Mockingjay, Part 1

Welcome to the second to last movie based off of the Hunger Games books.  The journey has been long and arduous, but the Mockingjay continues on her quest for revenge.

Katniss Everdeen has been on quite the journey over the past few years.  She has gone from a girl who wanted to save her sister to the face of the rebellion against the Capitol.  And she has not emerged unscathed.  She is currently a profoundly damaged individual who has seen and lost more than anyone can reasonably expect to deal with.  She has been forced into a relationship she didn’t seek even though she does love the boy, she has seen friends and allies murdered, her home has been destroyed, the president has personally threatened her and her loved ones, and her allies have lied to and used her.  Anyone who can emerge from all of this undamaged has something wrong with them, and Katniss most definitely does not have anything wrong with her.

Jennifer Lawrence did a marvelous job showing the effects that the past two years have had on Katniss.  While retaining the core of strength that has helped Katniss survive, Jennifer also shows the vulnerability that Katniss has.  She cares so much about the people in her life and has such empathy for other people that she often has to wall herself away to maintain any semblance of sanity.  She was at her best in the scene in the hospital in District 8 when she said that she was the Mockingjay and would fight for everyone.  That particular scene was incredibly touching and very poignant.   Yet, just a few minutes later, she showed another side of Katniss, the fire and drive that has made her the enemy that President Snow so fears.  The ironic thing is that President Snow had a huge part in making her that enemy.  Like many tyrants, he laid the groundwork that created his ultimate enemy, the implacable foe who will do almost anything to stop him.

Josh Hutcherson continued to a wonderful job as Peeta Mellark.  While it was never specifically stated, I suspect that the Capitol threatened Katniss if he did not do what they wanted.  He toed the line to keep peace, which is in keeping with the Peeta we have seen in the earlier films, but when he saw Katniss in the ruins of District 12, that was enough to get him to rebel against the Capitol himself.  And in the final scenes where he attacked Katniss and where he was restrained in the bed, we saw the damage that has been done to him.  The closest thing this universe has to a white hat has been permanently damaged by what the Capitol has done to him.

The rest of the cast also did a great job.  Julianne Moore played President Coin with a quiet strength that conceals a dangerous enmity towards anyone who crosses her.  The late Phillip Seymour Hoffman showed Plutarch Heavensbee out of his comfort zone, but desperately trying to maintain control of the situation.  Liam Hemsworth gave us more depth to Gale Hawthorne in just a few scenes than we have gotten from the previous 2 movies together.  And Elizabeth Banks gave us a sartorially toned down Effie Trinket, without missing any of her personality.

Ever since they announced that the book would be split into two movies, a lot of people have bene complaining that it was only done for money.  While I have no doubt that was a part of the decision, I also want to note that had they tried to fit everything from the book into one movie, they would have had to cut out huge swaths of the story, which would have caused these same people to complain about that.  So pick whether you want to have more of the story from the book or only one movie.  Personally, I go with the former and am very glad that they chose that route.

As for the ending, I have read other reviews where people complained that it seemed sudden.  Had I been given a choice where to end the book, I would have chosen one of two spots: when they chose or when Katniss announced that she wanted to go to the Capitol to kill President Snow.  I think this ending, where you saw Peeta through a window framed by Katniss’ horrified face, made for the perfect ending to lead us to the final movie next year.

Shelter

I can't believe that I've never written about the film Shelter.  The film is easily in my top 10 list (would put it at 6 or 7) and is one of those movies that I have a very hard time getting too much of.  If you want a synopsis of the film, click on the link above which does a good job at summarizing the film.

Plotwise, it is a fairly boiler plate film.  As one critic put it, "Shelter is a gay movie like other American gay movies. Boy meets boy. Boy comes out. Boys fight opposition. Opposition caves. If there's life beyond the closet, too few movies know it exists."  While this is harsh, it is also essentially true.  Most LGBT movies that I have seen end with a dramatic scene where a homophobic person is confronted and backs down.  But then again, a lot of romances and other movies end on a similar note, so this is not a conceit peculiar to the genre.

