Movie Rant- The Hunger Games: Surviving Sadistic Game Shows

Here's something I've learned from the Harry Potter franchise: if you want to watch a movie adapted from a book, either go in with an open mind or don't even touch the book until you've seen the movie.

I am a fan of novel adaptations, particularly those under fantasy and science fiction genres. However, it takes a lot to be able to enjoy a movie once I have read the book, because there is the tendency to be extra critical, and to measure just how much the movie had managed to live up and be faithful to the book. I have been disappointed a few times- Eragon, The Other Boleyn Girl and Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, to name a few. So far I can only say The Lord of The Rings trilogy and The Da Vinci Code are the only ones that exceeds my expectations.

Which is why I was careful not to read the Hunger Games novel  before I got to watch its big screen adaptation today. Written by Suzanne Collins, it is the first book of the Hunger Games trilogy, which was told through the eyes of the main protagonist, Katniss Everdeen. The concept of the first book was derived from the Greek tale of Theseus and the Minotaur, where seven young men and seven young women were sent into a labyrinth to be sacrificed to a vicious Minotaur. Naturally these men and women have to fight in order to survive, except in the Hunger Games, they have to do so in national television. In other words: it's a deadly version of Survivor.

See, even the publishing world acknowledges that we have too much reality TV.

In The Hunger Games movie, the stage was set some hundred years in the future in a place called Panem. Panem is governed by a totalitarianism administration called the Capitol and its lands were divided into twelve districts. The state of these districts vary, depending on their specializations and their standing with the Capitol. There was a thirteenth district, but it was rumoured to be destroyed by the Capitol due to a past rebellion. Because of this rebellion as well, that the government organized an annual game called the 'Hunger Games', in which all the remaining districts were forced to send in one boy and one girl, or 'tributes' as they are called. Before the game, every girl and boy between the age 12 and 18 were submitted and chosen in a ceremony called the Reaping. The game itself was simple enough: survive for as long as you can in a dangerous outdoor arena secretly manipulated by a team from the Capitol- even if it means having to kill each other. The last person standing will be declared the victor.

Katniss Everdeen is a teenage girl living in District 12, the poorest and most depressing of all Panem's district. Her father was a miner, as is the majority of the people in the district, and he was killed in a mine explosion a few years ago. Katniss was left to care for her family, raising her younger sister Primrose in the place of their mother, who pretty much became non-functional due to depression after her husband's death. Katniss made a living out of hunting in the forest outside her district, which proved to be an asset to her as she became excellent in suvival, hunting and archery skills.

In the year of the 74th Hunger Games, Primrose was selected as the female tribute for District 12. Since Katniss knew that Primrose would not survive ten minutes in their own forest, never mind the bloodthirsty and competitive nature of the game, she volunteered to take Primrose's place. It was here that she was reunited with Peeta Mellark, the male tribute for District 12 and her schoolmate. Peeta and Katniss had a brief and unspoken history together- he once saved her from starvation. Together they fought for their life and survival, eventually defying the game's #1 rule- only one person may be declared the winner- by attempting suicide via poisonous berries. In the end, the Capitol was forced to declare both of them winners.

Katniss & Peeta

I love this movie for many different reasons. For one thing, anything derived from the Romans and Greeks were obviously very appealing. They are, after all, among the pioneers of storytelling. Also, it is like watching  a cinematography version of Survivor. I like the fact that they showcase different skills of survival among the tributes. One girl tribute from district 5 managed to remain alive until the final five by being stealth and quiet throughout the whole competition. I think she must have been a thief or a pickpocket where she lives. There were also the teaming up of the Districts 1 and 2 tributes- known as Careers- whose strategy was to band together as the supposedly strongest team and picking off their opponents one by one hard and fast. But in the end, none of them showed any real team spirit, and died brutal deaths. There was also the heartbreaking death of Rue, the 12-year-old girl tribute from district 11, which eventually triggered a mini-rebellion in her district's paper factories.

My favourite of all these characters had to be Peeta, whose characteristics is everything Katniss is not. Where Katniss is distant and isolated, Peeta has a likable personality and is easygoing among people. Katniss is good with weapons and tracking, Peeta is strong and can camouflage himself like no other. His survival strategy is also different from that of Katniss. In short, they make an extraordinary team. My only regret, was that Peeta failed to showcase more daring deeds during the game, at least in the movie. Katniss appeared more of the hero while Peeta only served as the faithful and lovestruck sidekick. Perhaps this will change, in future movies, as I believe that Peeta has his own heroic moments in the books.

