《飢餓遊戲2:星火燎原》打破"續集魔咒"
There are two inconvenient truths in the film industry: sequels can hardly surpass the original, and movie adaptations are never better than the book. But for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, which will be released on Nov 21, both rules don’t seem to hold.
電影業有兩個惱人的事實：“續集魔咒”——續集難勝前作；以及“翻拍魔咒”——翻拍難以超越原著。但對於將於11月21日上映的影片《飢餓遊戲2:星火燎原》而言，以上兩條行規似乎都站不住腳。The sequel to last year’s The Hunger Games, adapted from US writer Suzanne Collins’ novel, is “bigger, crisper, more thought-out, and more polished”, according to a review in The Daily Beast. “Its visuals [are] striking, its close-in filming style parallels the intimacy of the first-person book,” The Seattle Times added.
該片是去年上映的影片《飢餓遊戲》的續集，同樣改編自美國作家蘇珊?柯林斯的同名小說。《每日野獸》發表影評稱該片“場面更宏大、節奏更加清晰明快、劇情更加滴水不漏、製作也更爲考究”。《西雅圖時報》也評論道：“視覺特效出衆，貼身拍攝手法使得該片足以媲美原著中第一人稱所帶來的身臨其境之感。”In Catching Fire, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and co-winner Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) are about to go on a nationwide tour celebrating their victory in the 74th annual Hunger Games. However, the country’s corrupt figurehead, President Snow, doesn’t take kindly to being outwitted, and his latest scheme is to pit the survivors of previous Hunger Games against one another.
在《飢餓遊戲2:星火燎原》中，凱特尼斯?伊夫狄恩（詹妮弗?勞倫斯飾）與皮塔?麥拉克（喬什?哈切森）以第74屆飢餓遊戲的優勝者身份即將展開一次全國遊行演說。而施惠國的“昏君”——斯諾總統並不想這麼容易就放過他們。他的最新陰謀是想要上幾屆飢餓遊戲的倖存者自相殘殺。
Structurally, Catching Fire has three distinct acts. There’s the tour, the preparation and the games. One would assume that the games are the highlight since they were the focus in the original movie. But this time, the other two acts are more engaging. “Director Francis Lawrence expands the world from the first film and builds the themes that’ll play out over the course of the series,” Germain Lussier wrote in a review for .
劇情結構上，《飢餓遊戲2:星火燎原》一片擁有三個獨立橋段：巡迴演說、戰前準備以及飢餓遊戲。由於前作中飢餓遊戲場面成爲全片焦點，所以人們想當然認爲續集中也是如此。但這一回，其他兩部分則更具吸引力。格曼?路西爾在SlashFilm網站的影評文章中寫道：“導演弗朗西斯?勞倫斯擴展了前一部作品中的世界，並最終形成該系列影片的一個永恆主題。”Jennifer Lawrence, who won the Oscars’ Best Actress Award in February for her performance in Silver Linings Playbook, certainly steals the show. “Lawrence does a wonderful job throughout, balancing Katniss’ signature restraint with a rising rage as things bubble up around her,” Lussier said.
剛剛於今年二月憑藉《烏雲背後的幸福線》一片摘得奧斯卡影后的詹妮弗?勞倫斯可謂在《飢餓遊戲2:星火燎原》中出盡風頭。路西爾說：“勞倫斯自始至終都表現得十分出色，她的演繹成功地平衡了凱特尼斯固有的隱忍個性與伴隨周遭變故而燃起的熊熊怒火。”The film’s main problem, according to Anthony Scott from The New York Times, is that things get repetitive. “We’ve already seen the training, we’ve already seen the parties, and while there are new wrinkles to each of these, they don’t do wonders for the film’s pacing,” Scott wrote in his review.
來自《紐約時報》的安東尼?斯科特指出，該片的主要癥結在於“老話重提”。 斯科特在影評中寫道：“我們已經看過了訓練場面以及派對。儘管這些橋段都在原有基礎上稍加創新，但並未給影片的節奏帶來什麼驚喜。”However, with all the fun and spectacular visual effects, Catching Fire is still more than most adaptations manage to deliver. “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire serves up food for thought and jolts of adrenaline in equal doses,” The Wrap’s review said. “Dismiss it as a popcorn movie if you must, but at least they’ve bothered to serve it with real butter and truffle salt.”
即便如此，該片憑藉樂趣橫生的情節以及出色的視覺特效，可稱得上是一部秒殺大多數翻拍片的佳作。電影網站The Wrap評論道：“影片《飢餓遊戲2:星火燎原》在爲你提供精神食糧的同時，也會令你的腎上腺素飆升。如果你非要把把它看作是一部爆米花電影的話，至少他們確實是用心配上了真正的奶油和松露鹽。”
