic sci-fi. This movie feels like Flash Gordon, Jack Kirby’s New Gods, or Silver Surfer but having the benefit of being produced with modern technological spectacle. There is a level of fantastic epic that is achieved by sci-fi stories like these. They don’t fully care to explain themselves nor should they have to. We don’t need to know what keeps the Silver Surfer’s power cosmic constantly flowing, we don’t need to know what technologies allow Ming the Merciless to terrorize the planet Earth, explicitly explaining those elements would remove the fantastic nature of them. This film is shamelessly sci-fi fantasy and it loves to be it. This is exactly where the sci-fi genre thrives. When it has fantastic elements and never feels the need to sit you down for a lecture about its overall concepts.

As stated before, this is a film by the Wachowskis, thus it is a beautiful rendered visual splendor. Every action sequence is a marvel to watch thanks in no small part to the imaginative and fluid design of the technology as well as the cast of characters that inhabit this universe. Many of the ships have this beautiful look about them that feels reminiscent of a mansion fusing with a regal sail barge. Combined with the fact that these ships move like mesmerizing fish in water, and they are just a spectacle to behold. Many of the character designs are also praiseworthy, particularly the design of the human faced robots that seem to populate most corners of this galaxy. These androids were just awesome to look at in every scene they were featured in.

In Conclusion

I love classic sci-fi, but I understand that it’s not for everyone. Jupiter Ascending is a perfect example of what made classic sci-fi so wonderful to watch, yet at the same time it also suffers from the same tropes that make classic sci-fi so easy to mock by the average viewer. The cheesy sci-fi elements that make me truly love this film, stop it from being enjoyed by the populace at large. I think this film really could have been something fantastic if a little more caution was put into which classic tropes to bring into this story. 3.8 out of 5.

Top 10 Ice Manipulators

Ah winter, an absolute wonderland of…..cold, bitter bitter cold. So to celebrate the cold dead of winter, I’ve decided to create a top 10 list on individuals with ice manipulation powers. You may ask why? I will respond with because I am very cold where I am right now and it seems to be the only thing on my mind at the moment. Before I begin here are some runner-ups

-Frozone (The Incredibles)
-Snow Miser (The Year Without a Santa Clause)
-Killer Frost (DC comics)

Now without further delay, here is my Top 10 Ice Manipulators

10 – Kopaka (Bionicle)

One of the six Toa who were destined to reawaken the great spirit, Mata Nui, Kopaka is the master of Ice. Kopaka is a solitary warrior, preferring to spend his time alone in the cold mountains, only aiding the other Toa when the trials they face are truly treacherous or of the utmost importance. When Kopaka does enter the battlefield the conflict is usually ended rather quickly as his ice blade can freeze mass landscapes in a single swipe…..I miss when Bionicles were cool.

9 – Iceman (X-Men)

I feel like Iceman should be higher on this list, but the truth is he is one of the most underutilized X-Men. For being one of the original members of the team, Iceman has not evolved past his original core concept of being the comical youngster in the group. Even when Iceman has story arcs that raise his maturity or vastly increase his powers to god-like levels, writers typically regress him back to the childish comedian he originally was. Unfortunately this lost amount of potential for his character holds him back from being higher on this list.

8 – Jack Frost

Don’t be fooled by the picture I put up there, this is a place holder for all versions of Jack Frost. Frost is known as a mischievous spirit typically being held responsible for the nipping of your nose in cold weather, leaving fern-like ice patterns on windows, and generally frosty weather conditions. Frost is the oldest ice manipulator on this list, but I wouldn’t say his power over cold is what he is most known for. Jack Frost is better known for being a free spirit who enjoys just playing with his abilities like simple tricks, thus the reason why he is so low on the list.

7 – Sub-Zero (Mortal Kombat)

Okay so… the original Sub-Zero killed a rival ninja named Hanzo Hasashi, who then came back as a specter known as Scorpion who then killed Sub-Zero in the first Mortal Kombat tournament, but then the original Sub-Zero was resurrected as the un-dead warrior Noob Saibot, but the younger brother of Noob Saibot didn’t know about his brother’s resurrection and took up the title of Sub-Zero himself in order to gain vengeance against Scorpion but then none of this matters anymore due to Raiden’s interference in the timeline causing Noob Saibot to be resurrected as a Cyborg Sub-Zero instead and…..and……and I don’t think anyone really plays Mortal Kombat for the story do they?.....SUB-ZERO IS A REALLY COOL NINJA WITH ICE POWERS! Moving on to the next one.

