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THE HUNGER GAMES (2012) (***)

Based on Suzanne Collins' bestselling YA series, Gary Ross' screen adaptation has already become a mega hit. The film was supposed to be the next TWILIGHT and it has surpassed it at the box office already. But is it any good? In the categories of story and especially acting, it is certainly better than any of the TWILIGHT films. With its dystopian society and futuristic technology, it tells a compelling sci-fi yarn. But I still have a sneaky feeling that I've seen it before and done better.

Oscar-nominee Jennifer Lawrence plays the heroine Katniss Everdeen, a scrappy teen who lives in a future America where the country is split up into 12 districts. Each year a boy and a girl from each district are selected to participate in the Hunger Games, a televised battle to the death. The solo winner is awarded food and wealth from the State for their home district. On selection day, Katniss's younger sister Primrose (Willow Shields) is chosen to represent District 12. Katniss instead volunteers to take her place.

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SUPERMAN, LORD OF THE RINGS, STAR TREK, STAR WARS, AVATAR and dozens of other sci-fi and fantasy tales owe their origins to Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom series. This new film is based on Burroughs' A PRINCESS OF MARS, a classic of pulp fiction. Now Andrew Stanton, who won Oscars for FINDING NEMO and WALL*E, has brought the world to the screen.

John Carter (Taylor Kitsch, WOLVERINE) is your Han Solo-esque reluctant hero type. A Civil War vet who refuses to get pulled back into a cause (Indian Wars) because he is only seeking gold. But fate has other plans and like Frodo, he gets thrust into a world he couldn't imagine when he gets teleported to Mars. In a reverse of Superman's tale, he, the Earthling, travels to another planet and gains superpowers because of the alien world's environment. Like the worlds of STAR TREK and STAR WARS, various alien races are warring and the good guys must stop the superior weaponry of the villains. Like in AVATAR, Carter is a human who establishes himself as a leader in an alien culture. In this world of Mars, aka Barsoom, the giant, four-armed alien race is led by Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe, SPIDER-MAN).

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This dark comedy isn't the prettiest looking release, but Sony does bring it to Blu-ray in a quality MPEG-4 AVC 1080p transfer. Dimensionality is the biggest issue with the image often looking soft. This then lowers the depth of field. Colors are natural and balanced well. When more vibrant colors pop up in the palette they do indeed pop. Blacks might not be inky throughout, but they aren't too murky. Digital issues aren't problematic, but crush is its biggest issue. Of course night scenes in low lighting suffer the worst. Some noise and banding occur but nothing too awful. Most of the issues with the picture quality presumably stem back to the source, which was a low-budget indie shot on Super 35. The worst thing you could say about the image would be that it is inconsistent. Some darker scenes can be murky and feature pixelization, but daylight scenes can be crisp and deep.

Much like its picture, the DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack is the same – inconsistent. The ambience is subtle, but puts the viewer into the settings. Seaside scenes feature wind, ocean and bird sounds across the soundscape. The mix is well done, but nothing is dynamic. The gunfight at the end is sonically solid even if it's not as robust as others you might have heard in big budget shoot outs. That said directionality during the gunfight is handled precisely. Dialogue importantly with the Irish accents is clear, but a little low at times, but nothing too distracting.

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It was a surprise when Brendan Gleeson was announced as a Golden Globe nominee for his role as a corrupt, drug using, foul mouthed cop. Once you've seen it you'll know why. He owns the role. The best statement said about his character is he's either really stupid or really smart.

Gleeson plays Gerry Boyle, a north Ireland police officer who is investigating a recent murder when FBI agent Wendell Everett (Don Cheadle, HOTEL RWANDA) comes to town on a mission to stop an international drug ring. When Everett shows the local officers pictures of the suspects, Boyle wonders to the African-American agent how they could be drug dealers when their white. Everyone knows all drug dealers are black or Mexican. Boyle's defense for his racism is that he is Irish and it is part of his culture.

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Over the years Steven Spielberg has certainly adapted his style to fit the project. The black & white cinematography in SCHINDLER'S LIST added a grim solemnity. The desaturated colors and herky-jerky photography of SAVING PRIVATE RYAN only matched the gritty war sequences. In WAR HORSE, he tackles the first World War with a touch that matches the melodramatic nature of the source book and play. He channels the melodramas of the 1940s and 1950s like John Ford's HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY, creating an almost surreal fable.

