Dear Intronets,

Place Beyond the Pines is the most perfect movie in the world. If I died right now a horrible and gruesome death, I wouldn’t even be mad, because the Place Beyond the Pines would be there to comfort me. My soul is free.

A happy boy-man

Rarely do I say something needs a sequel, but I strongly believe that a sequel to L.A. Noire would be highly appraised!! It already was superb, but it fell a little flat due to the heavily scripted story. Now if that could be fixed…

Imagine…the sequel to L.A. Noire…Chicago Noire! 

These are a few of the things that make me drool.

This review is primarily focused for those who have seen the movie (or seen the trailer I guess).

I watched The Hunger Games for the first time last night, and it is definitely marketed towards a younger audience. It’s not really meant for people like me who have watched a bunch of dramatic/war/survival movies. With that said, if I were to direct this movie I would make it a much darker, grittier movie, and not because of my personal preference, but because it would have a much larger emotional impact on the whole audience.

The way it is directed now, I don’t feel like The Hunger Games is this brutal “game” of life or death that could change your life for the worse. Instead, I feel it’s just a game where people happen to die. The violence/action in this movie is pretty meaningless, and for a story like this it shouldn’t be.

For instance, when the Hunger Games officially start, and all the Tributes (contestants) all run to Point A to get their desired weapon and supplies, it’s a total massacre! Or, at least it’s supposed to feel like it. It was filmed in such a way that all the kids/teens that just died were really insignificant. The fact that kids are dying for a game that they are forced to play should be significant enough for the director to focus on that. But he/she (idk) didn’t. Plus, there was this classical-ish music playing loudly in the background, drowning out all the action.

Put the audience in Katnis’ head, momentarily in-shock of the massacre playing out in front of her. Take away all the music and let the ringing of screams and swords plunging into bodies echo around the movie theater. Let the world know that “11 people were just hacked to death in front of me. This is no longer a game. This is real”. 

I would make changes like that throughout the entire movie. I felt like I was watching the movie as if I was watching a reality TV show. Besides the first half of the movie (which was done well-enough), I should have been watching the movie through Katnis’ eyes. 

Another big problem is that the film is edited in such a way that the plot doesn’t feel like it escalates. It just plateaus the entire film, even at the “climax” and other big plot points. I didn’t even know the climax of the movie was happening until one of the characters said “It’s the finale”. As a viewer, it just felt like another series of events. That’s how all scenes felt, except for the death of a certain character. Each plot point felt just as significant as the last.

I’d also like to momentarily touch on the fact that the ending is really weird. Not story-wise, but because the director tried to make it feel like this climactic cliff hanger that would lead you into the next film, but it didn’t exactly work. It just made me feel awkward. 

Speaking of story however, it was actually pretty good, and I will watch the next film because I am curious about what happens next. I guess you can thank the author of the book for that. The main things this movie has going for it is its story…and Jennifer Lawrence. 

There’s my horribly structured rant/review. This movie was good, but a lot could have been improved. Story was great and has lots of potential, but directing really brought it down. Overall, I’d give The Hunger Games a 7.8 / 10