Three stars. Rated PG-13, for violence, disturbing action and dramatic intensity
By Derrick Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 11.21.14
As was true of its two
predecessors, this newest big-screen installment in the Hunger Games franchise
follows its source quite closely.
Which, in this case, isn’t a good
thing.
Suzanne Collins’ third novel is gawdawful:
a complete betrayal of her characters, and of her readers. I can’t imagine what
the author was smoking when she wrote it, but this much is obvious: Her heart
wasn’t in it, and — in hindsight — she should have quit after the first one.
My sympathies therefore lie with
scripters Peter Craig and Danny Strong, tasked with making a cinematic silk
purse out of this sow’s ear of a book. With credits such as The Town, Game
Change and Lee Daniels’ The Butler, they seem an odd choice to craft a
post-apocalyptic narrative that spends so much time inside the head of a strong
and resourceful young woman, which may explain why Katniss Everdeen is such a
mess in this film.
Not even Jennifer Lawrence, who
aside from her considerable talent certainly knows this character by now, can
persuasively deliver the frankly ludicrous emotional arcs demanded by this
storyline.
On top of which, this film
suffers the problem that plagued the penultimate Harry Potter film. Both J.K.
Rowling’s The Deathly Hallows and Collins’ Mockingjay save most of their
action for the second half, limiting the first portions to sidebar exposition and
increasingly melodramatic angst.
If Hollywood, in its cynical
desire to wring as much money as possible from these franchises, chops each
final book in half, we’re therefore tormented with a two-hour film “teaser”
that accomplishes ... almost nothing. Harry Potter 7.1 was a yawn: a
time-filler that should have been subtitled Harry and Hermione Go Camping.
Hunger Games 3.1, in turn,
should be dubbed Katniss Has a Good Cry. Repeatedly.
It’s not that Katniss doesn’t
deserve an emotional collapse; goodness knows, she has been through a lot during
the year-plus covered by the first two books (and films). But it’s distressing
to see a character who initially impressed us as a resourceful fighter,
suddenly transformed into a near-helpless victim who gets acted upon.
Granted, Katniss is destined to
regain her spunk as things continue, but that’s a discussion for next year’s Hunger Games 3.2.
Meanwhile, we’re stuck with this
one.
When last we saw Katniss, she had
just destroyed the entire Hunger Games arena while the entire Panem viewing
audience watched, agog; she then was swept away by rebels from the
hitherto-believed-destroyed District 13. An enraged President Snow (Donald
Sutherland) responded by fire-bombing Katniss’ home community — District 12 —
out of existence.
Thanks to quick thinking on the
part of her longtime sorta-kinda lover, Gale (Liam Hemsworth), roughly 10
percent of the district was saved, including Katniss’ mother (Paula Malcomson)
and sister, Prim (Willow Shields). They’ve all been embraced by District 13,
joined by — surprise, surprise — the most recent Hunger Games designer,
Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who has been a clandestine member
of the rebel alliance all along.
Katniss is astonished to discover
that the many District 13 inhabitants are doing quite well in their underground
bunker community, and in fact have the well-armed means to mount serious
strikes against Snow and his fortified District 1. But such a rebellion can’t succeed
unless all the other districts also get on board, and they need to be motivated
by a living symbol: Katniss, ideally playing up the mockingjay emblem that she
has embraced.
But Katniss is feeling neither
symbolic nor cooperative; she’s furious and distraught because the
aforementioned rescue mission — which also saved Finnick (Sam Claflin) and
Beetee (Jeffrey Wright) — failed to prevent Snow’s Peacekeepers from snatching
Johanna (Jena Malone) and most particularly Katniss’ fellow Hunger Games
victor, Peeta (Josh Hutcherson).
(Katniss’ personal life remains
complicated. She actually loves Gale, but has been forced to pretend otherwise;
she never thought of Peeta as more than a friend, but has been forced to
pretend to love him. We must remember that Collins’ target readership was
teenage girls.)
