The Hunger Games

I've just got back from watching The Hunger Games and thought I would let you guys know what I thought about it. So here goes.. Warning: Spoilers Ahead


The Hunger Games book is a deeply unsettling, emotional roller coaster, in which innocent teenagers are murdered for the entertainment of a communistic society. It is shocking, upsetting and an absolute thrill ride and I would greatly recommend it to everyone.


The Hunger Games movie is about a bunch of teenagers who get shoved in an arena and are forced to fight to the death.


Can you tell the difference?


I couldn't help but feel that a huge portion of the films emotion was removed to allow them to slip into the 12A (PG-13) bracket they so desperately wanted. And to me this left the whole experience feeling quite hollow. This is indeed a terrifying ordeal for the characters and 90% of the time I couldn't feel this. The other 22 contestants in the games were slightly one dimensional and therefore felt a little like cannon fodder.


The other thing I felt was severely lacking was any kind of music. This film could have done with some real emotional backing to help raise the emotional levels of the audience however it remained absent nearly throughout the entire film and I found this a little odd.


But it is still a good film. The acting is top notch and the script is relatively cringe free. the storyline is near enough an exact replica of that which takes place in the books and this is this movies strongest feature. The decidedly ominous clip of the beginning of revolution in district 11 began to stir interest in my mind as to how they will handle the events of the further movies. But for that we will have to wait and see.


So for people who have not read the book, this movie is an insight into a much more complex story line than that which is dealt with in the 2.5 hours of screen time. This film is merely an introduction into what will happen next. And boy is it about to get interesting. And to me that is reason enough to go watch this film.


It's not a masterpiece, but it easily knocks the Twilight series out of the park. And with a few alterations, 'The Hunger Games Trilogy' could prove to be the new Harry Potter.


7/10

Prometheus Reigns

Finally, after a long LONG wait since the teaser trailer dropped in December, we have an official full trailer for Ridley Scotts 'Prometheus' and man does it deliver!

I can't help feeling in some ways that a lot of this is recycled footage from the multitude of teasers and teaser teasers we've been offered over the past few months, but what this trailer really adds to the mix is a bit of background as to what the story is about and what Prometheus actually is. It also gave us a whole load of questions:

Any ideas what is going on with this guy?

What is this pictogram all about?

Why does this rock look like a giant boob?

So basically, Prometheus is a spaceship (which looks a bit like a killer version of Joss Whedon's Serenity) in which a number of fellow Earthians travel to a distant planet in search of something pretty awesome. But instead find something pretty awful.. not so much with the original plot lines here.

However, where prometheus promises to deliver, is with the massive amount of mythology Scott has developed behind the scenes within which this sic-fi epic is set. This is a whole new take on the origins of mankind's time on earth and this is whats getting me so excited.

Scott has an innate ability to develop vast universes within which he sets his mind blowing story lines (Blade Runner is a prime example of this) and this move looks to be his greatest expansion on any one of these universes to date. Taking place as a prequel to the events of Alien (one of the biggest movie franchises of all time), Scott is not only promising more backstory, but a whole archive of knowledge which will shed light on everything we have seen so far.

This movie could reshape the sic-fi horror genre completely and thats something to get truly excited about.

Go see this one in IMAX 3D guys, I know I will be.

Over and out.