THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKING JAY PART 1

Continuing from last year's part 2 of the Trilogy, this first half of the final part was not as entertaining for me as the earlier one.

Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Woody Harrelson, Donald Sutherland etc, Katniss woke up from an underground rebel facility in District 13 where she was reunited with her mother and sister and was introduced to President Alma Coin, who was leading her army of rebels to fight the war with the Capitol. Alma wanted Katniss to be the face of the mocking jay as a symbol of the rebellion, to unite all the districts together to fight a common war. Katniss was not convinced of the cause of it but relented when President Alma Coin agreed to her request to save Peeta and the other victors from the clutches of President Coriolanus Snow of Panem.

A visit to her District 12 showed Katniss the devastation brought on to her home by President Snow for her success in thwarting the 75th Hunger Games and destroying the competition arena and uniting the Districts in staging a rebellion against the Capitol. A series of videos were broadcast to the Districts and Katniss was once again received by the other Districts as the symbol of the mass rebellion. The Capitol retaliated by releasing recordings of a brainwashed Peeta, who pleaded with Katniss and the Districts to give up their rebellious quests to destroy the Capitol. When Katniss realized that Peeta's life was on the line, they made a desperate attempt to rescue Peeta and the victors in a dangerous mission to break into the Capitol's Tribute Centre.

Peeta and the others were easily and successfully extricated from their prison, without any resistance of the Capitol, much to the surprise of the rescue team. When Peeta woke up, he attacked the delighted Katniss savagely and strangled her to unconsciousness, but not before he too was knocked unconscious. It was only revealed then to the awoken Katniss that Peeta was brainwashed by the Capitol through aversion therapy and tracker jacker venom, which fueled his desire to kill Katniss. As Katniss tread cautiously in anticipation and fear towards the treatment room where Peeta was kept, she was horrified to find him struggling like an erratic person against the tight reins that held him to his bed.

The movie ended with President Coin announcing the successful rescue of the victors to the surviving residents of District 13.

Plutarch, President Coin and Gale

President Snow taunting Katniss with white roses wherever she went

THE HUNGER GAMES

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Welcome, welcome!


Based on a series of novels by Suzanne Collins, this is the first of a few movies that are set to rock the screens. It is likened to the "Twilight" movie series, which propelled the leads Robert Pattison, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner to international fame.


Would this movie make well-known stars out of the 3 leads Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth, the brother of the Thor actor Chris Hemsworth? Only time will tell.


The marketing strategy for the movie was planned by the production company and the promotion started as far back as a few years ago, culminating in the recent release of the movie. It performed very well at the US and worldwide box-office and broke previous records.


Set in the high-tech future, where tributes from 12 impoverished districts were selected to compete in an annual battle "the hunger games" where only one victor is allowed to emerge alive, as a form of punishment against and reminder for the districts for staging past rebellions against the government known as the Capitol. Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark were both from the same district 12 and paired up to strategize their moves in order to stay alive till the end. The technology was so advanced to the stage that the game masters were able to adjust day and night lengths at the flick of a switch and conjure up anything, such as trees and a pack of hunting dogs, and throw them into the battle field to up the challenge for its remaining surviving participants.


So disappoint the movie did not, but I wasn't particularly overwhelmed by it too. To me, it was just alright. The scene where the 12 pairs of tributes were first introduced to the audiences on chariots, but more specifically the one where Katniss and Peeta rode through the runway with wing-like flames on their shoulder blades, is cool. Some of the outrageous costumes, make-up etc were what distinguished this from other movies but other than that, I wasn't exactly thrilled by the predictable plot and acting. I understand that the  novel series was compared to the Japanese novel "Battle Royale" and was slammed by some critics for its uncanny similarities. I guess when you have seen the best, nothing comes close. It is hard to beat the movie "Battle Royale", with a cast of complete unknowns, which I was privileged to watch on our screens in the year 2000. That is by far, one of the best movies I watched and love deeply, for its originality. Fine, I admit the names Katniss and Peeta are original but seriously what kind of names are these? Anyway, the Japanese is most capable of telling a story at its rawest to evoke the most primal feelings, like the horror movie "The Ring". It was fresh, fast-paced, heart-stopping and extremely violent. In short, it was able to shock me. Sadly, "Battle Royale 2" didn't make it here even though I waited in vain for the many years to come. 


Would the sequels to this movie be as successful as this? We can only wait and see. And may the odds be ever in their favour!