The Hunger Games

THE HUNGER GAMES was Okay
by Reymundo Salao

In the dystopian future, the civilization known as Panem has lived long after war, disaster and the ravaged ruins of what was known as America. In the aftermath of the Civil War which sought to rebel against the tyrannical government, the defeated rebels were divided into several districts. And as punishment for their rebellion, every year, one boy and one girl both between the ages of 12 to 18 shall be chosen from each district and to compete in a contest where they must kill each other and only one must be victorious, a ruthless reminder that no one can oppose the authority of the Capitol. This contest is known as The Hunger Games.

The strong anticipation for the movie paid off, certainly with a strong entrance at the US box office, and critical response which was equally high also. The movie was indeed a fine movie, but after a while in reviewing it, I felt that it could have been a far more stronger movie. It was a good movie, but it did not really leave an impression upon me; and it was a bit forgettable.

Captain America: The First Avenger

AN INSPIRING TALE OF HEROISM
by Reymundo Salao

Captain America was one of those comic book franchises that would seem so difficult to translate on to the cinematic silver screen, what with a character in such a colorful costume and was originally a figure of American propaganda during World War II. One way, I thought, would maybe to portray it in a very stylized and an artistic surreal setting that could be cartoony or probably seem like Tim Burton’s Batman movies. That, I imagine, would be one way of translating such a comic book into movie format. On the other hand, to translate it in a version which is a bit more grounded in reality, and would aim to blend well with the previously recent Marvel movies like Iron Man and Thor, now that would seem like an Herculean task. The film project was given to director Joe Johnston whose previous works on The Wolfman, Jurassic Park III, and The Rocketeer (which feels like its closest to this project in terms of concept, as it is also about a superhero in the World War II setting) were merely moderately good movies; nothing all too impressive about them. And the screenplay was written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely who both wrote screenplays for the Narnia movies.