The Maze Runner (2014) review (250th Post!!)

One of the big film genres currently dominating Hollywood is the ‘Young Adult’ genre AKA films based off of best-selling books. I guess you could say it really got started when the first ‘Harry Potter’ film was released in 2001. Of course we all know how successful that franchise was and in the early years of its existence, other studios tried to cash in on the success of ‘Potter’ by adapting other best-selling book series to film like the ‘Inheritance’ trilogy, the ‘Alex Rider’ series, and ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’. However, none of those series were really able to match the success of ‘Potter’. The first real franchise to do this was the ‘Twilight’ series though really that’s more from a commercial standpoint because well, to put it quite simply, those movies are straight-up terrible. And once Twilight become popular, the ‘Young Adult’ genre cycle started up again and once again we saw numerous franchises like ‘The Mortal Instruments’ and ‘Beautiful Creatures’ attempt to cash in on ‘Twilight’ and of course most of them struck out big time. Now that ‘Twilight’ is over, ‘The Hunger Games’ has become the next major successful ‘Young Adult’ film series. ‘Divergent’, released back in March, managed to be successful enough for a follow-up and this month it looks we have another new franchise on our hands in the form of ‘The Maze Runner’, based off of the 2009 book of the same name by James Dashner and I can safely say that this is easily one of the better films of the ‘Young Adult’ genre.

The film begins as a boy named Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) finds himself in a dark elevator with absolutely no memory of who he is or what has happened to him. He ends up in a mysterious grassy area where he comes across a group of other boys who have established their own community in this area, which they refer to as ‘The Glade’. Thomas learns that they have been trying to escape via the large maze surrounding ‘The Glade’. However, for the last three years they have been unable to find a way out for two main reasons. First of all, the maze changes every day but what’s worse is that at night the doors leading into the maze close. Those who end up trapped inside then have to deal with a bunch of strange creatures known as Grievers that inhabit the maze. Thomas soon manages to prove himself when he becomes one of the first Gladers to ever survive a night in the maze and as he gains the trust of the others, he soon begins to try and figure out not only why they are all here but to also find a way to escape this place with the help of some of the other Gladers, including ‘Runner’ (The term used to describe the Gladers who try and figure out a way out of the maze) Minho (Ki Hong Lee) and the one and only female Glader Teresa (Kaya Scodelario), who apparently connected to Thomas in some way.

I just want to preface this review with a quick disclaimer: I have not read ‘The Maze Runner’ so this film basically served as my official introduction to the franchise and overall I must say that it was a very satisfying first look. One of the biggest reasons for this is that the story is pretty compelling. You are as much in the dark as Thomas is when it comes to why he and the other Gladers were put in the Glade so you’re interested in finding out the truth. Without giving anything major away, the final payoff may be hit or miss for some people but I found it to be pretty intriguing even though it does sort of introduce a major plot-point in just the final few minutes of the film and from what I’ve read online, this plot-point isn’t even introduced in the books until the second novel, ‘The Scorch Trials’ (that and the film does have one of the more obvious ‘sequel-baiting’ final lines in recent memory). Still, the movie does hold your interest from beginning to end and I am very much interested in seeing how the rest of the story is going to play out. The visuals are pretty solid in regards to the overall production design, especially when it comes to ‘the Maze’. And that’s not that surprising considering that the film’s director, Wes Ball, has mostly been known for his work in visual effects. Ball makes his feature-length directorial debut with this film and overall he makes a pretty solid first impression in regards to his directing.

Another one of the film’s biggest strengths is its cast. The character of Thomas is a pretty likable lead character and O’Brien certainly has the right amounts of charm and likability that makes him perfect for the role. As for the rest of the cast, one of the big things about the story is how the rest of the boys in the Glade have established a perfectly functioning society. The arrival of Thomas in the Glade results in some of the Gladers, most notably Gally (Will Poulter), believing that Thomas’ behavior/actions will end up ruining the peaceful existence that they have been living for the last few years. It’s an interesting story dynamic and the main members of the cast do have excellent camaraderie with each other. It really does sell the whole idea of these boys having made their own personal society in a way that has been described as ‘Lord of the Flies mixed with Lost’. Also, it is pretty nice to have a Young Adult film franchise centered on a male lead for once whereas other films in the genre (especially in recent years) have primarily been led by female leads (e.g. ‘Hunger Games’, ‘Divergent’, ‘Twilight’, etc.). That’s not the case of ‘The Maze Runner’, which features a pre-dominantly male cast save for two female characters. In other words, you can sort of refer to this film as ‘Hunger Games for boys’ and I’m perfectly fine with that.

