The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1

This week on Mc's Film Critique I watched The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1.

I want to start off by saying that I never read this book series. I was told about it by a camper in summer camp years ago. My interest was peaked enough to see the first film. I thoroughly like dystopian/ utopian fiction. I was required to read a book called WE by Yevgeny Zamyatin for one of my history classes and LOVED IT! That being said, I will go watch this type of film any day of the week, good or bad just to see what's what. 


Lets dive into this film. It is the third installment of the Hunger Games series adapted from the books of the same name. I don't like watching a film half way through and not getting to the end, so I will watch this series to the end. I have a need to find out what happened. This film is a part 1 of a final chapter to this story and unlike the Hobbit which I had problems with (click here for that blog), the ending in this film feels satisfactory. The entire series has not been concluded yet, but the film has a logical ending. As a viewer, you get a  sense of closure but the film leaves you eager to see Part 2 of this series.

Buttercup The Cat

The film is slow paced in comparison to The Hunger Games and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,  but it's setting the stage for the second part. When the DVD comes out, watching part one and two in succession will be awesome!

The effects in the film looked really good. When they were in a forest, destroyed  buildings, city or aircraft it all looked real. 


The story didn't have any unnecessary plot points. Even the choice to take a cat had purpose in the film (yes, there was a cat and it's fluffy). The characters acted in what felt like real life, driven by emotion and a sense of duty. Jennifer Lawrence  gave us a great performance, as did the rest of the cast. Natalie Dormer is in this film. You may recognize her from the popular show Game of Thrones, making this film a must see if you haven't yet. 

Natalie Dormer

Like I said earlier the film is slow paced, something people may not like in comparison to the two films before it.

I recommend this film. It makes up for the the previous blunders of the other two films in this series.

Badge: None
Rating: 8/10

The DUFF (Designated Ugly Fat Friend)

This week on MC's Film Critique I review The DUFF directed by Ari Sandel.

The film is set in a high school and after a few minutes we meet the main characters Bianca and her two friends Jess and Casey. Bianca our main protagonist gets called the DUFF of the group  at a party. This causes her to leave, and becomes the driving force of her actions for the rest of the film. 

I want to take this moment to look a problem I see in the film industry. In the United States the legal drinking age is 21. The main cast is playing students about to graduate high school so they are around 17-18 years old. A few years too young to buy their own drinks. Now are kids seeing this phenomena in films and drink because they think that they should be doing this? Or is the film industry noticing that kids drink regardless of the legal drinking age and are trying to portray real life? I'll just leave that out there.

Back to the film. The film is a comedy and does a good job at being funny with its jokes. It is a very now film. It's up to date with trends and social norms, while understanding how teens function. They are on their smart phones, Twitter, YouTube, social networking, all that good stuff. Other than the crazy party, there wasn't a part of the film that made me disbelieve the story.

The film even looks at Cyberbullying. Anyone who knows me well knows that I don't tolerate bullying, with my friends, with my co-workers and especially between the kids at my summer job. The film looks at high school labels and in a comical way and turns them around in a positive way.

Speaking of plot, this one was really good. The way the main character interacts passes the Bechdel test (see the video to the right), the film is funny but, it was predictable, which is a pet peeve of mine. A predictable movie can still be good, but I like not knowing what's going to happen next. 

If you like comedy and are looking to laugh, this film is a must see.

Badge: None

Rating: 8/10

Birdman Or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Movie poster

This week on MC's Film Critique I watched Birdman. There was a lot of hype about it and it did really well at Oscars so I thought I would check it out.

Many films try to be different by trying out different camera shots. I'm not a fan of change, usually because it is for the worst when messing with different camera shots. However, the way that Birdman is shot, it seems as if it was done all in one take. I thought it was pretty cool. I tried to play a game of where I thought the shots ended and started back up again.


Lets talk about the film. It's an interesting story, we follow around an actor/director of a play who is trying to distinguish himself from his former Hollywood super hero role BIRDMAN. Does he succeed? Spoilers. 


