The following piece contains SPOILERS for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2. Proceed with caution. This is Part 4 of a 4 part series leading up to the release of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, each looking at an individual film in the series and it’s legacy. Read Part 3 here. The …
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 Written by Danny Strong and Jon Kilik Directed by Francis Lawrence U.S.A., 2015 The anticipation that comes with the release of the final installment of a massively popular and beloved film franchise is always palpable. The Return of the King, Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars fans, at the …
This is Part 2 of a 4 part series leading up to the release of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part II, each looking at an individual film in the series and it’s legacy. Read Part 1 here. Catching Fire is better than The Hunger Games. It did better than its predecessor both with critics …
Hollywood has been all about epics, and there’s no story in all of recorded more epic than the ancient Greek epic poem by Homer, The Odyssey. Centuries later, that story will now be getting fully retold on the big screen. Francis Lawrence and Peter Craig, the director and the writer of the last two films in …
The splitting of the conclusions of recent fantasy or sci-fi franchises into two parts (or more – looking at you, Peter Jackson) has been financially successful for Hollywood studios, but less so creatively. Only arguable trendsetter Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I proved a satisfying film in its own right by being so rich in character interplay and having an actual sense of progression. Mockingjay – Part I is heavy on character beats, but they are repetitive ones due to its limited scope through withholding all the big stuff until Part 2.
If there is one theme to take away from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, it is the utter demolition of the concept of the happy ending. None of the surviving characters from The Hunger Games has had the happy ending of the first film persist for them, and none can foresee a happy ending to the events portrayed here.
With I Am Legend and Constantine in his filmography, two not entirely successful features but both ones with impressive sequences here and there, director Francis Lawrence would seem an adequate fit for a populist sci-fi or fantasy franchise instalment.
Constantine Written by Kevin Brodbin & Frank Cappello Directed by Francis Lawrence USA/Germany, 2005 Hollywood has a long, raucous history with butchering source material for marketability. Take Vertigo Comics’ Hellblazer series as a shining example. Lead anti-hero, occult detective John Constantine, was an absolute dream for cynical comic shoppers: snarky, brooding, and constantly smoking. Hallucinogenic director Tarsem …
Francis Lawrence, director of I Am Legend, must have a thing for “end of the world as we know it” movies. And his latest endeavor is no exception. According to Pajiba, Lawrence has elected to direct a movie adaptation based on a young adult graphic novel called In The Small by Michael Hague. The plot …