Let the Games Begin!

Many films we see today are based on bestselling novels. Some of those films turn out to be great films. Others, like the Twilight films, turn out to be horrible films that don’t attract any audience members except for teenage girls and the poor bastards that are dragged along because their significant others want to see sparkling vampires.

            Gary Ross’s The Hunger Games is based on the besting selling series by author Suzanne Collins, who also helped write the screenplay for this film. The Hunger Games is different than many other book series made into films as it was enjoyable to watch for audience members of all ages. This film has a lot to do with kids growing up too fast, having to deal with a government that is a dictatorship, and learning the values of life and death.

            In the film, sixteen year old Katniss Everdeen (played by Jennifer Lawrence) had to grow up too fast because of her father’s death. This has a strong emotional impact on her mother (played by Paula Malcomson) and her younger sister Primrose (played by Willow Shields). This prompted Katniss to grow up fast to keep her family alive, making her the provider of her home.

            The film is based in a dystopian near-future where the United States is divided into twelve districts. It is all controlled by the Capitol, which the audience members can view as a dictatorship, and it feels like watching a World War II film due to the muted colors and scenes that bring forth images of concentration camps. The Capitol selects a boy and a girl to represent each district in the Hunger Games, a competition where kids fight to the death for a winner-takes-all game as punishment for a past rebellion against the Capitol.  

                The Hunger Games shows the choice of life and death. Having these teenagers in this game and killing each other is either exciting or heartfelt to the audience. It hits the audience hard and breaks their hearts when a character they get to know dies.  With Katniss, the audience gets to see her heart break when someone she cares about passes away and her transformation into a cold blooded killer that will do anything to survive.

            Because some of the pieces in the book were taken out for the film, it can be kind of confusing at first about why the dystopian future is broken up into districts for audience members who haven’t read the book. However, through the movie, the audience gets to understand the world this film is in. The Hunger Games is a good film that clearly represents the heart of the books and gives a message of fighting for your loved ones and fighting for what you believe in. 

The Heart of a Warrior

There have been a lot of films about Mixed Martial Arts since the sport became popular in the past couple of years. But a lot of these films only have great fight sequences, not so much a great story line once the fighters leave the octagon. Usually these films are really cheesy with a lot of bad dialogue and characters that the audience cannot relate too.

Gavin O’Connor’s 2011 film Warrior isn't just about Mixed Martial Arts. This film deals with brotherhood, family tragedy, alcoholism, PTSD, a lot of problems that can hit audience members in the heart. With a fantastic cast, including Nick Nolte, Tom Hardy, and Joel Edgerton, this film is way more than just a fight film.

The film deals with a lot of personal issues that audiences can relate to. Nick Nolte’s character is a recovering alcoholic and is trying to rebuild a broken relationship with his two sons. Tom Hardy’s character, a former Marine, is dealing with PSTD and is haunted by his tragic past during his tour of duty. Joel Edgerton’s character is a public school teacher and is trying to make ends meet for his wife (played by Jennifer Morrison) and their two daughters.

The fight scenes in this film were astounding. The audience could tell that each character was fighting for something, either for fame, money or their loved ones. The cinematography during each fight scene was fantastic; it really made the audience feel like they were sitting ring side during the fights and in the cage standing near the fighters. The audience members could feel the energy from the fighters and the crowd during the fights. It made the audience feel the physical pain every time Joel Edgerton’s character gets knocked down or the emotional pain when Tom Hardy goes nuts on an opponent. 

Warrior is a film that doesn’t hold back on expressing itself on screen. The audience can feel the pain of each character; whether it was physically or mentally, they felt it. The film grabs the audience attention and doesn’t let it go. The ending of this film sends an honest but brutal message without words; which is really fitting for this kind of film. Warrior is not just a fight film with crazy fight sequences, it shows heart and audiences haven’t seen a fight film like this in long time.  Hopefully filmmakers make more fight films like this that can capture the audience’s hearts while showcasing this extraordinary sport.