The Hunger Games (PG-13)

Directed by Gary Ross
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

Acting: 7.5

Directing: 6

Writing: 7

Overall: 8.5