The Hunger Games

With John Carter set to become one of the biggest flops in cinema history (I really don't think it's that bad: http://tinyurl.com/7we6qsp), Lionsgate are set to release The Hunger Games this coming Friday, which they hope will fare much better than Disney's $250 million Martian epic. Sci-fi, I have to admit, is not one of my favourite genres; I have never understood why people get so involved and attached to a fictitious world which has less chance of existing than an on-time train. And don't even get me started on Trekkies... Anyway, it is with a slight air of indifference that I went to a preview screening of The Hunger Games, which many are calling the new Twilight or Harry Potter. And, you know what? I really enjoyed it.

Based on the best-selling book by Suzanne Collins and set in a post-apocalyptic future America, The Hunger Games sees the Capitol of the nation of Panem force each of its twelve districts to offer up a teenage boy and girl as 'Tributes' to compete in the annual Hunger Games contest. The Games are televised and each Tribute must fight the others until only one survivor remains. When the younger sister of sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) is drawn to compete, Katniss takes her place and must use all of her courage, skill and determination to survive.

Directed by Gary Ross, The Hunger Games struck me as being atypical of most of the drivel which Hollywood churns out and hopes will become a blockbuster. Transformers, in all three of its hideous incarnations, is living proof of this. The philosophy that if you stick enough loud bangs, crashes and pretty girls prancing around cars with not a lot on will guarantee a good film and, more importantly, make a shed load of money is not what cinema is about. Fair enough if you have all this, but a bit of depth doesn't hurt.

The Hunger Games is a film which has all the action, adventure and thrills that you would expect from a film based on kids running around a forest and killing each other, but it also delivers an unsettling message. Taking the visuals first, the action sequences are entralling and are really well executed. Distinctive shaky-cam cinematography pulls the audience into the disturbing events of the film and really makes you feel involved with the characters and their situations. Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss is faultless and delivers a performance which is both assured and vulnerable as she becomes both the hunter and the hunted. Donald Sutherland leads a well-rounded supporting cast who never stray into the trap of toning down their performances in order to boost Lawrence's own. Quite frankly, you could shove the top ten best actors of recent years in a room with her and she'd hold her own.

On another level, the whole film looks beautiful. From the dense, oppressive greenery of the forest to the colour and modernism of the Capitol, the production designers have done a fantastic job, creating a world which is so alien and yet worryingly recognisable. The idea of humanity breaking down to the point of savagery is a key idea addressed by The Hunger Games and not since John Prescott was informed that 'Greggs' had sold out of steak pies has violence been so harrowing. The film's 12A certificate meant that blood splatters had to be reduced but, in a strange way, this made the killing of the 'Tributes' even more disturbing. I have always maintained that it is what the audience doesn't see which has the biggest impact and the flashes of brutality which punctuate the fight sequences are genuinely difficult to watch. Whilst the ending didn't have the powerful punch that it perhaps should have had, this is a minor point in what was otherwise a well-crafted narrative.

The Hunger Games is not your run-of-the-mill action/adventure blockbuster. Its strong and dynamic central character, bucking the trend of the hapless teenage heroine in need of a man to save her (Twilight, cough, cough), together with its dramatic action and emotional core is a pleasure to watch. The odds for a sequel are looking good (Collins wrote a trilogy of books) and if ticket pre-sales are anything to go by, the film may well be one of the biggest this year. Sci-fi may not be my cup of tea, but The Hunger Games has left me wanting seconds...

Clapperboard Rating: * * * * 

We Bought a Zoo

Many people sneer at film critics, suggesting that their opinions are out of touch with cinema audiences and that they will hate any film which doesn't address humanist existentialism from a post-structuralist angle (no, I don't have a clue what that is either). The film critic is seen to dislike popular culture, in favour of film as art: to be discussed and debated rather than to simply entertain. Now, in the case of We Bought a Zoo, it would be very easy to dismiss the film as a piece of 'film-making by numbers' – that is to say, a film with big name stars which will easily recoup its cost to make but, ultimately, be of little real value. A quick look on RottenTomatoes.com and you will see that many critics have, in their 'elevated' positions, slated the film for its predictability and mawkishness. Many of these critics would have gone into a screening of We Bought a Zoo with minds firmly made up: the film would be rubbish and I have to say that I entered a preview screening with similar feelings. How wrong I was...

