Fight Club

Edward Norton Week

August 18, 2012

Fight Club Review:

Fight Club is one of my favorite movies of all time. It changed my life when I first saw it, in 8^th grade. I went over to my friend’s house and we watched it together, I had no idea what to expect. What I saw was a stellar movie with a great cast, a terrific script, and one of the best directors working right now. Fight Club is the story of a boring man who meets a man with several radical and crazy ideas, and what happens in their friendship is crazy, with a plot twist that actually works quite well.

Performances: The main character of fight club is the unnamed narrator played by Edward Norton. He is a boring man who suffers from insomnia and works at a boring desk job in the corporate world. He starts going to cancer support group meetings because it gives him the thrill that he is lacking in his life. When he first meets Brad Pitt later in the movie they are on an airplane, and you just know that the two are going to start working together. Pitt gives Norton his business card when they land, and when Norton returns to his apartment, he finds that he is gone, blown out by an explosion. He calls Brad Pitt, and they start living together. Pitt’s character Tyler Durden, one of the greatest characters in all of cinema history and an absolute badass, hates the corporate world and lives the thrill in life that Norton wants. Together they start a small fight club that starts to become huge, until several thousand men have joined. Then the mayhem starts, and it gets out of control. Late in the movie, you find out that Norton and Pitt are the same person the entire time, and that Pitt was just Norton living out the thrilling fantasies that he wants in his life, and it works very well. Also in this movie is Helena Bonham Carter, playing Marla Singer, a girl that gets dragged into the club when she starts sleeping with Pitt. She is great in it as well, but isn’t as famous a character as Edward Norton or Tyler Durden.

Plot: Fight Clubs plot is defined by the script, one of the greatest ever written. It has some awesome lines and awesome character development as well. When you find out the twist in the end, it is utterly believable based off of what you already know about Durden and the narrator. It’s a movie that starts off huge, then goes small and builds up to the ending again, which defines everything about the movie. In the end, Durden decides to blow up several office buildings so he can get rid of all the IRS has on him. Norton shoots himself through the cheek in order to stop him, making himself think that he is shooting through the head. It’s a really confusing ending however, and you don’t really know who won out in the end, Pitt or Norton. The entire movie is building towards this scene, will the grounded side of Norton’s psyche win or will the crazy part win. The way that they play it is so crazy with Norton and Carter embracing in front of the window watching the buildings being blown up. It’s fantastic.

Entertainment: The movie is full of fight scenes that are great. Plus the script is fantastic. The special effects in this movie are great. There is one scene where Norton is telling us how much he would want the plane to crash right then, and they actually show the plane crashing in a dream sequence, it’s crazy. The only time that I have seen better cinematography is in movies like Inception and Children of Men. The script is really the stand out in this movie however, it is well written, and some of the lines are actually quite funny. It really makes it a blast to watch.

Overall: Fight Club is one of my favorite movies ever, and you could easily make the argrument that it is one of the best movies ever made. The chemistry between Pitt and Norton is intoxicating, and the interactions between Norton and Carter are good as well. It has a terrific plot twist that works well, and it leaves the ending open for anyone’s interpretation. The only movies I’ve seen that are this creative are movies like Memento and Inglorious Basterds, both terrific movies in their own right. Overall, Fight Club is a great movie, and one that deserves a place in my favorite movies of all time.

His Name was Robert Paulson!

Overall Grade: A   

The Bourne Legacy

Edward Norton Week

August 16, 2012

The Bourne Legacy:

The Bourne Legacy is the somewhat reboot, somewhat sequel to the Bourne trilogy, and is also Edward Norton’s latest movie. It starts Jeremy Renner as the replacement for Matt Damon, and sometimes seem like a pointless attempt to capitalize on the first three movies success. However, this is still a great action movie, and the dialogue in this movie is much better than the dialogue in the other movies.

Performances: Jeremy Renner plays Aaron Cross, a CIA assassin with ties to Jason Bourne and the Treadstone and Black Briar programs. Jeremy Renner is a great actor, evidenced by his Oscar nominations for both Best Actor in the Hurt Locker and Best Supporting Actor for The Town. He is also an action star involved in two of the biggest movie series right now. That being said however, he still can’t pull off all of the action scenes as well as Matt Damon could, and that is because he isn’t giving as much time to develop as a character. This could be contradicted by giving the point that we had three movies with Jason Bourne, but only one movie so far with Aaron Cross. This is a valid point, and based off that Aaron Cross does seem to be a really great character. Edward Norton plays the villain, a CIA officer trying to clean up the mess with the whole Jason Bourne affair, and in order to do that he wants to kill all of the agents working for his program. He isn’t given as much screen time as he should be, but he still seems to be a great villain with the added grace of Edward Norton.

