3.5 Brief Movie Reviews

Just a few brief reviews of some movies I've seen in the last few months.


Hunger Games: Catching Fire

     Effie for the feels, wow. I’m impressed; in the books, Effie was a mostly oblivious character, from what I remember. The emotional moments (from non-main characters) were from Katniss’ hair and makeup people. These normally oblivious people cried about losing Katniss. But in the movie, Effie conveyed all those emotions in a few brief glances placed here and there through the movie, and they punch right to the heart.

     Of course, there are several changes from the book. I accept that fact about movies. In this case, the changes improved the movie, and some of the changes were fairly hard to notice. A few points that stuck in my head didn’t make it into the movie (the flash of the Mockingjay on the watch) but really nothing that ruins anything.

     I’m looking forward to Mockingjay Part 1, which comes out comes out late November. I understand that Hoffman's major scenes for that movie were finished, and the few spots left will have him digitally inserted.


I, Frankenstein

     I didn’t go in expecting anything, really, except Frankenstein fighting monsters. They fairly quickly summarized the events of Mary Shelley’s book, and then immediately dropped us into a story involving gargoyles and demons. Frankenstein hangs out in the arctic for a few minutes of screen time, and eventually finds himself in the city, hunting the creatures that have been hunting him. They don’t waste time hinting at the backstory; they give it to you right up front so that you can just sit back and watch the action.

     Minor spoiler, a question which reveals a plot hole: Okay, so the gargoyles are basically angels that can turn into stone. They are losing the war with the demons. The head of their order can call for back-up; why doesn’t she?


Delivery Man

     A touching and mildly funny movie starring Vince Vaughn. Who knew? And considering the situation the movie is based around, it’s amazing how many dirty jokes they didn’t make. It barely even earns the PG-13 rating. It does explain why he has 533 children and, I think, gives a good reason not to look down on him for it.

     This movie is based on another movie, Starbuck, which is available on Netflix. Starbuck is subtitled, and the Delivery Man is nearly a scene-by-scene recreation. It explores issues of privacy and parental responsibilities, and I think handles them fairly well. Overall, a surprisingly watchable movie, if not one to rush to the theaters for.


The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

     Do I lose all my geek points for not having seen The Desolation of Smaug yet? I hope not (not that it matters...geekdom isn't tracked by points. Except by very specific people.) Anyway, situations in life arise, and…don’t look at me like that. I’m going to see it soon.

     I look forward to hearing Bilbo's barrel-rider riddle; it was one of my favorite parts of the cartoon from so many years ago, and I really enjoyed it in the book, as well.