So unlike ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘The Hunger Games’, I went into ‘The Maze Runner’ having not read not the book beforehand. But after seeing the film, I can safely say that I am now very much interested in checking it out because ‘The Maze Runner’ is certainly one of the better films of the ‘Young Adult’ genre. Of course having not read the book I can’t really say anything about how faithful this film is to the source material. However, I can say that the film greatly benefits from having a story that is pretty compelling that will keep you wondering what’s happening until the very end. Plus, the film has a pretty solid cast, with an excellent lead in Dylan O’Brien’s Thomas and a group of boys with great camaraderie with one another. And like I said earlier, it is good that the ‘Young Adult Book Adaptation’ film genre will now be a little more balanced thanks to this film being centered on a male lead and featuring a mostly-male cast. I assure you that I will be there next year when the second film of this series, ‘The Scorch Trials’, hits theaters and I’m glad to see that one of the better films of the Young Adult genre is experiencing the success that not every Young Adult film franchise has had.

Rating: 4/5

Video Game Review: Back to the Future: The Game (2010-2011)

‘Back to the Future’ is my favorite movie of all time for a few reasons. Not only is the film (as well as its two sequels) highly quotable and incredibly entertaining, but in execution it’s more than just a ‘science fiction’ film; it’s a comedy film, an action film, a high school film, a romance film, and of course, a science fiction film all rolled into one. Because of this, I believe that it will stand the test of time for years to come. But this franchise hasn’t really fared well in terms of video games. There was the god-awful NES game made by LJN that barely followed the plot of the game in which protagonist Marty McFly, who for some reason was wearing an all-black shirt and not his usual red vest, went around the town of Hill Valley collecting clocks… don’t ask, and for the record if you haven’t played this game before, don’t even considering trying it out. It’s that bad. There have been a few other video games, but from what I understand, a lot of them aren’t that good as well. But in 2010, Telltale Games, the creators of the episodic ‘The Walking Dead’ video games, produced a ‘Back to the Future’ game which, while not exactly perfect, is the best representation of the ‘BTTF’ franchise in video game form to date.

Following a ‘re-creation’ of the scene in the original film where Marty McFly helps his friend Dr. Emmett Brown AKA Doc test out his new invention, a time machine made out of a DeLorean, we flash forward to a few months after the events of ‘Back to the Future Part III’ in 1986. In the time since, Marty hasn’t seen Doc at all. One day, when the bank starts to sell Doc’s house and his possessions, Marty comes across his ‘time-travel’ notebook before the DeLorean suddenly appears out of nowhere. Soon after, Marty learns that Doc is stuck in 1931 Hill Valley. Not only that, but he is also in jail for apparently burning down a local speakeasy, and is to be killed by local mob boss ‘Kid’ Tannen, the owner of the speakeasy. This leads Marty to travel back to 1931, where he gains the help of Doc’s 1931 self, in order to save the ‘present’ Doc before he is to be killed. However, in the process, Marty’s actions begin to set up a series of events that begin to drastically alter the timeline for both him and Doc.

The entire game itself is split into five separate episodes, each taking about two to three hours to complete. The story itself is very compelling, if mainly because of how this game feels so much like ‘Back to the Future’. Telltale had the help of Bob Gale, co-creator/co-writer/co-producer on the films, in developing the story and in doing so, it really helps this game feel like it’s part of the ‘Back to the Future’ universe, more so than previous games in the franchise (do I need to bring up that LJN game again?). Christopher Lloyd reprises his role as Doc and is once again excellent even after at least two decades since ‘Back to the Future Part III’ came out back in 1990. Michael J. Fox doesn’t reprise his role of Marty (well, to a certain extent but I’m not going to spoil anything about that) but his successor, A.J. Locascio, does a fantastic and very spot-on impression of him to the point where you can hardly tell any difference. All in all, the voice acting in the game is rock solid all-around. The overall presentation is this game’s greatest asset.