Plot: This movie has two big action sequences. The first happens when Renner is trying to save Rachel Weis’ doctor character from assassins sent by Norton, and the second occurs when they are trying to escape from a treadstone type assassin sent by the CIA to kill them. They are both stand out action sequences, and rival scenes from both Supremacy and Ultimatum. However, the rest of the movie seems to be a lot of talking and discussing about what the CIA have done to Renner, by turning him into the perfect assassin by giving him “chems”. These pills play a huge part in the plot, and most times seem to be just a stupid macguffin. However, whenever the film stops talking and just gets into the action, it becomes truly great. I really like the interaction between Renner and Weisz though, and also Norton plays a good villain when it comes to his interactions with Aaron Cross, he was better than any of the original trilogy villains. The only thing that I think they should have added to the plot would be an ending scene showing a figure on laptop, looking up Cross. Than they show you his front and it’s Jason Bourne, in hiding, and he just flashes a nice smile. This would have been the perfect way to set up a sequel with both Cross and Bourne in it, which I think is the best way to go with inevitable sequel that will be made.

Entertainment: Both of the action scenes in this movie are great, they are better than any action scene in Identity, but the scenes in Supremacy and Ultimatum may just beat them out. However, they work really really well for the movie, and it makes the movie easy to watch. The rest of the film seems to be only talking and running, and there never seems to be just enough action going on the for the regular film goers to enjoy. I really enjoy the interaction between Renner and Weisz however. Rachel Weisz is the best female lead in any of the Bourne films, she seems to actually be doing things instead of just having to be saved by Cross. Also, I really enjoy the scenes with Norton, and this is one of his better movie roles, but he is still pretty forgettable.

Overall: The Bourne Legacy is a good action movie, with both action scenes and scenes with chemistry between the leads. However, it never seems to be better than Supremacy and Ultimatum, because Jason Bourne is absent. That is only because we aren’t given enough time with Cross. He isn’t as developed as much as he should be. This is a problem for the movie, but I’m sure with the sequel they can make it better. They need to include Bourne in the next film though, that would make it one hundred percent better. Overall, the Bourne Legacy is a good movie, but the lead is never as good as the lead in the first three movies, and the absence of any major mention of Jason Bourne’s whereabouts is a problem. This could be a good angle to play out in the next movie, and I’m sure that with more time developing Cross he can become just as good a lead as Jason Bourne is.

Overall Grade: B-   

Red Dragon

Edward Norton Week

                               

  August 15, 2011

Red Dragon:

Hannibal Lector is one of the most important characters in all of cinema. There have been 5 movies total made about him, 3 starring Sir Anthony Hopkins, 1 starring Brian Cox, and 1 prequel movie Hannibal Rising. Red Dragon was the third and final film to be made with Anthony Hopkins, and it is actually a prequel to Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal. The movie also stars Edward Norton as Will Graham, an FBI agent investigating a serial killer by the name of the Tooth Fairy, played by Ralph Fiennes. It is actually one of the best films made about the Hannibal character.

Performances: Edward Norton is great as Will Graham; however the character is supposed to be almost close to being psychopathic which doesn’t show in his performance. However, Norton still plays the character well, and you can tell that he doesn’t want to have to deal with all of the horrible things that he takes care of and investigates. Anthony Hopkins is again terrific as Hannibal, the role of his career, and he is actually extremely scary in this one and you can tell that he is a psychopathic cannibal, unlike in Silence of the Lambs, where he seems much more like an antihero. Ralph Fiennes is also great as the Red Dragon, and he brings a level of innocence but also a level of brutality in this performance. Overall though, the best performance would have to be Norton, because when he is collaborating he doesn’t take crap from him, unlike Jodie Foster.

Plot: The movie opens with a scene where a young Will Graham discovers that Dr. Hannibal Lector is actually the cannibal that they have been looking for. He catches him and then retires, overall a good prologue for the movie. When Graham is hired to look into the Tooth Fairy case, he is not immediately happy, but when he is convinced it seems that he really does want to catch this killer. The best scenes in this film are still the scenes with Lector, because you can really tell that Anthony Hopkins is loving this role so much. They bring so much to the story, and you can actually tell the trouble that they go through to get to him. I would say one of the better scenes in the picture is when Ralph Fiennes kidnaps Philip Seymour Hoffman’s asshole reporter character, because it actually does seem quite scary what he is going through. A major problem that I have with the plot of this movie, however, is that it seems to have two endings, one where the Tooth Fairy seems to have killed himself, and another where he comes back and attacks Edward Norton’s family. Also, I don’t like the way that Edward Norton was talking to his son in that scene, because that just seems hurtful. But I also understand that he was doing it so that the Red Dragon would release him.

