The Hunger Games

The reason The Hunger Games has become such a huge phenomenon is because the concept is a relatively fresh one. Plus beneath the intriguing surface, there are countless themes and messages about society, gender and media. The film adaption is able to translate those themes into a reasonably timed feature. For the few of you who are unfamiliar, the story follows Katniss, played by Jennifer Lawrence, who lives in a future where each district that makes up the United States must offer a teenage boy and girl to participate in the Hunger Games, a televised fight to death.

With such a small margin of error casting a blockbuster like this, each main character fits their actor very well. Sure Lawrence and her fellow tribute Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) are playing younger parts, but that’s okay by me. Director Gary Ross does well addressing the violence in a suitable way for a PG-13 audience by employing frequent use of handheld camera techniques. I wouldn’t have expected it to work, but the shaky camera actually dilutes the brutality. This becomes clear when Cato (Alexander Ludwig) breaks a tribute’s neck during a more solid shot. It caused the most audible gasp from the audience during my screening. Apparently the savagery didn’t get to them when the camera wasn’t clear.

As almost an exact adaption from novel to film, there’s a good chance that most fans saw their favorite scene make the cut. But it must be said that a less literal adaptation would have restored some of the drama that is lost from already knowing the twists and turns. That isn’t to say the film isn’t exciting. The reaping, the lottery which decides the tributes, is brutally sad. And there is a great deal of tension through many events, which could easily come across as mundane.

The film is likely too long for non-fans, but there isn’t much time spent not advancing the story. A dialogue hiccup or two also interrupt what is, for the most part, a very well-acted movie. The Hunger Games is not as poor as the critical viewers have stated and it’s not as perfect as the ultimate fans have claimed. But it definitely falls significantly closer to the high end of that spectrum.

Each film earns either zero, a half or a full arrow in five categories. The categories are Acting, Writing/Directing, Emotion, Innovation and Overall Impression. The arrows are added up to equal the full score.