Now, the game itself isn’t particularly that ‘difficult’. It’s a point-and-click adventure game and in execution a rather ‘simple’ one at that. You control Marty as he travels around different ‘versions’ of Hill Valley and interacts with the various people and objects he comes across. Moving around from place to place is a little stiff because the game has a ‘fixed’ camera perspective meaning that it changes when you travel to a different part of the area you’re currently in. So, if you have Marty walking forward and the camera then switches to a different angle that’s facing him, he’ll continue to move forward if you keep the move button down, meaning that the controls become a bit inverted. You have to stop holding the move button so that the controls can revert back to their normal state. This does kind of get frustrating at times, but it’s not too big of a problem. I mean, I haven’t played a lot of games with a ‘fixed camera’ perspective so maybe it’s just me. Also, keep in mind I’m referring to the PC controls because that’s the version of the game that I played; not the PS3, Wii, or iOS versions. The game offers you hints if you get stuck on the various puzzles that you come across but even then the puzzles themselves aren’t too difficult to figure out. Some of them do require a little bit of trial and error but for the most part, they usually just consist of Marty selecting an item from his inventory and using it on either a person or an object.

‘Back to the Future: The Game’ isn’t necessarily a masterpiece, but as a video game, it is the best representation of the film trilogy in that format, even when it’s actually a follow-up to the last film (in other words, this is pretty much ‘Back to the Future Part IV’). Because Telltale was assisted by one of the film series’ writers, the game really feels like you’re in the ‘Back to the Future’ universe, thanks in part to the return of Christopher Lloyd to the role of Doc and A.J. Locascio’s dead-on impression of Michael J. Fox in the role of Marty among other things. The game itself isn’t particularly hard but at the same time, the main story is compelling enough to keep you entertained even if it only takes about two to three hours to complete each of the five episodes. If you’re a fan of the franchise, then this is an obvious must-buy and I guarantee that you will enjoy this game very much. Even if you’re not a fan, I’d still recommend it. Movie-licensed games usually tend to suck, but in the end, this is one of the best games of that genre.

Final Rating: 4.5/5

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) review

The first ‘Hunger Games’ film was a huge success both critically and commercially when it came out back in March 2012. However, while the film was very good thanks in part to the writing and Jennifer Lawrence’s outstanding performance in the lead role, there was room for improvement, namely in regards to the shaky camera work and fast editing during the actual Hunger Games. That’s not to say the film wasn’t bad. It’s always been the case with most book-to-film franchises in that most of them get better as their series go on (e.g. Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings). It’s the responsibility of the first film to set up the universe and characters, and the first did a great job as far as that was concerned. So now all eyes are on the first sequel ‘Catching Fire’ to continue the story. In the director’s chair this time around instead of Gary Ross is Francis Lawrence (no relation to the leading lady), director of ‘Constantine’ and ‘I Am Legend’, who impressed Lionsgate enough to be chosen as the director for the final two Hunger Games films, parts 1 and 2 of ‘Mockingjay’. He’s certainly the right man for the job, because while I do really love the first ‘Hunger Games’, ‘Catching Fire’ is far superior to it in almost every way.

After their victory in the 74^th Annual Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) return home to District 12 before heading off on their ‘Victory Tour’ through the other districts of Panem. However, while both of them are looking to get on with their lives, they soon learn that their defiant actions in the Arena, where they became the first dual winners in the history of the Games, have inspired rebellions all over Panem. This now makes Katniss not only the symbol of hope for the rebellion, but also a target of the Capitol and she is warned by President Snow (Donald Sutherland) to make it look like her actions were done out of her supposed love for Peeta and not as an act of defiance; otherwise her loved ones will be killed. But soon, Katniss and Peeta are forced back into the arena for the 75^th Annual Hunger Games due to the 3^rd Quarter Quell, an event that takes places every 25 years where the Games are affected by a unique rule. In this case, all of the Tributes are past Hunger Games winners, making things even more challenging for Katniss and Peeta this time around.