Entertainment: This movie is quite thrilling. Ralph Fiennes plays the deranged killer quite well, and the way that Edward Norton attempts to find him by using Lector is quite smart. I think probably the stand out scene in this movie is when the FBI goes through such lengths to get the letter that the Red Dragon sent to Lector, and also the fact that Lector gave him Graham’s address is quite scary. It just seems like Lector can actually find ways to get you from within his cell, that’s pretty creepy. I think the scariest scene in this film is when Hoffman is kidnapped by the Tooth Fairy, because Fiennes actually makes it seem like it hates this character with everything he has. It’s pretty damn scary. Overall this movie is actually quite entertaining, but some parts of the plot can get muddled.

Overall: This movie is great. It has three terrific main actors: Norton, Hopkins, and Fiennes, plus a good supporting cast. It is actually quite a scary movie, and some parts are hard to watch, especially the kidnapping scene. The only problem that I have with this movie is that some parts can get quite muddled and mixed up, especially the scenes with Fiennes’ girlfriend. Her character doesn’t make as much sense as it could of, however you can still tell that he is going through problems when he wants to save her. Also, the part with the family at the end didn’t work as well as it could have. I sometimes wish that they had left that out and just ended with the fire in the house and maybe one more scene with Lector. Overall though, this film was great with awesome performances and a pretty good plot and also some scary scenes that make for a really good viewing experience.

Overall Grade: B+

Primal Fear

Edward Norton Week

August 14, 2012

Primal Fear:

Primal Fear is one of the films that I hear brought up whenever I hear about how good an actor Edward Norton is. It always comes down to Primal Fear, American History X, and Fight Club. I started off the week with Primal Fear, and I’ll be finishing it with American History X.

Performances: Edward Norton gives a great performance as Aaron Stampler,  the innocent altar boy who supposedly killed the priest, and his alter ego Roy who is truly a monster. The film is known as the debut of Edward Norton and that is not a bad description because it really showcases just how good an actor he can be. Richard Gere is alright in this movie but nothing special, and the only moments that he really shines are the moments where he is talking with Edward Norton’s character. Laura Linney is ok as well in her role as the court appointed judge taking the side against Stampler, and it also has a pre-Lost Terry O’ Quinn playing the DA of Chicago. Edward Norton is really the shining point of this movie. 

Plot: In Primal Fear, Richard Gere plays a lawyer who takes on the case of Aaron Stampler, played by Edward Norton. Stampler is said to have stabbed a Archbishop over seventy times in the chest, and to have cut off his fingers. As Gere investigates further into Stampler’s case, he discovers that Aaron is a textbook case of multiple personality disorder, and that his other side Roy, killed the Archbishop. He can’t bring this out in court however because it is during the middle of a case. So near the end of the trial he puts Stampler on the witness stand and has him become Roy, proving his apparent innocence and winning him the case. It isn’t until after that Gere has a talk with Aaron, and he discovers that there never was an Aaron, and only a Roy. My problem with this movie is not the parts with Edward Norton, who is really good in the role. My problem is that every other part doesn’t work as well with the character. The fact that the Archbishop made him make a porno movie isn’t worked in as well as it possibly could have been. And, also, some of the parts where they described the corruption of the church just seemed out of place. However, the twist is worked in very well near the end.

Entertainment: The plot twist in the end is worked in well, they actually have Stampler applaud Gere for figuring out the case. The last scene is downright creepy and brilliant, as well as the fact that Norton will be released out into the open after only a month of hospitalization. That works out well. The investigation scenes aren’t bad either, and the courtroom scenes are ok. But some of the scenes from Law and Order work just as well and sometimes even better. This is just a stereotypical courtroom movie outside of Norton’s chilling performance. Also, the music in this movie just seemed kind of out of place, considering how dark the rest of the movie is. The French singer is very annoying.

