tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149411832127844385.post6622858084975821691..comments2024-03-22T14:34:39.101-04:00Comments on MONDO 70: A Wild World of Cinema: On the Big Screen: THE HUNGER GAMES (2012)Samuel Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934870299522899944noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149411832127844385.post-57937526675286320152012-04-03T22:40:45.354-04:002012-04-03T22:40:45.354-04:00Thanks for writing, Patrica; I appreciate a voice ...Thanks for writing, Patrica; I appreciate a voice of experience. My hunch is that the film runs too long to sustain the tension and menace you got from reading the novel, at least the way Ross directed it. But if the studio feels PG-13 essential to the success of the movie series, I'm not sure if any director could do justice to the violence you describe. We'll see.Samuel Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00934870299522899944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149411832127844385.post-44683472339818981632012-04-02T09:29:54.990-04:002012-04-02T09:29:54.990-04:00Sam -
I liked THE HUNGER GAMES very much, but I a...Sam -<br /><br />I liked THE HUNGER GAMES very much, but I also like your review. After hearing so many critics decry the books and film as derivative of BATLLE ROYALE (which I've never seen,and which Suzanne Collins says she's never seen either), it's nice to read a review which acknoweledges the similarities but judges the film on its own terms.<br /> I can't deny that the tension in the film version of the Games is muted and that somewhat weakens the film's impact. You never feel the full and terrifying sense of danger for Katniss and the other particpants that comes through so clearly in the book.<br /> However, having read the entire trilogy, I can assure you there are places for the story to go, and you are intuiting them correctly. The film's ending is much more ambigrous than was the orignal book in setting up the next chapter; Collins ends each of the first two books - and every chapter of the entire trilogy, for that matter - on a tantalizing, cliff-hanging note. I will tell you that CATCHING FIRE, the second book, was probably my favorite of the three.<br /> But if Ross is going to film the remaining books, he needs to develop some action directing chops. They get progressively more brutal and action-driven, and his restrained approach in the first film will not work.Patricia Perryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15394997608325540950noreply@blogger.com