Gotham City is home to criminals and a corrupt police department. There is effort from Harvey Dent and Commissioner Jim Gordon, but there is only one person who can stop the criminals: the Batman. The police are out looking for the masked figure. Prize winning photographer Vicky Vale is hired to uncover the identity of Batman. Jack Napier is an enforcer to Gotham's underword boss Grishom. After a freak accident at the acid factory, Napier takes on a new persona: the Joker. The Joker soon takes over the underworld and performs villainous crimes, and it is up to Batman to stop him. Tim Burton created a dark and gritty atmosphere with Batman; it wasn't like the Adam West 1960's Batman, which was silly. There is a dark and stylized Gotham in this film, and it is great to look at.
The performances in this film are great. Michael Keaton is Bruce Wayne, the playboy billionaire who lost his parents when he was young, and he was taken in by Alfred, his butler. He does a great job both as Wayne and as Batman, the crime fighting vigilante. The show-stealer, however, is Jack Nicholson as the Joker. Nicholson puts on a dark comical spin on the villain, and is excellent in the role.
The score by Danny Elfman is fantastic in the film, and has a very memorable theme that goes well with the feel of the film. However, the score seems to be ruined by countless Prince songs going over the score. The Prince soundtrack didn't work for me with the feel of the film.
The action scenes are great and very well stylized for the 80's decade. It is one of the original superhero films, and one of the darker ones. It is a great popcorn film, nothing really that special of a film though.
Overall, Nicholson and Keaton delivered two great performances in a well made film by Tim Burton, and a great score by Danny Elfman. Batman is definitely worth checking out if you are a comic book fan or an action fan in general.
4/5
With the Games now destroyed and in pieces, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), along with Gale, Finnick and Beetee, now end up in the so thought "destroyed" District 13. Under the leadership of President Coin (Julianne Moore) and the advice of her friends, Katniss becomes the "Mockingjay" and the symbol of rebellion for the people. She also tries to save Peeta (Josh Hutchinson) from the Capitol's clutches.
Following the trend of other popular book-turned movies like Lord of The Rings, Twilight and Harry Potter, Mockingjay is split into two parts, which means we have to wait a whole year for the conclusion to the Hunger Games saga. That really disappointed me, as this film was merely a set-up to the final clash between Katniss and the Capitol. But I still went into the film with high expectations, having enjoyed the previous films. However, the film was very slow, and even boring at times.
There were a couple action scenes, and they looked visually stunning. . The performances here are great. Jennifer Lawrence reprises her role as Katniss and is excellent in the role once again. Josh Hutchinson's Peeta was great as well, and the effects on his character towards the end of the movie are really good. Julianne Moore was great in the film as the leader of District 13. This is Phillip Seymour Hoffman's last film, and he delivers a really good final performance.
The film's runtime is 2 hrs and at times, it may seem slow because there isn't much that happens, but the stuff that does happen is exciting and will keep fans excited for the epic finale next year. The events that happen in the finale of part 1 are thrilling, but it ends up leaving on a cliffhanger.
Overall, The Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 1 was a very solid buildup to part 2, with excellent performances, but the film is slow and boring. I would recommend the film still.
3.5/5
