The Hunger Games. Based off the best selling young adult book, The Hunger Games stars Jennifer Lawrence as the protagonist Katniss Everdeen. The story is set in a futuristic America called Panem, a nation made up of twelve Districts (risen from the ashes of what was once The United States). Every year, two teenagers are drawn at random from each district to go fight in the Hunger Games--a cross between Survivor and Roman gladiatorial combat. Only one survivor can emerge triumphant and the winner brings prosperity to both themself and to their district, in the form of improved rations and benefits. On her first year ever, Katniss' younger sister Primrose is chosen against all odds and Katniss volunteers to take her place in the games. The movie is fairly true to the spirit of the book, although I found the book to be a bit better (it's in first-person perspective and more engaging. The movie also omits a few details here and there that I felt could have been of help to someone just watching the film and unfamiliar with the novel itself).
Lawrence does an excellent job of portraying Katniss, conveying her complex emotions in the face of the unique situation the character finds herself in. The other actors also do a fine job of their varied roles (I admit I didn't see Lenny Kravitz playing Cinna. I imagined the character differently but he does an adequate job of making the character work).
The special effects, when needed, are also top notch. The soundtrack (by James Newton Howard) is sweeping and dramatic although the pieces are short (but fit the framework of the scenes well). The cinematography is largely competent although it didn't jump out at me either.
The story is one of perseverance and survival in the face of overwhelmingly negative odds. Learning how to use all the skills one has developed to make their way in life--perhaps a commentary on life itself? Either way, it is a engaging and entertaining tale.
Recommended. (Mar. 26/12).

John Carter. The first story of the classic Edgar Rice Burroughs Mars series is translated to the silver screen by Disney. Taylor Kitsch plays the title character, a former Confederate soldier looking for a new purpose in life. His wife and child are dead and his side lost the war... during a chase through the desert he stumbles upon a golden cave and an unusual device. When he reawakens he is on a world far different from his own. John is taken captive by the green skinned aliens called Tharks. Soon after, he also gets mixed up in the battle between two dominant human factions of Mars, including the losing side and their beautiful princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins).
The story is pure pulp science fiction from a bygone time–but that’s what the original story was too, so the movie actually succeeds very well in translating it over to the modern era. The special effects are fantastic (at a budget of 250 million, they’d better be). Every cgi character and every bit of technology or misc effect blend very well with the rest of the environment around them. The acting is sufficient–nobody’s really called upon to deliver a performance overly deep or complicated but it’s good enough quality for an action adventure film. The movie does use several action/sci-fi movie conventions--gathering the natives to your cause and becoming their hero, air skits/ships, the lost hero looking for a cause, etc. One could argue since A Princess of Mars is such a classic story that modern stories have in fact borrowed these elements from it. Regardless, the tropes didn't bother me too much as I enjoyed the overall story.
The soundtrack is delivered by Star Trek’s Michael Giacchino and is pretty good. A memorable score, evoking Star Wars at times as well as other action films while managing to stay mostly original in its own themes.
Recommended.

Chronicle. Another "found footage" movie. This one is about three teenagers who find a mysterious object of extraterrestrial origins one night after a party. The object emits a bizarre sound and forces the trio to flee (it's underground and the cavern begins to cave in on itself). In the days that follow they find all of them begin to manifest telekinetic powers. It starts slow and simply at first but as they work at it they begin to find they can lift bigger and bigger objects, even make themselves fly.
But all is not well. While Steve (Michael B. Jordon) and Matt (Alex Russell) have good lives, Matt's cousin Andrew's (Dane Dehaan) life is anything but normal. His mother is dying of some kind of disease and she is bedridden at home, forced to rely on medications to keep her alive but her prognosis is not good. His father is an ex-firefighter that was injured on the job and now lives on insurance compensation. He spends his days drinking and beating Andrew to teach him discipline. Due to his personal life, Andrew is a social misfit. He's shy and avoids people, who he thinks are mostly out to make his life even more miserable then it is (he's attacked by some bullies early on in the film). After they get the power, Andrew's life begins to turn around and he gets some acceptance among his peers but it's obvious his respite won't last. And that's where the real trouble begins...
Chronicle is only incidentally about the powers this trio of boys possess. The real story is about people and how they relate to each other, both socially and in familial situations. It is a chronicle of Andrew's rise and fall as well as what happens when somebody who is basically good at heart stays true to their values. Andrew's fall from glory is what Anakin Skywalker's should have been (the actor even resembles Hayden Christiansen and is seen playing with a red lightsaber in one scene). It tells a consistent, believable tale of someone who is troubled, given great power and then uses it horribly to try gain a sort of justice on the world (it's also similar to Carrie in this respect). Recommended.

Safe House. A tale of suspense, intrigue and action starring Ryan Reynolds and the ever entertaining Denzel Washington. Reynolds plays Matt Weston, a CIA safe house keeper in Capetown, South Africa. A place that he's been stationed for twelve months. Nothing ever happens there and he finds himself wishing he could be transferred out to somewhere with some action. But since he's a rookie agent, he's stuck where he is for the time being. One day, a rogue CIA agent named Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington) is in the same city obtaining a microchip with deadly intelligence secrets on it. He is pursued relentlessly by men with automatic weapons until he decides to go to the US Embassy and turn himself in. Frost is quickly identified and brought to Matt's safe house where he will wait for extraction. A team show up but are attacked by the same men who pursued Frost earlier. The attackers know where the safe house is, how to get into it and are better armed, making sort work of the team. Weston grabs Frost and both run for their lives with Weston determined to bring Frost while Frost is determined to escape.
Safe House is reasonably good spy action movie. It satisfies all the prerequisite elements--it has action, reasonably good characterization and a good story. On the characterization side, I felt like maybe it could have explained Frost's ideology a little bit better. He essentially doesn't like what he's turned into so he quits the Agency and moves on, selling secrets as he sees fit. Why he chose that course of action isn't really explained all that well. He was just doing it to support himself? Certainly it wasn't to the betterment of humanity. In contrast, I felt like Weston was a little bit too noble. Being a good guy no matter how unlikely the scenario (this is especially true in regards to the final outcome of the story). There are thematic traces of Training Day here although that is a better movie all around.
The action is top notch in this movie, with great chase and fight scenes spread throughout the movie. This is fairly good film overall although not quite an excellent one. Recommended.

Contraband. To protect his brother-in-law Andy (Caleb Landry Jones) from a drug lord, a former smuggler named Chris Farraday (Mark Wahlberg) heads to Panama to score millions of dollars in counterfeit bills. Indeed, most of the movie revolves around Farraday's journey to and from Panama, as well as his actions there.
A reasonably good action movie. Certainly it doesn't follow the typical Hollywood formulas and yet... I found the movie entertaining but ultimately forgettable. A good popcorn flick with good action but nothing really memorable or intriguing. Chris character is slick guy when he needs to be and nothing every really stops him. A problem gets in his way and he deals with it. Which is realistic to a point but there was never any real doubt his character would succeed at what he sets out to do in the film (most movies involve happy endings, of course, but it's better when they at least try to make the viewer think the protagonist truly might fail).
Good, but not great action movie. Recommended. (January 13/12).

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