The reason I love this film is that you can really relate to the characters of Zach and Shaun.  Zach is a pretty normal guy who realizes that he has feelings for Shaun after Shaun kisses him.  In an interview, Trevor Wright (who plays Zach) said that Zach "didn’t know if he was gay or straight. He wasn’t 'born gay.' He had such a strong bond with this guy and was so intrigued by Shaun’s character that Zack just dove in for it and really wanted to explore the idea where he did find himself being truly attracted to this guy. That’s what I’m such a supporter in the community, doing the NOH8 campaigns, and talking to the fans."  I found it a very nice take on the character and the genre.  All too often, these sorts of films fall into major cliches and this movie managed to avoid a lot of those, so that was nice.

What I loved the most is that Zach really struggled with how he should handle the situation.  His sister didn't want her son (Cody) hanging out with Shaun because Shaun would be a bad influence, and this had a major effect on Zach because he always put his family before himself.  He declined an opportunity to go to art school (on a full scholarship!) to help his sister and nephew out.  He also was rather obviously trying to reconcile the fact that he was falling in love with his best friend's older brother, which could be potentially awkward.

Shaun, on the other hand, was always sure that he wanted Zach and was invariably supportive of Zach and his endeavors.  Unbeknownst to Zach, Shaun sent his portfolio to the art school again (and he was accepted again).  He also cared deeply for Cody and did what he could to help him out.  I also liked that he was not above using a verbal 2x4 on Zach when necessary.  That is always a good thing.

It's really hard to explain more because so much of my love for the movie stems from my personal experiences which I have already written about extensively in various places.  Overall, the movie is one with a big, thumping heart and a whole lot of charm.  If you haven't seen it, give it a shot.  If you like gay romances, I can practically guarantee that you'll love Shelter.

Some thoughts on Amazing Spider-Man 2

Unlike my look at the first Amazing Spider-Man movie, this one is going to examine the story, so I will put in some spoiler space.  If you have not seen the movie and do not want to be spoiled, please do not read any further.  Otherwise, please continue....

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Ok, that should be enough space.  To put it simply,  I was disappointed in this movie.  The first one was so awesome that I had high hopes for this movie.  Also, from the previews, I had certain expectations which were not really met at all.  Don't get me wrong, I did not hate the movie, but it did leave me feeling like I was missing something or like the movie was incomplete.

First, what I liked.  Andrew Garfield did another amazing job as Spider-Man.  He has obviously been working out because he has lost some of the skinny twinkishness that he had in the last film in favor of a little more buff body.  And, just like last time, his chemistry with Emma Stone (and with Dane DeHaan) is incredible.  Everything seemed so effortless where he was concerned.  Emma Stone played a bit more of a secondary role this time, but did a great job with what she had.  Dane DeHaan did a wonderful job as Harry Osborn, very different from James Franco who had more idealism and innocence to his character, whereas DeHaan played him as more bitter at his father and life.

My main problem with the movie is that it lacked focus.  There were 3 villains (Electro, Green Goblin, and Rhino) any of whom could have made wonderful villains on their own, but who suffered because there was too much going on to really develop any of them.  In fact, they were almost incidental to showing how bad Oscorp was and how they were responsible for Parker's parents death.  There seemed to be a lot of dangling plot threads that were just left hanging.  Also, in most of the previews, there was a scene where Harry told Peter that Oscorp had a file on him.  That was never in the movie.  If it had been there, I think it would have really added to the main story.

I really think the movie should have focused on one, maybe two, villains and that would have made it much better.  I did love both Jamie Foxx as Electro and Dane DeHaan as the Green Goblin, but the Green Goblin was only in a very small portion of the movie and seemed to mainly serve to kill Gwen Stacy.  Then there was the ending which ended in the middle of a fight.  That was just a weird choice.  Not awful, but definitely weird.

I suspect that they are setting things up for the next movie, and if that is so, I may change my mind about this one.  But as the movie stands now, I can only give it 3 stars at best.  Worth watching and fun, but definitely not making the most of the potential that they had.  I really hope that the third movie (assuming they make one) is better, because this one was a disappointment.