Ted Narracott (Peter Mullan, BRAVEHEART) is a war vet who drinks away his bad memories. He's a poor farmer who decides one day at auction to not let his rich, pompous landlord Lyons (David Thewlis, HARRY POTTER) to outbid him for a thoroughbred horse. When he brings it home to his wife Rose (Emily Watson, BREAKING THE WAVES), she gets that look that only long-suffering wives get in movies like this one. Their son Albert (Jeremy Irvine, TV's LIFE BITES) promises to train the horse. When the rent comes due and they are short, Albert, as hard headed as his father, sets out to turn a race horse into a plow steed.

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Based on Stieg Larsson's international bestseller, this film makes this the second time this story has been brought to the screen. The original Swedish version is very fresh in my mind, having made my top 25 list last year, ranking fourth, just behind David Fincher's THE SOCIAL NETWORK. Now we have Fincher's version of the same tale in English.

Still set in Sweden, Daniel Craig (CASINO ROYALE) plays journalist Mikael Blomkvist, who has just lost a libel suit after printing a damning report about a successful businessman. Turns out he was set up. Leaving his magazine in disgrace, Mikael takes a job offer from Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer, BEGINNERS), a retired businessman whose family operates one of the largest companies in the country. For decades, Henrik has been investigating the disappearance of his niece Harriet, who he raised like his own. The old man believes one of his family members murdered her.

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Steven Spielberg has made a rousing globetrotting adventure that harkens back to his early INDIANA JONES films. Using performance capture, he brought to life Herge's world-renowned comic strip character in a strangely realistic and surreal way. The lightning paced action scenes will be well accepted from the videogamer set, while older audiences might want it to have slowed down a bit to let us meet these characters.

The audience is thrown right into the action as Tintin (Jamie Bell, KING KONG) buys a model ship that turns out to be a hotly desired item. Along with his dedicated dog Snowy, Tintin tries to get to the bottom of why Sakharine (Daniel Craig, CASINO ROYALE) will go to great extremes to get Tintin's model and two identical ones. Along the way, Tintin teams up with the drunken Capt. Haddock (Andy Serkis, RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES), whose family is connected to the great mystery.

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For a continuing franchise it's so often the quality of the villain that makes the series longevity. The hero never changes, or we think that is the case. It's a good villain that pushes the protagonist to the edge. This is the case with the introduction of Professor James Moriarty into Guy Ritchie's steam punk version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's great detective.

Moriarty was only hinted at in the original, but here he is played with intelligent ruthlessness by Jared Harris (TV's MAD MEN). Holmes (Robert Downey Jr., IRON MAN) has linked the university professor to a series of bombings that have been attributed to an anarchist group. His longtime beau Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams, THE NOTEBOOK) is still working for the man who has no qualms murdering to meet his goals. But what are his goals? Holmes boldly confronts him, which makes the dastardly schemer attack Holmes where it matters.

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Roman Polanski adapts Yasmina Reza's dark comedy play for the screen. For better and worse, Polanski, who co-wrote the script with Reza, doesn't adapt the film very much. Outside of a dialogue free opening and closing in a park, the rest of this dialogue-heavy production takes place in one New York apartment. Primarily his top notched cast keeps the film from crumbling under its weaknesses.

Penelope and Michael Longstreet (Jodie Foster, SILENCE OF THE LAMBS & John C. Reilly, CHICAGO) have invited Nancy and Alan Cowan (Kate Winslet, THE READER & Christoph Waltz, INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS) over to their home to discuss what to do about an altercation between their two sons. The Cowans' son hit the Longstreets' son in the face with a stick. As Penelope likes to point out, their son disfigured her son. As they discuss the course of action to take tensions start to bubble up and allegiances between the foursome will shift. Carnage ensues.

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Read my review of RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES

Those damn, dirty apes look quite amazing in this 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 Blu-ray. This is certainly one of the best Blu-ray releases of the year. The picture quality is crystal clear adding great depth and detail. Weta's CG apes really stand out from fur to skin textures to their realistic looking eyes. The color palette is natural and clean with black levels inky throughout. There is a light film grain that runs through the picture, which does not increase during night scenes. Crush in those night scenes is also nonexistent. As for compression issues and other digital artifacts, they are completely absent.

The DTS-HD 5.1 Master soundtrack is just as impressive as the picture. The audio mix never misses a beat either in dialogue scenes or the epic action sequences toward the end. Ape growls and screams rattle the LFE track. Directionality is nicely handled, especially in the action scenes when spears come whizzing by the viewers and apes stampede past. Ambience is also handled wonderfully throughout whether it's quieter scenes in the redwood forest or the loud ape-filled cages of the animal sanctuary. Patrick Doyle's great score also surrounds the audience to great effect in getting the audience wrapped up in the plight of Caesar and his fellow apes.