Pirates vs Transformers vs Hunger Games-Which Comes Out on Top For Me?

Hello friends. Today I will be discussing three franchises- Michael Bay’s Transformers movies, the original POTC trilogy and The Hunger Games quadrilogy. For the Transformers films I will be talking about the original trilogy from the first film to Dark of the Moon. I may or may not be talking about Stranger Tides, Dead Men Tell No Tales, Age of Extinction, and The Last Knight but only very briefly as I compare all those movies together as they all occurred after the original stories ended. Don’t get your hopes up of me mentioning Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes as that is a spinoff prequel. Now, FYI, I am a fan of all these films and you may be wondering why I am comparing these specific three. Like I said, I’m a fan of each one and while they each have their own worlds with their lore they are not as immersive as Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, or Star Wars nor reach the same level of preference for me. Those are my big 4 fandoms. These 3 are on a smaller scale and while I am a fan of the modern Apes quadrilogy, it is higher in preference than the ones I am going to talk about here but not as grand as the big ones although it definitely has the same level of quality. These films are just on a difference of preference for me, not quality. The Apes films are a masterpiece. While The Terminator films also have world-building, sadly only 3 of those films are good. I’m sure you can guess which ones and there really is no coherent story from start to finish for those films. Without further ado, let’s begin.

We will begin with the Hunger Games. So we have the first, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay Parts 1 and 2. They’re good movies but….I find them lacking. I don’t know if dry is the accurate word because they’re not bland but it lacks hope. The Matrix isn’t known for its humour and fun but it has moments of hope and inspiration. With Hunger Games, things feel bleak, everything and everyone is serious. There’s no scenes in the Hunger Games that focus on hope. Everything gets worse from beginning to end and only until Katniss shoots President Coin and the people surround Snow can there really be felt a sense of positivity. In the first film, it was teenage kids trying to survive. In the 2nd, again survive. The third was about organizing together to fight the evil entity that is the Capitol but the Capitol bombs a hospital, Katniss is stressing over Peeta and then they have to worry about making it to the Capitol, surviving more death traps and worrying about Peeta betraying them. And then and then and then, Prim freaking dies and Katniss loses Gale. I suppose there are a couple of hopeful moments when the dam is blown up and the districts resist against the Peacekeepers. Personally, I don’t think these films focus on character that much. Although Katniss is the main character, the films focus on multiple characters at once. It doesnt’ really emphasize on Katniss. I think what I’m trying to say is that the overall tone of Hunger Games is unhopeful, bleak, serious and the characterization is one-note because literally every character (protagonists) is fighting and aiming for the same thing. The story for the first two films is very straightforward. Tributes are chosen from each district to to fight in the Games. The 3rd and 4th films are actually more engaging for me because it’s less formulaic. While the 2nd is essentially the same as the first, it’s more entertaining because it’s faster-paced, more intriguing characters and those characters devising a plan. While watching the Mockingjay films, not even Julianne Moore and Philip Seymour Hoffman were enough to stir me up. The characters in these movies are not engaging nor are they characters that you want to get attached to. The Hunger Games is much more plot-based than character-based. It could just honestly be an unfaithful adaptation of the books. The characters are all cogs in the machine. Yeah I didn’t really feel the chemistry between Katniss and Peeta- miscasts? Perhaps. The only way I would know for sure is reading the books- I’ve read the first one but that was quite some time ago. The last thing I’d like to touch upon is that these films are a lot of talking because they are very political. I know right, Phantom Menace, hello? Difference is Star Wars has much more cooler characters and its universe is much more immersive. All in all, still movies I would watch and could eat popcorn to, but let us see how the others fare.

We now move onto POTC. Easily more rewatchable than Hunger Games and more charming. Much more engaging world. It’s easy to understand why Jack Sparrow is the franchise poster boy. The music is good from Jack Sparrow’s theme to the underwater march to the Kraken’s theme and let’s not forget the main theme composed by Klaus Badelt. Hunger Games has got some memorable tracks too like the main theme, The Hanging Tree, Katniss’s theme, and There Are Still Worse Games to Play. POTC has memorable lines and memorable villians. Sorry, President Snow, you aint got a candle to Davy Jones or Barbossa. Seeing the different islands, the shenanigans, and mixing mythical lore is a plus. I love the feeling of sophistication whenever we see characters that are part of the East India Trading Company such as Admiral Norrington and Lord Cutler Beckett. The actors who played them had the perfect voices to portray authority. The plot can be easy to get lost in as it’s hard to keep track who is on who’s side, who betrays who, character’s motives changing all the time and intricate grand schemes. The life of a pirate seems to be self-serving and anyone can be betrayed at any time. With all that said, this is my opinion of POTC. Now we move onto Transformers.

Transformers! Robots and a guy! Of the 3 franchises here, this trilogy easily has the most style. Hunger Games has a tone of dystopia and bleakness. Pirates has an adventurous and fantasy-like tone. These movies just have a tone of pure unadulterated action but at the cost of characterization and plot but not so badly that the plot is unwatchable. While girls can identify with Katniss as well as enjoy the charm of Jack Sparrow, Transformers is almost definitely a male-aimed film. Anyone can enjoy these movies of course but Transformers was meant for the boys albeit sometimes in the wrong ways ahem…..perversions of the female portrayals. Megan Fox and Rosie-Huntington Whiteley are clearly there as eye candy, the latter moreso than the former. Mikaela actually contributes as opposed to Carly. We cannot deny there is great action scenes in these films- the highway battle in the first and the forest battles are easily the greatest highlights. Transformers is entertaining and while it may be simple, it’s not dumb. It’s not deep but it’s not shallow either. Just right. Equivalent to an average MCU film if you ask me. The tone is inconsistent when it changes in Revenge of the Fallen which is more silly, kiddish, and humorous in comparison to the 1st and 3rd. The stakes are most serious in Dark of the Moon. A trusted friend becomes traitor. Ironhide effing dies. I won’t lie, I wanted to stand up and protest when I saw that in theatres. I was 19. Sam Witwicky is more mature in DOTM and Optimus is almost killed by Sentinel Prime. It looks bleak for the Autobots. For me personally, DOTM is the most rewatchable, and my favourite one. The 2nd one is more of a gimmick- the twins are annoying, Devastator with balls is just silly, and the perversions are dialed up to the max. Michael Bay must’ve been drunk when he directed ROTF. The Fallen is definitely not as memorable as Sentinel. He was all talk and Sentinel has much more presence and gravitas, not very hard to do since he was voiced by Leonard Nimoy who voiced Galvatron in the 86’ film. The conspiracy theories of the moon landing add onto the film. Shockwave is a plus and the music is the best of the trilogy.

Alrighty roo friends. I think it is clear that in terms of preference, NOT quality, that Transformers takes the cake here and then second comes Pirates and then Hunger Games. Not really much more to say than that amigos. With that, toodle-oo.