Overall: Overall this movie is alright, it’s nothing special, but Norton’s performance is truly the best part of this movie. He saves it from being boring, but there is never enough of him on screen and always too much of Gere’s boring lawyer character. Norton’s character Aaron isn’t that good, he is wimpy and has an annoying southern stutter, but his character Roy is chilling and you can tell that he would make a great murderer. Also, I think that after seeing Fight Club the whole split personality doesn’t work as well as it could have, but the twist that he really doesn’t have multiple personality disorder makes it so much better. Outside of Norton however, this film can be boring and repetitive, and I really can’t see why it is considered such a good film. In fact, I would have hated this movie if it wasn’t for Norton’s performance. It just didn’t seem to have a gripping enough story or a good enough script for anyone but the suspect. Overall, Primal Fear is an overrated film that wouldn’t be considered as good if it wasn’t for Edward Norton, but Norton does put forth a great performance. Sadly however, parts of his performance can still be quite over the top and annoying, so it isn’t his best that I have seen.

Overall Grade: C

Edward Norton Week

This week I am going to be posting a review each day for a Edward Norton movie that I have watched. I am going to start with his first role in Primal Fear, and finish with his most applauded role in American History X. Edward Norton is truly a great actor, and I can't wait to review each of his movies.

Breaking Bad "Dead Freight"

August 12, 2012

Breaking Bad “Dead Freight” Review:

Man oh man was this a good episode. The setup was fantastic, the opening scene was great, the train sequence was thrilling and suspenseful, and the twist at the end was truly horrifying. I think that this is probably the stand out episode so far of the fifth season.

Performances: In this episode, Walt Mike and Jesse start it out by talking to Lydia about the tracking device. Walt says that Mike can kill her after he finds out that she put a hit out on him, and Jesse is truly horrified, being the audience’s true way into the group. Probably one of the best scenes of the entire episode comes when Walt it talking to Lydia about their kids and you can tell that Walt may end up siding with her over Mike in the end. That would be awesome because then Jesse would have to side between Walt and Mike. I think Mike might tell Jesse that Walt poisoned Brock and lied to him, and a true drug war would start between the two groups. Later on in the episode, Mike becomes the voice of reason yet again when he tells Walt to stop what he’s doing and get the hoses out of the train, and yet again Walt refuses. I was yelling at my TV in anger over that, Walt is really starting to act pretty stupid.

Plot: The episode starts off with a teaser of a young boy on a dirt bike in the countryside. You can see that he’s wearing a helmet, either because he’s worried about his safety or he has loving parents who do. The boy is probably about 12, and he is the face of innocence in this episode. This scene seems out of place however when we are launched into the real plot. The group wants Lydia to give them methylamine, and she tells them that they can have as much as they could possibly want if they steal it from a train. The only problem is that they will have to kill off the conductor and engineer to do so. This causes tension because Walt is fine with killing them but Mike refuses. However, Jesse figures out the perfect way to do it, and it really is a great plan. Near the end of the episode, the train sequence begins, and the resulting scene is one of the best of the show and probably one of the best scenes on TV ever. It truly is the most suspenseful heist scene ever. There is also a subplot with Walter Jr. rebelling again, and you start to think that he might end up siding with Hank over Walt in the end. At the end, after the train sequence is pulled off, you think that everything may have worked out for our heroes for the first time ever, but then you hear the familiar sound of a dirt bike. You see the small boy from the opening teaser, and my heart started raging. They waved at him, and I actually had hope, then Jesse Plemons’ hand moved to his gun, and the boy is killed. This is horrible, tragic, and most of all needed. And it truly makes for great TV. I know I’m dying to see Mike’s reaction to the young boy’s death.

Entertainment: I’m going to talk about the train sequence here. This is one of the best heist sequences ever filmed, on TV and in movies. The plan is great, it seems like it actually would work. You just have to think about how long it took the writers to come up with that. I wonder if it took them a while. I mean for me to come up with something like that it would take a least six months. The sequence is so great because it just so suspenseful. You want the characters to pull it off, even though you know what they are planning to do with the stuff is bad. It goes fine for the first five minutes or so, then the other car movies in and shit gets real. You start to wonder if someone will die when Jesse is under the train and Todd is on top when it starts to move. Then they both get out and they win. I was laughing along with them when they pulled it off.  I was happy for them. I thought that it would have just been that, and it would have been just another episode of Breaking Bad, which is not a bad thing, but it’s just another episode. Then the boy showed up and the episode went from being great to being fantastic, and I know that this is going to be one of the best episodes of the series when it ends.