The biggest advantage that this film has over its predecessor is perhaps the fact that, with a bigger budget, F. Lawrence is able to expand on the world of Panem in ways Gary Ross couldn’t necessarily do with the first one. We get a greater sense of this world and, more importantly, the rebellion that is now happening in it. We don’t necessarily see a full-out rebellion as it’s more focused around Katniss and her reluctance to be the symbol of hope for the districts, but we clearly see that it’s beginning to take shape. Obviously, this rebellion will become much more important in the next two films. Once the film gets into the arena for the 75^th Hunger Games, you folks will be pleased to know that the shaky cam and fast editing of the first film is no longer a problem. It’s all terrifically shot and, while I’ll be spoiler-free about what happens during these Games, the whole arena is very unique, which makes it a little more interesting this time around.

Once again, Jennifer Lawrence shines in the role of Katniss Everdeen, the reluctant symbol of the rebellion who is also sort of traumatized by her experiences in the previous Hunger Games, which we see early on when Katniss suddenly has a vision of one of the tributes from the last film while hunting with Gale (Liam Hemsworth). The relationship between Katniss and Peeta is far more developed in this film, mainly because the writers actually did remember to use the plot-point of how Katniss was playing up their relationship in the arena to win over the audience; the previous film omitted a key scene at the end where Peeta learns about this. Because they have far more substantial roles to work with in this film, Hutcherson and Hemsworth are able to get into their roles more. The idea of a ‘love triangle’ is there, but it’s not overplayed. Like the last film, this one has a great supporting cast with great performances all around from both returning characters (Woody Harrelson as Haymitch, Donald Sutherland as President Snow, etc.) and new ones (Sam Claflin as Finnick Odair, Jena Malone as Johanna Mason, etc.).

While I do love the original ‘Hunger Games’ film, despite its flaws, ‘Catching Fire’ is superior to the original in almost every way. Now with the whole idea of ‘establishing’ the universe out of the way, thanks to the first film, this sequel allows us to explore this world even more and with that, we’re able to see the growing rebellion that is beginning amongst the Districts of Panem, making things quite suspenseful at times for the main characters. The cast once again brings their all to it and once the film moves into the Arena this time, the shaky camera work and fast-editing from the first film is non-existent which leads to a much more exciting Hunger Games. Francis Lawrence certainly proves that he’s the right man for taking over this franchise, more specifically the two-part finale, ‘Mockingjay’. I’m a little hesitant on the idea of splitting the final book into two films. It’s not because of who’s involved behind the camera, or the quality of the material; it’s just if there's enough material to work with like ‘Harry Potter’. We’ll just have to wait and see when ‘Part 1’ comes out next November.

Rating: 5/5!

The Hunger Games (2012) review

(Note: The following is a newly written review, updated from an earlier review that I did on this film back in March 2012 on Rotten Tomatoes. I would’ve just reposted that original review here, but looking back I realized that it wasn’t really that good and, also, a little biased. It mostly just consisted of me making numerous comparisons to another certain young adult film franchise which was also adapted from a popular book series. Because of this, I decided to write a new review just in time for ‘Catching Fire’. Enjoy!)

(Also, as a bit of a warning, there are some Spoilers regarding the ending.)

We all know how J.K. Rowling’s ‘Harry Potter’ series, which was already a major success in book form, became even more successful once the books were adapted to film beginning in 2001. In the wake of Potter, many studios tried to cash in on the success of the franchise by adapting other popular book franchises. However, for the longest time, no one really had any luck at creating ‘the next Harry Potter’, despite the fact that some of these movies had really good source material to work with, like ‘Eragon’ and ‘Stormbreaker’. The first book-to-film adaptation that managed to become as big as ‘Potter’ was ‘The Twilight Saga’ but, in the opinion of this reviewer, this was mainly because of the popularity of the source material and not because of its quality; in other words, the movies were terrible. Now, both ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Twilight’ have come to an end, meaning that it’s time for a new franchise to step up and become the next ‘Harry Potter’ and that franchise is ‘The Hunger Games’, based off of the best-selling book series by author Suzanne Collins. Sure, in retrospect, the first adaptation of this franchise isn’t perfect, namely due to some decisions that were made in the transition to film, but overall this first film does a good job at setting up its universe and, more importantly, its lead heroine.

