BEFORE: Jennifer Lawrence carries over from "The Hunger Games", which is itself a huge spoiler, if you think about it. A lot of other actors carry over from the first film also, so they all somehow survived The Reaping.
I'm giving myself the whole week for this quadrilogy, I didn't schedule another film after these until December 1, so I may have a free day on Friday, or I may just keep going so I'll be a day ahead of schedule. Or I may need a break on Friday, you never know.
THE PLOT: Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark become targets of the Capitol after their victory in the 74th Hunger Games sparks a rebellion in the Districts of Panem.
AFTER: Prior to this, I was made aware of "The Hunger Games" during the 2016 Presidential campaign, when Stephen Colbert dressed up like Caesar Flickerman and would project the images of the fallen candidates on the ceiling of the Ed Sullivan Theater as they dropped out of the race. That's about the time I realized this franchise is so integrated into pop culture that I should probably give it a look.
But somewhere in the humor, there's a real allegory - I realize the first "Hunger Games" film came out in 2012, and the novels preceded that, but isn't there a similarity between President Snow and Donald Trump? Think about it - what is "The Hunger Games" but "The Celebrity Apprentice" with weapons? Last night I drew the comparison to "Survivor", but really, any reality show where the contestants get eliminated one by one would do, they just also lose their lives in the future version. So in the future there's this incompetent President who's obsessed with watching reality TV, using the media to gain power, and getting into culture wars with the participants. And he's notorious for directing the narrative with false information about the contestants and their back-stories - that's fake news, right? And the districts are separated by giant walls - see where I'm going with this?
And in both the film series and reality, there's an elite class of people who work at the Capitol who are hopelessly out of touch with the concerns of the working class. Is anyone surprised that the latest proposed "tax cut" bill would actually increase the taxes on most people in the middle and lower class? I sure wasn't. In both the film series and reality, I'm heartened to learn that the Rebellion is forming. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
We're told that once someone wins the Hunger Games, that's it, they're set for life, they can retire and just be famous, maybe mentor a young competitor once in a while. That's great for one book, but it doesn't help turn the story into a series. So although it feels like a bit of a cheat, the rules of the Hunger Games are changed yet again, for the landmark 75th Games the President announces that former winners will return to compete - anyone who's seen an "All-Star" edition of "Survivor" could have seen this coming, it makes great sense.
But of course this throws Katniss and Peeta back into the Hunger Games arena, after they finish their "victory tour" of the other districts, and get a sense of the fomenting rebellion there. And it's a strain on Katniss to maintain the illusion of having a relationship with Peeta while her real boyfriend, Gale, works in the coal mines back in District 12. But you people probably knew all of this, right? I still feel like I'm coming late to this party.
The Hunger Games All-Stars are generally all unhappy about being called back to the Games, since all were promised a bill of goods that said they'd never have to compete again. This brings a whole new element to the Games, since some of the past winners won by brute force, some won by using technology, and others won just by hiding well, and waiting for the arena to finish off their competitors. And then alliances form among the All-Stars, because there's strength in numbers, but also because they saw from Katniss' first appearance that the Games can be brought to an end if the remaining players refuse to play. I mean, sure, the Careers from Districts 1 and 2 are going to put up a fight, but it turns out there are other ways to win besides killing all of your opponents, if you're willing to think outside the box and exploit every loophole.
I was prepared to write off this whole series as silly young-adult material, but it keeps surprising me at every turn. Now I'm glad I never read the books or learned too much about the plot of the films, it feels like I waited until just the right time to start paying attention to this series, since it turned out to be topical as hell. I'm half-done, and I can't wait to finish it over the next two days.
Also starring Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Donald Sutherland, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, Lenny Kravitz, Toby Jones, Paula Malcomson, Willow Shields, Jack Quaid, Nelson Ascencio, Bruce Bundy (all also carrying over from "The Hunger Games"), Philip Seymour Hoffman (last seen in "Red Dragon"), Jeffrey Wright (last heard in "The Good Dinosaur"), Amanda Plummer, Jena Malone (last seen in "Into the Wild"), Sam Claflin (last seen in "The Huntsman: Winter's War"), Lynn Cohen (last seen in "Eagle Eye"), Meta Golding, Bruno Gunn (last seen in "28 Days"), Alan Ritchson, Stephanie Leigh Schlund, Patrick St. Esprit (last seen in "Independence Day: Resurgence"), Stef Dawson, Erika Bierman (last seen in "Dumb and Dumber To"), Wilbur Fitzgerald (last seen in "The Founder").
RATING: 7 out of 10 angry mandrills
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