Overall: This episode is the standout of the fifth season so far. The train robbery sequence is fantastic, and you want the characters to be able to pull it off. You’re just worried about what they will do with the stuff when they have it. The scene with Lydia isn’t bad either, and neither is the subplot with Walter Jr. and Hank and Marie. This episode actually had me yelling at my TV in suspense, worried that the team will fail. But they pull it off, and it actually works. And for a minute you think that’s how it will end, and then the boy shows up, and the teaser starts to make sense, and he is shot. And then you know that this is one of the best episodes of Breaking Bad so far, and that this could start to spell out the end of Walter White as we know it. It’s a great ending, and a terrific storyline, along with probably one of the greatest heist scenes ever put to film, in both TV and movies. Overall, this was a fantastic masterpiece of an episode.

Grade: A+   

Limitless

August 8^th, 2012

Limitless Review:

Limitless is the type of film that grabs you and does not let go. The premise is quite entertaining, it goes like this: a writer who suffers from massive writer’s block is giving the secret to unlocking all of his brain potential. The movie takes this premise and hits the ground running.

Performances:

This is the movie that proves Bradley Cooper to the world. Before this he was a pretty face in comedic films like the Hangover and Wedding Crashers. Limitless changes that. Cooper proves his worth as an actor to the world; he is a great actor, but not only that, he is an entertaining actor. Not all actors can combine the two great qualities and combine them into one, but Cooper can. He truly shows the signs of an addiction to a drug that makes you smarter and more powerful. Other than that, Robert de Niro gives a good performance as a Wall Street big-shot who Cooper’s character goes through to reach the top. I loved the ending scene, where De Niro tells Cooper that he is a bad enemy to have, and Cooper tells him that there is no scenario that he won’t come out on top. Abby Cornish plays the girlfriend character, nothing new from her, and there is a Mafia bad guy who is ok but nothing special. By far Cooper blows this category out of the park.

Plot:

Limitless has a great idea for a plot. It is obviously about addictive drugs, but it does not let that bog it down. LZT is something that any of us would want, a pill that makes us invincible in both mind and body. I think that the best part of this movie is when Cooper has first started to take the pill and is starting to gain power. There are many vibrant colors and it moves quick, so watch carefully. The idea that the pill is addictive is good as well. It presents a plot point that could just as easily become an annoying metaphor for drugs, but it doesn’t and it uses it to its advantage fully. There are a couple of plot points that don’t work quite as well, such as the mafia character becoming addicted to LZT, but these problems are very small and do move to form the climax.

Entertainment:

This movie, for all of the good plot points, is extremely entertaining. Movies, like actors, have to prove on two levels, entertainment and plot. It must have a good plot and be entertaining to be considered one of the best. The colors used in this film are very vibrant, especially in the zooming around the city scenes and the scene in the Caribbean.  Bradley Cooper is funny in his role as well, and the main progression of the story works so well, I have no complaints. There is only one complaint I have in this category, and that is that it didn’t flesh out the girlfriend enough. They should have made her get addicted to the drug as well, leading to her death, to make the film more tragic. However, with all of the other plot points, this is a very small complaint.

Overview:

Limitless is the film that proves Bradley Cooper is an actor to watch.  It bolsters a great plot and some great performances and good characters. The idea of a drug that can unlock the secrets of your brain is one of the most interesting concepts of this year. I would say that this film is a great one, it has some great performances and is definitely one to watch.

Final Grade: A-  

Kick-Ass

August 4^th, 2012

Kick-Ass Review:

Kick-Ass is an extremely entertaining movie. It runs with its premise, taking it places no one thought it would go. It is extremely over the top violent, but that just adds to the fun of the film. Kick-Ass is a remarkable good time any time you watch it, and I’m sure you will love it too.

Performances:

The two best performances in this film are Nicholas Cage and Mark Strong. Mark Strong is a great actor, I loved what he did with Sinestro in last year’s Green Lantern (one of the only good things about that movie), and I love what he did as the villain in 2010’s Sherlock Holmes reboot. In this movie he plays a Mafia boss named Frank Damico, who is a major cocaine dealer. Nicholas Cage is the first superhero to try to stop him; he wears a Batman costume, but the comparison stops right there. Batman would never kill countless mafia members. Cage has a daughter, Hit Girl, who is just as crazy as he is. She is the most over the top part of this movie, but seeing an eleven year old girl kill people and spout cuss words just never gets old. Kick Ass himself is not bad, and neither is Red Mist as the son of the villain.

