Having never read any of the books and trying to prevent people from spoiling everything about the books to me, I felt I went into The Hunger Games with a clear head and able to really appreciate it for a film and not a best selling book. Don’t get me wrong, I have great respect for Suzanne Collins and the books she wrote, however I feel sometimes with novel adaptations you try to compare too much and that shouldn’t be the case. Being that I went to my first ever midnight screening of a tween/teen novel and didn’t know what to expect, I will say I will never do it again. I have never seen so many young kids and their mom’s dressed up for a movie and acting so weird, and this is coming from a guy who has been to SDCC where cosplay is king. So with that in mind, here’s my review on THE FILM and not the book or a comparison between the two.
The Hunger Games is set in a futurist post apocalyptic world which has been destroyed by what seemed to be a civil war. After the fighting was settled, North America was broken up into 12 different districts along with a city known as The Capitol. In order to remind the districts of who is in control and who is to thank for the end of the war, they have created a yearly televised event called The Hunger Games, where one male and one female from each district between the ages of 12 and 18 are chosen to fight to the death until there is only one left standing.The film focuses on District 12’s tributes Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), who volunteers to take her younger sisters spot, and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) who’s parents own a bakery in the district. While getting ready for the event, Katniss learns that Peeta has had a crush on her for years and they end up using that to their advantage in hopes of surviving this year’s Hunger Games, however only one can be crowned champion.
First, I have to commend director Gary Ross because the film looked beautiful, especially the Capitol. They way he chose to shoot certain sequences were amazing and overall I felt he turned a supposed teen novel into a very mature film that any age group could appreciate and enjoy. The entire cast seemed perfect for each other their roles, even though I heard many people complaining that Jennifer Lawrence looked too old to play the role of Katniss. Again this is why I don’t like reading books and then seeing the film because of petty complaints such as this. Personally, I thought she did a great job, she is a superb actress who nailed her role perfectly. However, I have to say that the best character had to be Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson) who is the only winner to ever come f
rom District 12 and has been assigned to be Peeta and Katniss’s mentor. Harrelson is very entertaining and plays the role he does best, a drunk, cocky asshole.
However, the film is not perfect and there were some issues that I felt needed to be addressed in the film and they weren’t. If you are going to create a universe, you need to make sure to include answers as to how things became this way and explain certain aspects more thoroughly. I don’t know if this is done in the book, but in the film there seemed to be a lack of information regarding The Hunger Games and what happens to the winner of the event. Also, the main focal point of the film is the Hunger Game event which has 24 kids killing each other. I understand the film is rated PG-13 for a reason, however I felt there should have been just a bit more emphasis on their deaths and that we were actually able to see the deaths, as demented as that sounds. Most of the time you see someone killed, it happens so fast and the camera moves away, you don’t really know how they were killed or if in fact they are dead. This is suppose to be a gruesome and heart-wrenching event and it seems too calm in the film. Also if you have never read the books, you should know this film is the first of a trilogy, however at the end of the film, you would never know that it is to continue on and I would have liked a bit of a cliff hanger or a transition into the next book/film.
Overall, the film was enjoyable and with a running time of about two and a half hours, surprisingly enough, the time seems to fly and there are very few slow moments. I also feel that the film is shot so well that if there was just a score and no dialogue you would still be able to enjoy everything and know exactly what is going on. The Hunger Games is a prime example of how adaptations should be done and this film puts those terrible Twilight ones to shame. If you are having doubts that this film might be along the lines of Twilight, I assure you this couldn’t be further from the truth and that any age group and gender will enjoy the film. Many have been comparing The Hunger Games to the 200 Japanese film Battle Royale. Having seen both, I can see the similarities and how some might want to compare the two, but both films are their own respective story and are not the same. I look forward to the next two films which will be titled Catching Fire, which is scheduled to hit theaters November 22, 2013, and then finally Mockingjay which currently doesn’t have a release date.
Rating: Kids fighting to the death with beautiful cinematography. The odds are, without a doubt, in this films favor. 8/10
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