6 – Ice King (Adventure Time)

What started off as a creepy old man who kidnaps princesses…stayed a creepy old man who kidnaps princesses, but one that we sympathize and pity.  Simon Petrikov was just a normal person, studying to become an antiquarian, but his entire life was changed the second he put that crown upon his head. The crown whispered the secrets of ice and snow into Simon’s ear but drove him utterly insane in the process. Thus Simon became the immortal insane Ice King.

5 – Elsa (Frozen)

There has been a bit of a backlash due to the over exposure of this movie even a year after its release, but to be honest I really enjoyed this film. I feel like Disney did a really good job with her character and the development she receives throughout the story.  We get the tale of someone with extraordinary abilities that are repressed and hidden due to fear as well as misunderstanding. In all honesty, this was the story of every X-Man character wrapped up in a fantastic Disney musical.

4 – Horohoro (Shaman King)

What’s wrong with wanting to fuse with the Great Spirit, the nexus point where all souls are created and end up, just to make a vast field of butterbur? Absolutely nothing, but when you are aiming to attain god-hood, you’d think he would have set his goals a little higher. Not to say that Horohoro didn’t need to enter the Shaman King tournament at all….but he could have just planted a vast field on his own. I’m not complaining though, without this bizarre drive, we would have never met one of the greatest characters in this series.

3 – Elijah Snow (Planetary)

Elijah Snow is a Century Baby, being born on January 1^st, 1999, thus we can obviously reach the conclusion that he was born with extreme control over temperature and is practically immortal...you see the logic don’t you, but it’s not really the origins that make a person great, it is their actions. Snow’s actions were to set up an organization that would seek out the bizarre and weird in the world in order to chronicle them as well as to use that knowledge for the betterment of mankind.

2 – Kuzan (One Piece)

Kuzan, or better known as the former Admiral Aokiji, is one of the most powerful figures in the One Piece universe. Having eaten the Hie Hie no Mi fruit, Kuzan has the ability to manipulate all forms of ice and cold as well as transform himself into a being of pure ice. Kuzan is considered to be a generally lazy character but due to his extreme skill level he managed to rank up to Admiral of the Marines. Unfortunately when it came time to select a new Fleet Admiral he didn’t want the position but didn’t want Admiral Akainu to get it more. After losing a brutal match against Akainu, Kuzan left the Marines and now wanders the oceans just trying to protect his friends from the corruption of the world.

1 – Mr. Freeze (Batman: The Animated Series)

“Think of it Batman…to never again walk on a summer’s day with a hot wind in your face and a warm hand to hold. Oh yes…I’d kill for that…”

This may be entirely biased. Mr. Freeze is my all time favorite Batman villain, specifically this version of him. This was when they did Mr. Freeze right. Changing his origin story to that of a man desperately trying to save his loved one was a masterstroke on Paul Dini’s part. Being so close to your beloved yet never being able to touch again due to layers of ice would drive anyone mad. This is the version of Mr. Freeze I hope we get to see put to live action someday, instead of that horrific depiction by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Hopefully this list will keep you warm in the cold days of winter…..or not.

Let's Review: The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

 

To be honest I have been having a hard time with the Hobbit films. I enjoy them, but not as much as I think I should and I don’t hate them as much as other people do. I think my position on The Hobbit movies is similar to my stance on the Star Wars prequel trilogy. I enjoy it, but I do understand that it is significantly less than the original trilogy’s quality. So how do I feel about the final Hobbit movie? Let’s review The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.

The Negative

The cliffhanger from the last film was completely unnecessary. If you know the story of The Hobbit, then you know that Smaug the dragon dies. The cliffhanger from the previous film ends with Smaug flying to Laketown in order to destroy it. This film opens with Smaug already at Laketown setting it ablaze. Smaug then proceeds to die within the first 10 minutes of the film before the opening titles are even up. If Smaug was going to die so early I feel like there wasn’t much of a point to that cliffhanger. I get that it allows for a major action piece to come early in the film, but it just feels like we were manipulated into expected a bigger confrontation.

