Written by Suzanne Collins, Gary Ross, and Billy Ray
In one of the most highly anticipated movies of the year
(right up there with The Avengers, The
Dark Knight Rises, and the first installment of The Hobbit), The Hunger Games
had a lot to live up to. Being a the most recent of wildly popular book
series for young adults being turned into a major movie franchise, I probably
don’t need to tell you the plot, but just in case, here’s the gist: As a sick,
twisted punishment, the government of a post-apocalyptic North American nation
known as Panem forces the impoverished 12 districts to offer up one 12-18 year
old girl and boy to compete in a fight to the death tournament in a vast arena.
In this specific Hunger Games, young Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) is
the female tribute from District 12 and the story follows her journey through
the games. As someone who has read the series, I was curious as to how a movie
franchise would be made. Because of the visual nature of movies, the violence of
the book was sure to warrant an R rating in movie form to me, which would
effectively make sure that the target audience wouldn’t be able to see it in
theaters. Obviously, that wasn’t going to happen so the filmmakers had to make
sure they got a PG-13 rating. In order to do that, they would have to tone down
the graphic violence that made the book as powerful as it was. So I went into
the theater with low expectations and felt that the movie would have to make
the best of the violence they could show. I was wrong. I was amazed at how well
they were able to show the violence in such a graphic nature and still make a
PG-13 rating. The violence was as powerful in film as it was on the page. The
role of Katniss was vital and in my opinion, Jennifer Lawrence pulls it off
with flying colors. It was reminiscent of her Oscar-nominated role in Winter’s Bone as a protective older sister
who is a tough-as-nails teen with survival skills in bad living conditions.
Woody Harrelson gives a good performance as Katniss’s perpetually drunk mentor
and previous Hunger Games winner, Haymitch Abernathy. The other vital role was
that of the male tribute from District 12, Peeta Mellark, played by Josh
Hutcherson. Hutcherson doesn’t shine, but he doesn’t ruin anything either,
which may disappoint those who were really fans of the Peeta character as I was.
As far as the other performances go, nothing too special. The villains are
villainous, the sidekicks are heroic, and the comic relief is humorous enough.
As for the direction, director Gary Ross failed to ruin the film, but it sure
seems like he tried. Obviously he thinks shaking the camera like it’s in a
hurricane makes viewers feel more excited about a sequence that he deems boring,
but he’s wrong. It’s distracting. Shaking the camera does not make it any more
exciting. It just makes it difficult for the viewer to understand what it is
that he or she is seeing. But as I said, it doesn’t ruin the movie. The movie
is still enjoyable with an absolutely fascinating story and engaging
characters. Those aspects were handled quite well. A sequel is planned for
release late next year, and I plan to see it. Overall: Well done.
Scores, all out of 10
Scores, all out of 10
Acting: 7.5
Directing: 6
Writing: 7
Overall: 8.5
