Why Mockingjay Part 1 Works

As much as I love the Harry Potter series, there was always something awkward about splitting the final book into two separate movies (something that's apparently becoming quite a popular move for studios these days). The first half of that seventh book is easily the most boring and frustrating segment of the entire franchise... so giving it its own movie when parts of books four, five, and six were so awkwardly breezed over seemed almost criminal at the time. Still Harry Potter was good enough. So when Lionsgate came out and said they were going to do a similar thing with the final Hunger Games book, I groaned. It felt like just another money grab.

But Mockingjay is very different from The Deathly Hallows. And walking out of this movie, I felt like they actually did find enough material and import... Mockingjay Part 1 made sense. Despite the awkward cliffhanger ending (which if you'll recall also existed in Catching Fire), there was a legitimate through line. The characters seemed to develop in the way you'd hope for an individual feature. Plot was given its due to the point that the movie never felt like it was just treading water. In short, the split of Mockingjay into two films seems to be working.

Combine that thought with the chance to see Philip Seymour Hoffman at least one more time on screen and I gotta admit I'm a little excited for the final piece of this series.

Now I'm honestly not as big a fan of Jennifer Lawrence as the rest of the world seems to be. I generally feel like she gets more credit than she deserves because her personality outside of the movies feels like the opposite of the kind of celebrity attitude we've come to expect. But she did have some solid moments here. She did just enough to keep me on board and at the end of the day, that's all you can ask for. Donald Sutherland seems to be having a blast throughout this franchise, and I really like to see that. When good actors are having fun, you know good things are gonna happen. So between Woody Harrelson, Julianne Moore, Elizabeth Banks, and Stanley Tucci it became apparent that the studio understood this methodology and truly spared no expense in getting such high caliber actors for their big time book franchise.

Mockingjay Part 1 works. It's as simple as that. And I won't be one to argue with Lionsgate or anyone else about their choices as far as this franchise is concerned. The first Hunger Games was so-so, but since then it's all been up hill.

A Most Wanted (Philip Seymour Hoff)Man

This is nearly the final film we'll ever get to see Philip Seymour Hoffman in. And I for one am just relieved that it's actually worth the price of admission. See, it's easy to get lost in the idea that everyone is just on board because one of the greats of our time made this into their swan song. But believe me when I tell you, there is far more to this movie than that.

A Most Wanted Man is an exceptionally crafted tale of espionage in the modern age... as expertly constructed by the master of the genre John le Carré. You know his work: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Constant Gardener, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. The man's been writing novels in the genre for years and there's a very good reason so many of his tales have been adapted to the screen... Still, this particular story is somehow different. It hits closer to home than those more classic tales. It takes place now (or as close to now as is necessary).

Hoffman plays a German intelligence agent desperately fighting an uphill battle to both protect his own country from terrorism and prove to other nations with larger firms that the world can be saved using more peaceful tactics rather than just shipping off every would be terrorist to some invisible prison to be tortured. It's invigorating to watch his character work and up until the final moment it is still hard to know if he is a trustworthy individual... if his plan is legitimate... if the intel is correct. This is a fascinating performance in the annuls of his career and he will be sorely missed.

Yet he is not the only actor in the movie. FAR from it. Rachel McAdams with a German accent actually does work! She gives an excellent performance. I am left wondering if there is, in fact, any role she can't play. If you compare her performance here to that of Mean Girls, it's hard to believe this is the same person. Willem Dafoe is always a pleasure to watch and does not disappoint as a conflicted banker. I also appreciated Robin Wright. And while I believe he is sadly underutilized, Daniel Brühl still manages to give a quality performance. Grigoriy Dobrygin does a fine job as the referenced title character, but at the end of the day it really isn't his movie, and that becomes apparent as the story progresses. Still, it is very interesting to watch him struggle with his past and the potentials that his future might hold.

Anton Corbijn did an admirable job. At first I couldn't really feel any style from the movie... which seemed odd because this is the same guy who directed The American, a film that only seemed to exist for the purpose of style. But as the story progressed, this beautiful flower seemed to blossom. The script was almost too smart for its own good (something I never thought I'd hear myself say), yet by the end, all of the oddness that came from the shock of entering this world of espionage seemed to dissipate in favor of a truly exceptional finale. For that, I think Andrew Bovell also deserves a great deal of credit. He managed to condense something in danger of being far too convoluted into a very watchable movie. Now that's good writing!

A Most Wanted Man is already in the Oscar discussion and it's not just because of Philip Seymour Hoffman. This is a legitimately good movie. And well worth your time.

Catching Fire Is So Much Better Than Its Predecessor

I did not expect much from Catching Fire.

After all, The Hunger Games had managed to take an interesting concept and make it utterly boring. Before the film was first released, I actively wanted to sit down and read the books. Then I saw what had made it to screen and felt the novel couldn't possibly be as good as everyone said. But Catching Fire has inverted that disposition. Now I'm back on board. I wanna read all three. I really do.

There was something about this film that was just so much more compelling. Granted, the information had to be there from the first one. But this time around it just felt as though the filmmakers managed to hit all of those little notes that the first one skipped over. Characters were more relatable, relationships seemed more consistent, the world felt clearer... pretty much anything that could have been better, was.

Well minus some of the effects, but even most of those were passable.

The thing that worked the least for me about the first one was the foreknowledge that almost everyone you met was going to die (something that's never a problem in Battle Royale by the way).

Oh, they're all gonna die.

This was made worse by the casting of a slew of no-names with little to no shot of ever being recognized for their five seconds of screen time... Once again, Catching Fire fixed that.

In adding actors like Jeffrey Wright, Philip Seymour Hoffman (a huuuge upgrade over Wes Bentley), and Jena Malone in supporting roles it felt like the filmmakers were actively making decisions about how big this franchise could be.

I know there's only one left, but perhaps that one can be the biggest and best.

Catching Fire is simply a better movie than I anticipated. And I'm glad. I mean, who likes to waste their time on a bad movie?