michael-neichl-904-632888

I cant believe there are people out there saying that those who enjoyed the first movie will love this one. Taken was one of the most surprising movies for me when it came out. I expected a solid action film but what i got was a great thriller with a lot of suspense, great acting, dialogs and an awesome leading character.

Where did all these ingredients go to for the sequel? I don't want to make a direct comparison in detail about the two taken movies because it would take forever, but to put it short: While the first one took itself serious and respected the audience, the second one feels more like a bad action comedy that treats the audience like they have never seen an action film. There are so many things that are wrong in this movie and that make no sense (LITTLE SPOILER the way the daughter finds her father again END OF SPOILER) The action-scenes are so badly put/cut together you can barely make out a thing. The dialogs (with the exception of one or two) were dumbed down, I got the feeling someone who had never even seen the first movie wrote them.

All in all if you expect the sequel to be as thrilling or close as serious as the first one you're gonna get left in the dust, this sequel is only for those who don't mind a complete different take on a "franchise" that could have easily been so much more, than just a cheap, filled action film.

First of all I have to say that I haven't read the hunger games, a friend told me that the movie just had a few changes but it would sum up the book pretty good.

Well I gonna start with the good things: The characters and actors. I was impressed by the between teen and adult actors they were really good, I felt really connected to each of them which is also because their characters were written very well it's great to see that the author obviously treats his audience/readers seriously and knows how to write clever teenagers who aren't just cardboard cutouts. Next the camera-work is pretty good although there is a lot of shaky cam, the length and the way the suspense is build up with it's sort of two half's was really great sort of a Kubrick like and overall I liked the idea But with the idea and story were my problems. Now keep in mind I haven't read the book and i didn't want my friends to tell me anything from the book so that I can only understand this universe by the movie and I think thats were some people gonna have the same complains as I have.

*I'm not gonna spoil anything, but give a short version of the beginning* First of all these are the 74th Hunger-Games is seriously anyone telling me that this ending NO SPOILER has never happened in 74 years? I mean these are still humans I just cant comprehend the fact that for over 74 years these hunger games happened just as they were planed without any problems caused by the competitors. Second these games *again no real spoiler but a basic info* as I understood were made to prevent a war of the districts. Exactly how is a tournament of kids from 12-18 going to prevent a war rather then forcing people to get mad at the government and system who made this happen? In the book its probably explained but again in the movie it stays as a plot hole, at least for me. There is also a little problem that would require me to spoil something but I think a review doesn't need spoilers to explain my thoughts.

All in all its a nice movie, definitely watchable and for smart teenagers a must see but in the end I feel like I really have to read the book in order to understand the world this story takes place in and thats kind of sad because with Harry Potter I could leave the books aside and enjoy the movies for what they are without feeling betrayed, with Hunger Games I know that I cant understand this universe enough.

I just came home from the ides of march and boy, what a political drama this was. First i want to give the reasons why I couldn't give a 10, which I'm going to make pretty short because I really want to focus on the good stuff. First the length: Even though it is important to build up the drama and especially the thriller aspect slow and step by step, I have to admit there were some scenes that could have been cut better. I'm not saying there were any unnecessary moments but at one point or another they could have saved us a couple of minutes. And the ending which I'm not giving away is debatable but for me it wasn't quite what I expected nor what I wanted. Thats not to say it was horrible or anything but I don't know, it didn't fit for me.

But now lets get to the good stuff: The actors, the pacing (for the most part), the clever twists. This (speaking as an Austrian) was just what I had in mind when I thought of politics in America when it comes to who is going to be the president. It's not about who has the best speeches or what whoever is going to do to serve his country best, its about finding mistakes of the opponent and using tricks and all sorts of manipulation to get to the goal. The more time passes the more you feel along with the main character that when you want to get somewhere in politics you have to become a cold hearted bastard who wont stop for nothing. There are many sub messages like in the end it doesn't care what your motivation was as long as you get what you want. Or in politics you can do everything, like in war there are no rules except for one, and so on and so on. So yes, this movie makes for a lot of debatable topics, which is something I really enjoy. The cast is fantastic, everyone of them is just in his role I never saw an actor in any of these people I saw the freaking characters they were supposed to be, I'm thrilled thinking this might could have been reality.

So if you are tired of the 100th action movie and looking for something rather slow but pretty intense, go and check this one out, probably especially if you are American.