District 13 President Alma Coin
(Julianne Moore) fears that Katniss may be emotionally broken beyond repair;
Plutarch believes otherwise. Their “Mockingjay” simply needs fresh motivation,
and that won’t be in short supply, with the Hitler-esque Snow calling the shots
throughout Panem.
The bulk of this newest Hunger
Games chapter, then, is devoted to Plutarch’s efforts to transform Katniss
into an effective propaganda star for inspirational video spots helmed by ace
director Cressida (Natalie Dormer) and filmed by guerilla cinematographers
Castor (Wes Chatham) and Pollux (Elden Henson).
So, yes, we’re watching a movie
... about a character trying to make movies.
And that, ironically, nails this
film’s core problem: It lacks the immediacy and emotional verisimilitude of its
two predecessors. At one point, Katniss’ trainer Haymitch (Woody Harrelson)
challenges Coin, Beetee, Plutarch and some colleagues to recall the moments when
Katniss most inspired them; the answers are, indeed, some of the most powerful
incidents from the first two books and movies.
Nothing in this film, however,
comes even close.
Not even after this chapter’s
sole action scene, when Katniss and Gale attempt to prevent Peacekeeper planes
from destroying a District 8 hospital. In the aftermath, as Cressida orders
Katniss to speak earnestly, about what has just happened — Castor and Pollux
duly recording the results — the result feels .... contrived. Lawrence’s heart
doesn’t seem to be in it, and her tears look like (ahem) acting.
The magic is gone.
Instead, we sense only
obligation: the need to go through the motions and slog along, so that the
story can wheeze and gasp its way to a conclusion. Collins hasn’t the faintest
understanding of endgame, and Craig and Strong clearly weren’t in a position to
“correct” her.
They do try, though, particularly
during a climactic assault on District 1 that concludes this installment: a
rebel sortie that took place entirely off-camera in Collins’ book (and how daft
was that?). We get to watch that mission unfold here, as director Francis
Lawrence builds the only suspense present in this entire film.
As you’ve undoubtedly gathered by
now, we’ve accumulated a lot of characters during the course of this vicious
and frequently mean-spirited saga; this installment introduces even more. As a
result, we get only brief glimpses of stalwarts such as Haymitch and Prim,
although both Harrelson and Shields make the most of their screen time.
Elizabeth Banks stands out as
former District 1 costumer Effie Trinket, now a reluctant rebel due to her
fondness for Katniss; Effie is a hoot, and Banks has fun with her caustic
one-liners. Mahershala Ali, a busy character actor best known for TV shows such
as The 4400 and Treme, is warmly authoritative as Boggs, President Coin’s
right-hand man.
Hoffman and Moore seem to be
slumming, neither bringing any particular oomph to their roles. Hoffman’s
Plutarch was a lot more interesting in the previous film, when we thought he
was one of the bad guys; here he’s rather bland.
Claflin has some solid moments as
the emotionally shattered Finnick, while Hutcherson tries his best — not
successfully — to deliver an emotional arc that’s even crazier than what
Lawrence attempts to accomplish with Katniss. Hemsworth’s Gale gets one genuinely
touching moment with Katniss, after which he’s simply ... stoic.
Actually, the acting standout
here is Sutherland, who brings delicious malevolence to his portrayal of the
reprehensible Snow; he’s quite chilling during one exchange with Katniss ... a
truly terrifying villain.
The tech credits and special
effects are top-notch, as always; production designer Philip Messina is particularly
imaginative with District 13’s underground community. Effie Trinket’s presence
in this chapter notwithstanding, we get none of the opulently crazed costumes
that Judianna Makovsky and Trish Summerville concocted in the two earlier
films; this time out, everybody is stuck with boot camp fatigues.
Those familiar with Collins’ book
won’t have any trouble predicting where this film will stop, having hit an
ideal cliff-hanger; it’s as good a place as any, to leave us hanging until next
November.
At which point, we’ll find out if
Lawrence, Strong and Craig are able to soften some of the unforgivably heinous
shocks that Collins throws into the final chapters of her novel.
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