We Bought a Zoo is based on the true story of Benjamin Mee who, after his wife died, decided to buy a struggling zoo on Dartmoor and renovate and run it with his two children. Taken from a book written by Mee, the film translates the story from South West England to sunny California and throws in Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson for good measure. Before I begin, let me just say that I've no interest whatsoever in animals. I don't get why people have dogs or cats, wandering around their homes and leaving hair on every surface imaginable. Even worse is the habit of kissing a dog – why anyone would want to catch a staphylococcus infection from Fido's slobbery tongue is beyond me. Many complain about having to hoover the house twice a day just to keep the carpet from disappearing under a sea of pet hairs. Want to solve the problem? Just get rid of the dog! Anyway, my point is that I'm not that into animals. And so, a film about a zoo and people's love for animals was always going to be a hard sell to me. As I watched the film, however, I realised that this wasn't important and that the human characters were more than enough to engage me in the narrative.

The performances, especially from Damon, had a sensitivity and depth which was pitched at the right level: never melodramatic, nor too mellowed. Colin Ford, who played Benjamin's difficult teenage son Dylan, was a highlight of the cast (who were all very self-assured and dynamic). Johansson was suitably 'plained-down' for her role as head zoo keeper Kelly and provided an interesting on-screen relationship with Damon. It was very nice to see Damon in a role other than that of Jason Bourne which has, for better or for worse, come to define him as an actor. His slightly enigmatic but always emotionally-fulfilled performance as a father struggling to provide for his family but also follow a dream, was a pleasure to watch and certainly made for a few teary eyes in the audience.

Some have criticised the film's sentimentality and patent emotional-manipulation with little substance to support it. This judgement is, in my mind, unfair. Every now and then, we all need to watch a film which is as predictable as the UK's defeat in Eurovision and to just sit back and enjoy a warm-hearted and inoffensive two hours of entertainment. Whilst a flash-back sequence did jar a little with the overall feel of the film, it was a minor point in an otherwise well-constructed film. The plot was perfectly fine, as was its sensitive handling of issues such as death and family in a script which was very funny in places. The distinctive soundtrack composed by Sigur Rós frontman, Jon Thor Birgisson, was as schmaltzy as it gets but, do you know what? I didn't care. The music swelled in all the right places and did exactly what I wanted it to: reinforce the safe drama which was playing out on-screen.

We Bought a Zoo is a no-holds-barred family drama, which haemorrhaged sentiment and emotion faster than an episode of One Born Every Minute. And I loved it. As the kids say these days – it was totes emosh. 

Clapperboard Rating: * * *  

We Bought a Zoo is released on the 16th March 

Wanderlust

Every now and then, something comes along which totally shatters the stereotypical views which we hold about certain groups of people. The belief that, for example, all bus drivers are grumpy and rude so-and-so’s, who would prefer it if their job didn't involve any contact with the general public is dispelled the moment I use public transport and pay with anything other than the exact change. You would guess that Wanderlust – a film which is essentially about a bunch of hippies trying to convert city dwellers to commune life – dispels negative stereotypes and promotes a positive and engaging look at free love and all things organic. Well, I'm sorry to say, you'd be wrong. Dead wrong.

From director David Wain (Role Models), Wanderlust stars Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston (oh goodie goodie!) who play George and Linda who, after losing their house in New York, decide to try an alternative way of life in a rural commune to find themselves and discover the important things in life. Billed as a comedy, it is safe to say that this film is unspeakably un-funny. In fact, I genuinely didn't laugh once. At all. I've tried to understand why I didn't; why the 'jokes' were dull and why I was drifting off into a bored stupor. Firstly, the characters were flat and one-dimensional and I felt a total apathy towards them. Actually, I take that back, I did feel something towards them. I wanted to hit them over the head with one of their home-made guitars in the hope it would instil some sense into their dense, pot-fuelled brains.

Let's take, for example, the protagonists: Linda and George. The film opens with the couple buying a studio apartment in swanky West Village. Their reasons for buying in that location? It's close to their favourite coffee shop. I'm sorry but what?! These are characters who base one of the most important decisions of their lives on how easy it is to get a double shot decaf soya latte with no froth, thank you very much. Things don't get much better when they reach the commune and decide at the drop of a hat that they've been living a false life and need to smoke weed to fulfil their life potential. In short, I care more about Manchester's sewage system than I did about Aniston and Rudd's painfully irritating characters.