In the future, the nation of Panem exists in a post-apocalyptic North America consisting of the main city of The Capitol and its 12 neighboring districts. After the 12 Districts (previously 13) started a rebellion, The Capitol, after defeating the rebels and apparently destroying the 13^th District, initiated a new annual event called ‘The Hunger Games’, a televised event where 24 ‘Tributes’ (one male and female from each district) fight to the death until only one remains as the winner. During the year of the 74^th Hunger Games, District 12 resident Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) volunteers to be the female Tribute for the District after her sister Prim (Willow Shields) is initially chosen. Along with fellow District tribute Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), Katniss is brought to the Capitol where she and Peeta are put to the test as they must compete with Tributes who have had more experience than them and have better ‘odds’ at winning.

Like most book franchises, ‘The Hunger Games’ serves as the film in its series whose job is to set up the universe and its characters, and as far as that is concerned, director Gary Ross does a very good job at establishing the unique world of Panem and bringing it to the big screen. The key themes of the novel, like the idea of oppression and critiques of both government and the media, are executed well on film. In terms of staying faithful to the source material, the film may not maintain the first-person narrative from the book, as told by Katniss, but I do like that it gives more attention to those behind the scenes, namely President Snow (Donald Sutherland) and Head Gamemaker Seneca Crane (Wes Bentley).  But as for the action once the actual Hunger Games get started, it leads to probably the biggest problems that some have with the film; a lot of shaky camerawork and fast editing. There’s no denying it; it is pretty noticeable, but considering that this film probably wouldn’t have been able to maintain a PG-13 rating considering how violent things get during the Games, it’s sort of understandable as to why they went this route.

But really the best part about this whole film is its main character, Katniss Everdeen. Compared to a certain female lead in another young adult franchise, Katniss can certainly hold her own and is not dependent on a man. This film belongs to Jennifer Lawrence, who does an outstanding job at conveying Katniss’s emotions. She’s backed up by a terrific supporting cast that includes Woody Harrelson as Katniss and Peeta’s mentor Haymitch, Stanley Tucci as Hunger Games commentator Caesar Flickerman, and Lenny Kravitz as Katniss’s stylist and ally Cinna. Sure, this movie does have one of those ‘love triangles’ that you see a lot of in these kinds of movies and the two male leads may not be as ‘developed’ as Katniss, but both Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth, who plays Katniss’ friend Gale (who, for the record, is only on screen for like 10 minutes), do good enough jobs with what they have to work with. It may seem like Lawrence and Hutcherson don’t really have good chemistry but that’s sort of how it played out in the book; Katniss played up the romance in order to gain sympathy from the audience, ultimately resulting in her actually beginning to have feelings for Peeta. However, I do have to add that, as faithful as they were to the book, the filmmakers left out a key scene in the end where Peeta learns about this, which would have helped developed their relationship in future movies. Hopefully ‘Catching Fire’ doesn’t forget this crucial plot-point.

In the end, ‘The Hunger Games’ may not exactly be perfect, mainly due to some shaky camerawork and fast editing during the actual Hunger Games. But as a whole, this film does benefit from some very good writing and, for the most part, very well-developed characters. The one in particular who stands out here is Jennifer Lawrence. Not only is the character of Katniss a well-developed female heroine, but Lawrence carries the movie on her back with the help of a talented supporting cast. Overall, Gary Ross did a very good job at establishing the universe and the characters, but I am curious to see what Francis Lawrence brings to the series with ‘Catching Fire’. Considering that he will be returning for both parts of ‘Mockingjay’, it seems like Lionsgate was impressed by his work on the first sequel. ‘Catching Fire’ is currently getting highly positive reviews, but we’ll just have to wait and see if it manages to be superior to its predecessor.