I think the film reflects how actors take playing a role to an extreme. It's basically a self critique of the industry. I think that's why it won so many awards.

The music was interestingly done. It's basically a drum kit and small jazz band that play for most of the film. At points it is even shown and looks organic. The transitions are organic feeling as well, like I said earlier it was interesting.

Things I didn't like about the film. There was a sound issue for me at least, sometimes it was super quite, sometimes  it was really loud. I kept having to adjust the volume accordingly. At times the film was in my opinion boring. We are faced with these long shots going down hallways as if we are walking through Broadway, which was cool but added to the length of this film while not adding much in the way of plot. It also made Broadway seem very unappealing.

The ending is quite strong but filled with this boring dream like transition before we reach the conclusion of the film.

Overall see the film. It's different from the rest and worth your time. Just keep your remote handy to adjust the volume.

Badge: None

Rating: 7.5/10

Taken 3

Movie Poster

This week on MC's Film Critique I look at Taken 3, more like taken again?

I can't believe that this managed to become a trilogy. Taken has to be one of my favorite films ever, a high action, nail biting movie, that had you on the edge of your seat as Liam Neeson was a bad ass! Taken 3 still has him being a bad ass but, it does not have the same effect as the first film. In the first film it was unexpected, this film was trying too hard.

The biggest problem I had with this film was the motivation of the "bad" guy. Taken 2 was a stretch but at least it was logical. In this film he becomes a fugitive (not a spoiler it was in the trailer) not to mention that the trailer gives away most of the film anyways.

Liam Neeson

As a squeal this film is weak. People expect the film to be better than the first film. All this film does is tarnish the good name of Taken.

We learn a bit of back story (finally) about Liam Neeson's character Bryan. Although it was cooler when we didn't know anything about his past.

The elevator scene was the best part of the whole film. It's just too bad we didn't have more scenes like that one.

The acting was alright, the filming was good, the story line was weak. I would have liked to have seen more from the "bad guy", in terms of ambition and goals. I also do not find it believable that the actions of the bad guy would have gone unnoticed by Bryan. This whole "problem" in the film had no possible way of happening.

The film isn't bad, however it isn't good either. They should have stopped at Taken 2. I hope we don't see a taken 4 after this film.

I hope that Escapist does a review of this film, but the chances of that seem pretty slim at this point.

Badge: None

Rating: 6.4/10

American Sniper

Movie Poster

This week on MC's Film Critique I look at American Sniper. I am really excited to talk about this film!

Alright so me and the g.f. went to see this the other night and wow. When I watched Saving Private Ryan for the first time and they storm the beaches of Normandy, I felt like it was an accurate representation of what it must have been like to storm the beach in WWII. I got that same feeling from this film. It might have been due to the fact that I watched it in AVX and all the sound effects were so fantastic. When a helicopter flew by, I felt like a helicopter actually flew by. When they were in a fire fight, I felt like it was happening all around me.

Not once do I recall hearing the word "clip" when the term "mag" should have been used. This is a pet peeve of mine. Look at the picture to the left, there is a difference! They are not interchangeable. You can't put a clip inside a magazine fed weapon and vice versa!

I did feel as if the film over glorified being a Sniper. Although, it's a war movie and they all glorify one aspect or another somehow. It did bug me that Chris Kyle had no spotter in the film when he would have had one in real life. Snipers work in squads of two, a shooter and a spotter. 

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this film. The way the credits came on screen, I thought was very appropriate.It did feel eerie to leave a theatre in such a manner.

Overall the acting was solid. Bradley Cooper gave an amazing performance, the rest of the actors were great as well. However the baby could not be more fake. Watch College Humors take on it.

Remember the film is based on a book which was written after the events took place. Odds are not everything happened as it did in real life but that does not take away from the general feel of the film. I would suggest you watch this one if you like action and war films.



Badge: None 

Rating: 9/10