Just before midnight last Thursday I sat down with nearly a hundred local movie patrons in an Ocean City, MD theater eager to get a first look at the Hunger Games movie. Like so many others these past few weeks I found myself swept up in the hype that is the hunger games phenomena, and for good reason.
The movie is based on the 2008 best seller from Suzanne Collins, which is so well-paced and scripted that when reading I dismissed the fact that it is science fiction written for teens and young adults, about a teenaged girl and her budding romances. I’m a latecomer to the Hunger Games fad, having just finished the first book only minutes before I walked out the door to see the film, but it didn’t matter. There was a buzz about the movie and I wanted to see it right away.
The story is set in a future where the U.S. has been fragmented by war and natural disaster. A tyrannical capital has risen to power and rules over 12 surrounding colonies whose citizens are forced to live in a constant prison state and supply goods for the pampered residents of the capital. Once a year a lottery is held to select two teenagers from each of the 12 colonies colonies who then fight to the death in a competition known as the Hunger Games. The games are televised and mandatory viewing for the entire nation.
We meet our heroine, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), in a poor mining community, known as colony 12, where she is supporting her hungry family by hunting game and trading in the local black market for supplies. On the day of the lottery or “reaping”, Katniss volunteers to go in the place of her younger sister who is chosen to contend in the games.
Director Gary Ross (Seabiscuit) manages to squeeze most of the key moments from the book into the 2 ½ hour film, but in keeping with the PG-13 rating has watered down a very R rated story. Viewers are, after all, set up to watch 24 children forced to slaughter each other for entertainment sake. The deaths we do get to see on screen, however, are very quick and clean and, as a result, less than dramatic.
Ross’s decision to use the free cam technique was detrimental to the film as well, in my opinion. When used correctly the shaky, hand-held motion gives a film a documentary feel and can help to immerse the audience in the story. Here it is used in excess and is just very distracting. In some scenes, there is so much camera motion that it is impossible to make out actors faces or even tell what is happening. It is meant to aid in building tension, but even when the actors are quietly talking, the camera moves so much that when the action picks up, there is nowhere to go with it – everything just becomes blurry.
Many of the characters and their relationships with Katniss which made for the most interesting aspects in the book, were glossed over in the movie. One character named Rue is so poorly developed that when we do see her character die we feel almost no emotional tie or sympathy for her. I imagine those who haven’t read the book will only wonder why so much time is spent mourning this child while so many others pass without second notice.
Jennifer Lawrence shines as the strong and empowered, young Katniss. While so many of the performances in this film feel forced and are completely forgettable, Lawrence is riveting on screen with an intensity beyond her years. I felt that she carried this movie on her shoulders and comes out all the more impressive for it. I look forward to seeing how she develops her character in the subsequent films.
There were a few other fine performances, most notably from Donald Southerland as President Snow; Woody Harrelson as the past Games winner turned drunkard Haymitch; Wes Bently as the games technical director; and a lively comic performance from Stanley Tucci as the boisterous TV personality Ceasar Flickerman.
My review of the Hunger Games is very mixed and I may have been a little hard on this one. I really don’t want to put anyone off from seeing the film. If I sound overly critical it’s only because the book set a high bar that, between the PG-13 rating and sloppy camera work, the movie just couldn’t reach. The rating ensures that the story will reach the widest audience and provide family-friendly entertainment. The only tragedy here is that such a horrific and deeply disturbing scenario is being packaged for such easy consumption and never given the levity it deserves.
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*Featured photo from Online Movies Hut.