And then there are the hippies. Every single stereotype about Bohemian living is conformed to in the search of producing 'comedy gold'. However, the insistence by Wain and fellow screenwriter Ken Marino to load the screenplay with crass and totally un-funny dialogue in an attempt to raise a few laughs about a nudist wine-maker was depressingly average at best. As I sat there, watching ninety-eight painful minutes of characters I found totally un-engaging, doing things I couldn't care less about, I felt myself slowly wasting away, as if the hippies were sucking all the life out of me to make their own annoying peace-loving and hairy lives even more grating. I was not amused.

Wanderlust is a truly awful film with about as much entertainment value as cleaning a cheese grater with your tongue. Its narrative is predictable, un-involving and mind-numbingly tedious and its characters will drive you to distraction. All the prints of Wanderlust should be thrown to the bottom of the deepest ocean and forgotten about as a mistake that Jennifer Aniston made in her otherwise unblemished career. Hang on, did I just say that or have I been eating too many macro-biotic bean sprouts?!

Clapperboard Rating: *

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Don't get me wrong, I think it's great when cinemas attract audiences of all ages. From children on their first trip to experience the magic of cinema, to film veterans who saw Casablanca when it was first released, a visit to the cinema should be an all-inclusive experience. However, until a film such as The King's Speech comes along, mainstream cinemas are usually devoid of the presence of anyone over the age of forty-five (in 2007, 65% of 15 to 34 year olds visited the cinema at least once a month, compared to just 15% of over 45 year olds). Crazy. Either middle-aged people stay at home watching repeats of Bargain Hunt or don't visit their local World of Cine because there simply aren't enough films aimed at their age bracket. It is pleasing, then, when a film such as The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel comes along.

When I went to a screening of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel I was most definitely the youngest audience member by about forty years. It was as if I had walked into a retirement home, with a massive projection screen in place of the TV. And what a well-behaved audience they were! No annoying mobile phones being flashed every five minutes, no rustling of popcorn or crisp packets (indeed, many had chosen to bring packed lunches instead!). And never before has an audience mirrored a film so well. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel sees a group of retired Brits who decide to up-sticks and move to a hotel in India which promises a golden environment for their golden years. However, on their arrival, the hotel is less than luxurious but still manages to charm its guests in unexpected ways. The most striking feature of this film is its cast, which seems to have been assembled from a who's-who of British acting veterans, including Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Celia Imrie, Bill Nighy and Penelope Wilton. Not since Laurence Olivier's funeral have so many top names been seen together. The presence of these acting greats certainly makes the film and every cast member gives a strong and humorous performance. Dev Patel as the hotel's somewhat dysfunctional manager provides much comedy and his energy and dynamism on screen is infectious.

Written by Ol Parker (wrote several episodes of Grange Hill wouldn't you know?!) and adapted from a novel by Deborah Moggach, the film is very funny and it made me laugh out loud on several occasions (although not as many times as the woman in front of me who, every time she laughed, sounded as if she was having a helium-induced asthma attack). The film is, in general, well-paced and captures the essence of India and its vibrancy superbly. Some have attacked this stereo-typical 'tourist' representation of India, arguing that the film does little to find the 'real' India and relies too heavily on the stereo-typical colours, sounds and smiles of the Indian people. I don't agree with this interpretation as the whole film is centred around the idea of ageing Brits throwing themselves into the unknown and so India, with its rich culture and bustling streets, would appear to them in this way. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel was never going to be a ground-breaker: indeed, it's as conservative as Maggie Smith's character's views about foreigners (i.e. not exactly PC), but this doesn't devalue the film in any way.

The script is competently constructed and contains a clear message without being overly-preachy and is genuinely funny, something which many comedies these days are not. Whilst I did find a few of the plot lines slightly predictable and clunky, the acting made up for this and the sensitive cinematography was very easy to watch. Maybe this is both the success of the film and its main problem. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is a charming and mellow film which will be perfect Sunday night viewing and yet, this 'playing-it-safe' attitude is both unadventurous and slightly flat. The film lacks a spark and vitality (I know the cast are hardly spring chickens, but still) which would have lifted it up a level. I couldn't quite put my finger on it but I left the cinema slightly mellowed by the whole experience. Not the greatest criticism of a film but neither a great selling-point. Nevertheless, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is a charming and witty film, with its heart in the right place and I'm sure you'll be smiling throughout. Just don't laugh too hard or you may well lose your dentures...

Clapperboard Rating: * * *