The storyline of this movie is also favourable. While I have yet to read the books, I could say that the transition from one scene to another is fairly smooth and understandable. Perhaps the flashbacks and hallucinations experienced by Katniss at one point of the movie can be slightly confusing, but the rest of the story was all right. The explanations are compact and served their purposes, without dragging the movie too much. The actions were at the right places, so are the drama.

In all, it was an enjoyable experience and I loved every minute of it. I can't wait for the sequel: Chasing Fire.

Movie Rant- The Vow: Promises and Memories

I will be honest here: I'm not a chick-flick kind of person.

Give me action movies, fantasy, comedy, even drama, and I will watch it to the very end despite whatever my opinion might be about the film. I'll even stomach through one of those B-grade thriller movies where people seemed to die endlessly for one and a half hour and the only memorable script I can find is the ear-shattering scream of that blonde hot bimbo about to be hacked to death. (Yeah, I am that graphic)

But ask me to sit through romantic films, where boy-meets-girl, conflict, boy-and-girl-makes-up, and I will look for the nearest exit. There is something rather uncomfortable and awkward for me to watch a male and a female making out in front of me, even it is on the screen. Plus, I find most love stories to be so horribly cliche. I mean, honestly, no guy in the world would choose a klutzy anti-social overweight girl with ink on her forehead over a gorgeous model, at least not until said klutz has a makeover.

Which was why I surprised even myself by wanting to watch The Vow even before its release date. In fact, I had wanted to watch The Vow before I even caught the whole hype surrounding The Hunger Games. The latter was slated to be the next box-office, is adapted from a fantasy-fiction novel and is more of my kind of genre compared to The Vow. So why this movie?

To be fair, The Vow is also an adaptation of a book, moreover it was based on a true story of Kim and Krickitt Carpenter. Mrs. Carpenter suffered a brain trauma caused by an automobile accident which made her forget her relationship with her husband. However, the couple worked together to overcome this tragedy and remained married to this day, even having two children together. I feel that based on this story alone, The Vow is worth spending time and money at the cinema, because it is different from most romantic movies. It's not about a man and a woman who met for the first time and fell in love and fought to be together. It is about what happens after the happily ever after.

In the movie, The Vow tells the story of Leo and Paige Collins, a young married couple who were madly in love with each other. One night, on the way home from the cinema, they got into a car accident, where Paige  suffered a brain trauma causing her to forget all her recent memories, up to why she had left her upper-class family and a shot at law school to live in a run-down house and become a freelance sculptor. Leo has to come to terms that his wife does not remember him at all, never mind their life together. To make things worse, Paige's previously estranged parents, whom Leo had never met, appeared to claim her back.

While many critics has described this film as 'soulless', I find it painful to watch Leo's anguish and frustration as he struggled to win his wife's heart again, and at the same time having to juggle a diminishing musical career as well as having to fight his in-laws in order to make himself heard. Paige, understandably, was uncertain of her surroundings, and tried to wrap it around her head that she was married to a man she viewed as a complete stranger, as well as trying to reciprocate the feelings of someone who so obviously love her unconditionally.

Perhaps the most heartbreaking was during a scene from Paige and Leo's impromptu secret wedding in an art gallery, where they recited their own written vows off a piece of menu from their favourite cafe. Leo promise Paige that "...no matter what challenges might carry us apart, we will always find a way to each other." It was the very line that highlighted the theme of Leo's character- his fight to honour his vows to Paige on their wedding day, even if she doesn't remember. In a world where we see people divorcing after 72 hours of marriage (*cough*KimKardashian*cough*), it is bittersweet to watch a man fight for his wife that way. Although in Islamic wedding, there is no recital of "To love, honour and cherish.... for better or for worse... till death to us part", that is basically the grounds for any marriage, no matter what religion: Two people who will stand by each other come what may.

The only flaw that I find in the whole storyline was that despite everything he had done, Leo conceded in the end and divorced Paige in order for her to return to her family. I would have settled if Paige had gone to stay with her family without having Leo sign the divorce papers. But then again, even here, there is a silver lining. Returning to her family allows Paige to reconnect with her past, which was crucial to the events leading up to her first meeting with Leo. In the end, it took a whole walk down memory lane for Paige- and the audience- to understand who she really is, why she left her privileged upbringing for an independent life in the city and what made her make the choices that she did. In the end, it came down to Paige, not Leo, to discover her true self.

In short, there are two lessons that can be learned from watching The Vow: We must honour the promise we make to someone, the best way we can. And sometimes, we need to let someone find their own way, instead of pointing the path to them.

The Road Not Taken- Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim

Because it was grassy and wanted wear,

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I marked the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.