Plot:

Kick-Ass uses it’s plot to its advantage, at least as well it is able to. The premise of actual people becoming superheroes is not bad, and could be taken many different ways. However, Kick-Ass takes it one of the best ways it could go. My only gripe with this movie is the many different unimportant side characters. People like Kick Ass’s two best friends and his girlfriend could annoying at times, but they all offer laughs and most do affect the plot in some way so it is a small concern.

Entertainment:

Kick-Ass is one of the most entertaining superhero movies ever made. It has so many laughs and so much violence, just packed into one two hour movie. The violence is very over the top and extremely bloody, there is one scene where Hit Girl cuts a man’s leg off and then stabs him through the head with a sword. However, the violence in this movie is used much to its advantage that it doesn’t matter at all. This is also a very funny movie. There is a very funny line concerning a bazooka that comes near the end of the film, that is endlessly quotable. It makes for some good fun.

Overview:

Kick-Ass is one entertaining movie. It has action, romance, and laughs that keep us all happy at all times. The over topness of it all doesn’t matter when you are laughing because of it. It may seem wrong at first, but the sight of an eleven year old girl killing a Mafia boss just never gets old. The only bad thing about Kick-Ass is the many annoying side characters, however they are not there very much and they do offer laughs so it still works. Kick-Ass is overall one of the better superhero movies ever made, and I would rank it right up there with Watchmen and Captain America.

Final Grade: B

The Hunger Games

August 1st, 2012 

The Hunger Games Review:

The Hunger Games finally hit theatres last weekend with an explosive opening. It grossed over 200 million dollars in the box office in one weekend, only behind The Dark Knight and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II. I myself did not realize how much hype this film truly had until it finally released this weekend. Is it worth the wait and the hype. The answer is a resounding yes.

Performances:

Each actor in this film is truly the character that was written. I have never felt this way about any film, even Harry Potter, and it shows just how committed everyone was to making this film succeed. Because of the actors doing so well, I can’t say which one did the best, but I’ll talk about Jennifer Lawrence. Lawrence is Katniss Everdeen. She does so well in the role, but she plays it understated. The cave scene with her and Peeta was so well played. Also the scenes with the fire are thrilling and exciting, her interaction with Haymitch is great. My favorite actor in this film is Woody Harrelson as Haymitch, but that is probably because Woody Harrelson is my favorite actor. But he is so good as Abernathy he just brings a quality of depression but also hope that so defines the Hunger Games series as a whole. Also, Donald Sutherland was close to perfect as President Snow. The level of understated menace he brings to the role is just how Snow was written in the books.

Plot:

The movie follows the plot of the book to the letter. Never before have I seen a movie that so closely follows the plot of the book it is based off of. The premise is the same, the districts rebelled against the capitol so the tributes have to fight to the death. But it takes it in surprising new directions. The scene with District 11 rebelling against the Capitol is such a good twist, it foreshadows the second and third films and is one of the things that makes the movie better than the book. I didn’t enjoy the books that much when I actually read them, however I felt that the plotline was fantastic. The movie just runs with the plot and doesn’t bore you at all, making it 100% and better than the novel it was based off of.

Entertainment:

This is one entertaining film. The first half is before the Games, with them training and getting ready. The final half is the Games themselves. The first half can get a bit slow, but it has the best from both Cinna and Haymitch so I give it a rest. The part with the Games is very entertaining. It shows both gory death scenes with Cato, and forgiveness and hope with Rue. The forest fire scene is very thrilling and scary, and the final battle with the mutant dogs is scary and epic. Donald Sutherland is the menace in this film, and the scenes with Stanley Tucci, Sutherland, and Wes Bentley discussing the games make it all the more thrilling. This is one film with so much entertainment packed in the plot you just need to see it.

Overview:

The Hunger Games is a damn good film. It brings up views of an evil dictatorship but it also shows shines of hope throughout. The performances are just like the characters in the book, perfect. The actors they picked are perfect, the plot is perfect, the setting is perfect, the ending is perfect. Just everything is perfect. There is not one thing that I would change about this film. It has all of the elements of Harry Potter and Batman. It also has things that resemble Buffy, Firefly, 24, Donnie Darko, and Game of Thrones. There is only one gripe that I have with this film, and that is that it gets a little slow towards the end. This is when Katniss and Peeta are in the cave. The romance angle in this movie is a lot better than Twilight, yet it does seem a little pushed. If they had pulled it off a little less like Twilight, than I’m sure that it would have been a tad bit better. Also, a couple of my friends that I went with thought this as well, but they had not read the novel. However, this film hits every right note, and it is the best film of spring 2011. All in all, the Hunger Games is one great film.

Final Grade: B+