《饥饿游戏2》：后来者居上？

何航

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.
电影业有两个恼人的事实：“续集魔咒”——续集难胜前作；以及“翻拍魔咒”——翻拍难以超越原著。但对于将于11月21日上映的影片《饥饿游戏2:星火燎原》而言，以上两条行规似乎都站不住脚。
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.
该片是去年上映的影片《饥饿游戏》的续集，同样改编自美国作家苏珊•柯林斯的同名小说。《每日野兽》发表影评称该片“场面更宏大、节奏更加清晰明快、剧情更加滴水不漏、制作也更为考究”。《西雅图时报》也评论道：“视觉特效出众，贴身拍摄手法使得该片足以媲美原著中第一人称所带来的身临其境之感。”
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《饥饿游戏2:星火燎原》中，凯特尼斯•伊夫狄恩（詹妮弗•劳伦斯饰）与皮塔•麦拉克（乔什•哈切森）以第74届饥饿游戏的优胜者身份即将展开一次全国游行演说。而施惠国的“昏君”——斯诺总统并不想这么容易就放过他们。他的最新阴谋是想要上几届饥饿游戏的幸存者自相残杀。
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 Slashfilm.com.
剧情结构上，《饥饿游戏2:星火燎原》一片拥有三个独立桥段：巡回演说、战前准备以及饥饿游戏。由于前作中饥饿游戏场面成为全片焦点，所以人们想当然认为续集中也是如此。但这一回，其他两部分则更具吸引力。格曼•路西尔在SlashFilm网站的影评文章中写道：“导演弗朗西斯•劳伦斯扩展了前一部作品中的世界，并最终形成该系列影片的一个永恒主题。”
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.
刚刚于今年二月凭借《乌云背后的幸福线》一片摘得奥斯卡影后的詹妮弗•劳伦斯可谓在《饥饿游戏2:星火燎原》中出尽风头。路西尔说：“劳伦斯自始至终都表现得十分出色，她的演绎成功地平衡了凯特尼斯固有的隐忍个性与伴随周遭变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.
来自《纽约时报》的安东尼•斯科特指出，该片的主要症结在于“老话重提”。 斯科特在影评中写道：“我们已经看过了训练场面以及派对。尽管这些桥段都在原有基础上稍加创新，但并未给影片的节奏带来什么惊喜。”
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，该片凭借乐趣横生的情节以及出色的视觉特效，可称得上是一部秒杀大多数翻拍片的佳作。电影网站The Wrap评论道：“影片《饥饿游戏2:星火燎原》在为你提供精神食粮的同时，也会令你的肾上腺素飙升。如果你非要把把它看作是一部爆米花电影的话，至少他们确实是用心配上了真正的奶油和松露盐。”