The Hunger Games

     The Hunger Games was an outstanding movie. It had a nice blend of drama, action, and romance. It also had good casting that generally followed the book's description of the character's. The movie was very well done. I'd say it followed the book about 95% of the way (which I think is very good for a book based movie).

     It had just enough gore for you to realize the intensity of what was happening, but not enough to be disturbing. I'm also interested by their decision not to give the mutts the faces of the dead tributes like they did in the book. I guess that may have been a tad disturbing to some younger viewers.

    

     The Casting

     Katniss was perfect. She looked exactly as I imagined her. She didn't look too attractive, but she certainly wasn't ugly. She had some sass and attitude, and I liked that. A lot. Good acting on her part.

     Now for Peeta... To be honest, I wasn't too pleased when I heard Josh Hutcherson would be playing Peeta. I thought he would look too stocky and short for the role, but I ended up being pleasantly suprised. The casting wasn't perfect, but by the end of the movie, I liked Peeta.

     Gale was alright, I guess. I wish they had incorporated him a little bit more to emphasize his importance, but oh well. The only thing I had against the casting for Gale was that he looked too skinny (I always pictured Gale as being really muscular).

     I did not like President Snow. I pictured him as skinny, clean shaven, hair slicked back, and very cold looking. However, in this movie, they made him look like Santa Clause! He had a very messy beard, and they made him seem sort of passively comical in some scenes. I admit, at the end he was somewhat intense and scary, but I think they could have done a lot better with the casting of his role.

     Haymitch was great! I wasn't too sure when I first saw him, but as soon as he started drinking I knew he would be perfect. Haymitch's character was very well portrayed.

     As for the casting of all the other tributes (like Rue and Cato), and the other characters (like Cinna and Effie), I was greatly pleased.

Summary

     Overall, Hunger Games blew me away. I was desperately hoping that they wouldn't butcher it, and they ended up doing an amazing job. I would give it anywhere from an 8 to a 9 out of 10. I would definitely see it again, and in fact, I have multiple times. I can't wait for Catching Fire to come out!

 

Lockout

     Lockout was what I call a "fun" movie. It doesn't have a particularly grand overall story arc, but it's just fun to watch (mostly due to the witty humor, good comebacks, and cool action sequences).

    
     There weren't any plot holes, as far as I could tell, but there were definitely some ideas that weren't fully developed. I thought they would go more in depth about the two inmate brothers' back stories, as well as the main character's: but they didn't. And you never really got to learn what the prisoner's demands were going to be.

    
     What I do like about this movie is the character "Snow". With his calm demeanor, quick thinking, and snappy remarks; he's an easily likable character. The humor he added to the movie was perfect. Without that comic relief, I feel like the movie would have been a lot darker.

    
     The crazy guy turned out to be a pretty good antagonist, but the part where he's defeated was somewhat anticlimactic. However, the part where they had to escape from the prison before it blew up added to the climax.  Oh, and I also think the actor who played the crazy guy did a spot on job.

     The twist at the end was nice; it added a greater feeling of resolution to the movie. I was somewhat unsure about the main character burning the guy's face (which marks him as a snitch, in the prison world). I thought it seemed a little cruel, but I guess he was asking for it. 

    

     The president's daughter wasn't such a bad character, but she wasn't an outstanding character either. I feel like her chemistry with the main character was only due to circumstance and tidbits of dialogue. It wasn't the worst    on-screen romance, but it wasn't a great one either.

    

   Overall, Lockout was an ok movie. I'd give it about a 6.8 on a scale of 1-10. I probably wouldn't go see it again, but it was still worth seeing it the first time (considering I had nothing else to do).