I’m not sure if I liked this movie because it was good or because it was so over the top ridiculously bad that I enjoyed it anyways. This film included scenes such as Gandalf desperately trying to get a fix from his pipe, Legolas riding a giant bat upside down, giant war worms that appear and then never again, a dwarf who wields a giant hammer but uses headbutts more, a battle-moose, and a Were-Bear air drop. Are these moments good or are they so bad that they are good? To be perfectly honest, I saw this film awhile ago and I still can’t decide.

The Positive

I really liked the design of this film. The Middle Earth films have always had beautiful designs and set pieces, but this film definitely pulled it off. There is a moment where every member of our band of dwarves puts on new armor to prepare for the upcoming battle and each of the new armaments looked absolutely stunning. There were very few pieces of armor in this film that I wouldn’t want to own myself. As a final romp into the realm of Middle Earth, this movie was beautiful to look at.

This film was very well paced. I understand that this was the shortest of the Middle Earth films and it feels like it. The majority of the film is the title battle and the film keeps a breakneck speed throughout the fight. Normally I find myself checking my watch on longer films due to some flabby piece in the middle that probably could have been shortened, but this filmed did a good job with every minute of its screen time.

In Conclusion

Did I have a good time? Yes, and that’s what this review really comes down to. Whether the film was just good or so bad that it was good, I still enjoyed the film and had a great time. I feel like one little book didn’t have to be spread so thin across 3 movies, but overall this series has been a fun ride for me. I feel like it’s time to put Middle Earth to bed…..and not returned to. There really isn’t much else that can be adapted to film and they shouldn’t try to be honest. Leave Middle Earth to these two wonderful trilogies that we got. 3.5 out of 5.

Let's Review: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1

The Hunger Games is a series I enjoy but don’t love. I feel like the series has a brilliant plot, but I feel like each of the films have one critical error to them that stops me from fully enjoying this series as much as I should. The first film had very tight and choppy camera work while the second film took far too long to actually get to the Hunger Game which was ultimately just a brief part of the movie. I was very excited to see this film, but at the same time I was concerned that something else was going to let me down. Did I enjoy the film or did it disappoint? Let’s review The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1.

The Negative

I don’t really hate this film, I hate Harry Potter. Rather I hate the trend that the Harry Potter films started. It made since to split the final Harry Potter book into two films as it was a ridiculously large book and squeezing it all into one film would have had to cut out major portions of the story. Unfortunately, this has caused film producers to take on an ‘every final book in a series needs to be split into two films’ approached to adaptation. Not every book series needs this approach though. Mockingjay is 390 pages long; the final Harry Potter book was 759 pages long. The reason I bring this up is because the pacing in this film was terrible. There are definitely some awesome action pieces and plot moments that occur in this movie, but in between those moments was some serious flab that could have been cut out.

The Positive

One of the greatest aspects of The Hunger Games series is its depiction of propaganda and manipulating the populace. This is a war that can be fought and won on either side, but it entirely depends on who the people are rooting for. Katniss isn’t so much a warrior for District 13 to rely on but she is their weapon of propaganda. Katniss is a symbol that the people can rally behind, sure it’s great that she can hold her own in a fight and she is very level-headed, but ultimately it is the idea of Katniss that will set the flames of war ablaze. This is why I love this series so much as it rings true that wars are won by having the people on your side. The propaganda caused by this war is almost more important than fighting it as the media war is the true battlefield.

The tone of this film was significantly darker. The Hunger Games series has always had a dark tone but this was the film that truly felt like war was being waged between The Capitol and District 13. This tone shift really makes this movie, as we are no longer witnessing a game of survival but a war for freedom. The film regularly cuts out of the main characters to show how the various districts are responding to the propaganda battle and it beautiful sets the tone of the severity of the situation as well as the importance of winning this battle.

In Conclusion

I am growing concerned with book to film adaptations as the film industries seems to think that extending them out for as long as possible is a good thing. While extending the plot of a book can lead to interesting changes or insights we never thought about before, true thought should be put into how a plot can be improved before just going ahead and splitting it just to have another film. I think Mockingjay has a very good plot and characters but ultimately suffers from being spread too thin among 2 films. 3.8 out of 5.