The Hunger Games feels like three different movies intertwined. There’s the main story of Katniss and her participation in the Hunger Games, there’s the almost Assassin’s Creed like overarching social story of the Districts and oppression and there’s an oddly undefined and awkward love story mixed between the two. The Hunger Games, as a yearly competition in this dystopian future world, are a means to control 12 unique districts of the seemingly dictatorial society in the film. In this competition, 24 youths (a male and female from each district) fight to the death in a dangerous mechanically enhanced forest environment. Much like the Highlander, there can be only one winner.
The movie follows Katniss Everdeen, the female participant from the 12th District and her physical/ emotional journey through the games. Although not a fan of her previous work in X-Men First Class, I was impressed by Jennifer Lawrence’s portrayal of Katniss. She played both strong and scared very well and through a plot that contains a huge amount of death and uncertainty her emotions were believable. The cast as a whole was great, everyone from Lenny Kravitz to Donald Sutherland didn’t overplay their hand. The standout in the supporting cast was Woody Harrelson as Haymitch Abernathy. His performance drew alot from his Kingpin character Roy Munson, but that doesn’t keep his portrayal of Abernathy from bringing smiles every-time he’s on screen.
Katniss’ character arc is well defined and her ability to stay alive during the competition felt honest. The love story, I’m not going to spoil, was probably the weakest piece of the puzzle here. I’m sure in the book it was a crux of the whole tale, but had it not been tied directly into outcome of the games themselves, it would have felt shoehorned into the movie. The closing scenes of the film do their best to call the entire love plot into question and leave the viewers questioning if what just happened was genuine or not. I’m sure this was done on purpose, and it left a little bit of a thrill I didn’t see coming, but it took away from the beauty of the previous scenes. I know that’s vague and the criticism will probably make more sense after viewing the movie, but just pay attention following the games and you will hunger (pun intended) for the sequel pretty badly.
The most surprising part of the movie was the depth of the world in which it is set. Clearly there’s a deep struggle happening off camera that the main characters have no control over and hardly interact with. The movie dangles just enough of a carrot from that world to peak the interest of the audience without wasting time explaining aspects of it that are inconsequential to Katniss’ story. It is a vivid and deliberate backdrop that allows its characters to shine. I’m curious to learn more about the setting and I’m sure future movies will trickle more and more info out.
I don’t want to say The Hunger Games is a “Chick Flick”, that would be doing it a disservice. I AM going to say that major beats in the plot hinge on very female friendly encounters and just the existence of a strong female protagonist makes The Hunger Games a shoe-in for large female audiences. Many men will be forced to watch it by their significant others and will probably come out impressed by the cut throat nature of the games themselves and the slightly Sci-fi nature of the universe created.
The Hunger Games feels like a movie based on a book, much like the Harry Potter films did and fans of those movies will definitely dig it. Its very analogous to the base plot of The Goblet of Fire. Unlike the Potter movies, which often struggle with how much “wizard lore” to include, The Hunger Games tells enough of the lore to create a romanticized version of the world. Focusing on the world more would have crowded the film and detached the viewer from the emotional impact of the character interactions. In the film The Matrix, the story was not about the human struggle at Zion, and the talk of Zion was romanticized and embellished giving it a mythic and almost untouchable quality, the Hunger Games does the same with great success in its treatment of the details behind the societal strife.
I’m excited to see where the story goes next and let’s just hope they don’t go Matrix Reloaded and nearly ruin their version of Zion. The Hunger Games is an event movie and with most event movies there’s alot of hype. Unlike alot of other flicks it lives up to the hype and promises to be a big deal for years to come.
Verdict: Do yourself a favor and ignore the fact that your 12 year old neice loves the book and just watch the movie.