Rating: 4.5/5

 

Cloud Atlas (2012) review

To put it bluntly, Cloud Atlas will go down as one of the most ambitious movies ever made. A near three-hour epic spanning across centuries with the members of its cast portraying multiple characters through six separate storylines across time. Yes, the latest film from the Wachowskis and Tom Twyker is one to be admired for this trio's efforts of adapting a novel that many deemed unfilmable and making it work on the big screen. This is a film that I cannot explain completely just through words. But one thing that is certain is that this is not a perfect film. On one hand, it's compelling, well-acted, and it stays consistent in the right areas when it needs to be. However, the way it juggles these multiple storylines is rather problematic and it's not entirely clear how all of these storylines connect to each other in the first place.

Cloud Atlas is not a single story, but a group of stories that takes us from the 19^th century to a post-apocalyptic future. We follow a notary (Jim Sturgess) as he travels across the sea whilst battling an illness, a musician (Ben Whishaw) as he writes music for an old composer, a journalist (Halle Berry) as she investigates into a unsafe power plant, a publisher (Jim Broadbent) as he tries to escape from a mental hospital in which he is confined in, a fabricant (Doona Bae) as she escapes to inspire a rebellion in a dystopian future, and a tribesman (Tom Hanks) in the post-apocalyptic future. Throughout the film, we learn how the actions of one character impacts another in the past and future and how a killer can be a hero in another life, and vice versa.

First off, you have to admire this film's scope and ambition. There really hasn't been a film like this before that has tried to juggle all of these storylines into one single film and for the most part, it works very well here. The narrative never falls apart at any point, even when the film starts to move rapidly through all of these storylines. However, there's one problem that emerges from this. It seems like some of these six stories felt more important than others. The two segments set in the future seem to get the most screen-time out of all of the six storylines, but the segments about the musician and the notary seem unimportant as the film spends more time in other eras than these two. The segment with the journalist almost falls to that level, but it does get really thrilling near the end. Finally, the segment about the publisher has the best humor in the entire film. So basically, the two future segments and the one with the publisher are the standout parts of the film.

Really when you get down to it, I actually didn't see how all of these stories were supposed to be connected. This might be because I never read the book this was based on, but to me the only real ways these stories were connected were for two reasons. First of all, excluding the first story, the main character of each proceeding storyline learns of the previous' main character's adventure through various means, whether it is a diary or a 'dramatic reenactment'. Aside from that, we of course have the fact that these actors portrayed multiple characters across time periods. Part of me feels like that wasn't necessary, but it is pretty cool to see each actor in different roles and see how they adapt to each character they play. Some of these characters even have them doing something that is against what they are used to, as some of these characters have them change race and even gender on some occasions.

That does not mean that this is a bad movie, because it is far from it. Even though it's almost three-hours long (apparently it's much longer overseas), it's never really dull and it's just plain intriguing to watch. Even if some storylines are focused on more than others, the tone is very consistent and it never really makes any jarring shifts, except for one instance where we transition from a light-hearted chase scene to a thriller. The acting is also very solid, and there is not a single bad performance from this cast. The standout would probably have to be Tom Hanks (one of the few who is literally in every era), but we also have strong performances from Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving (even though pretty much all of his characters are bad guys (although he was awesome as this demon spirit-like character in the post-apocalyptic future)), Jim Sturgess, Jim Broadbent, Ben Whishaw, Hugh Grant, and Susan Sarandon.

Really, I just don't know what to say about this film. On one hand, I admire this film's ambition, its scope, and the terrific cast. But this is not exactly a perfect film either. I couldn't really see how all of these stories were supposed to be connected aside from the fact that each actor was playing different characters through time. On top of that, I feel that more was needed for some of the other segments not set in the future, but then again that would probably detract from the original source material. To its credit, the film never got dull and even though I never read the book this was based on, it wasn't really that confusing. However, I would recommend you at least read up on this book before seeing the film because otherwise you'll probably be confused at what's going on. 

Rating: 3/5