Review of The Hunger Games (2012) by Thomas B — 30 Jan 2015

It's one thing to have a movie about expressionless girls swooning over shirtless vampires and their even more shirtless werewolf counterparts, but a teen movie about an epic fight to the death between teenagers for the sport and amusement of the upper class is something else entirely. What do they expect, teens to actually think?

Katniss Everdeen has grown up tough in District 12 in the future North America that is Panem. When the annual reaping for tributes for the Hunger Games randomly chooses her sister, Katniss volunteers and takes the burden of the games upon herself.

Most viewers won't be strangers to Suzanne Collins' trilogy of books; especially considering the mammoth sales they've enjoyed, and as such the films have a lot to live up to. First and foremost in its lead character: Katniss. Such a strong, definable, complete character in the books, the casting has to be spot on. Luckily, with Jennifer Lawrence director Gary Ross has found his perfect Katniss. She's a hard-bitten girl who's had to grow up fast; hunting to provide food for her family, holding their household together after her mother's ineptitude following her father's death in a coal mine explosion. Lawrence's character isn't too far removed from her Oscar nominated performance in Winter's Bone, only far more volatile. She spends most of her time keeping her emotions in check for the sake of those around her. As such, it could make her difficult for an audience to connect with. Instead, Lawrence is able to show enough of her vulnerability in moments like her final goodbye to Gale that she makes a real connection to her audience. Another standout performance comes from Josh Hutcherson. He turned in a good performance for The Kids Are All Right but here he definitely comes into his own as Peeta Mallark. The character lends itself more readily to being likeable but Hutcherson is able to pull off the funnier moments as well as the more serious ones without ever seeming trite. Woody Harrelson is... Woody Harrelson basically. As Haymitch he's one of the lighter sides to a mostly serious movie but you can see real concern in his eyes as his tributes battle their way through the arena. Donald Sutherland is suitably intimidating as President Snow and Stanley Tucci is larger than life as Caesar Flickerman. Liam Hemsworth does well for his limited screen time but his, like many other characters, will be better developed in the following films.

James Newton Howard and T Bone Burnett collaborate here for the film's score. They do a fine job of keeping away from a by-the-numbers action score, though occassionally the lack of music becomes tedious. But the score is as foreboding and atmostpheric as you'd hope without becoming overpowering.

Director Gary Ross shoots the proceedings with an up close and personal, handheld style which occassionally makes the action tough to follow. For the most part though it suits the film perfectly. His camerawork immerses us in the gritty feel of the film's surrounds. This style also works in parallel with the book's first-person style, where the reader read as Katniss. Ross endeavours for the audience to have this same experience while watching the film, but often the feeling is lost in place of fighting to see what's onscreen. For the most part Ross nails the action beats of the film but he misses many of the emotional moments of the books. And this is my main critcism of the film: it's rushed. To keep the runtime to a teen-inclusive two and a half hours, Ross moves through the film with a speed which makes it difficult to create emotional connections with a lot of the characters. Important moments are brushed over with little to no aplomb which could be explained away by the gritty style of the film, but instead comes off feeling like the film has more important places to be. The film could easily have gone on for another half hour in order to make the characters more complete or explain some of the more complicated elements of the film such as the faux love story between Katniss and Peeta or the careers themselves. Overall, however, Ross is able to create a believeable dystopia and ferry his fantastic lead actress into a great performance.

The screenplay is a collaboration between Gary Ross, Billy Ray and the novel's author Suzanne Collins. For the most part it's incredibly similar to the script, though some of the unecessary fat has been trimmed. However, it does make the mistake of catering too exclusively to people who have already read the books. If you haven't read them, many of the concepts will escape you unless you have a handy dandy tour guide with you to quickly explain things. The script also falls down in the face of the emotion that the books handle so capably and effiicently. This may be a by-product of the lack of the step-by-step guide through Katniss' thoughts which the books give you which creates unique insights into the character which the film finds difficult to replicate. However, it's still a case of being rushed. All the important points are hit but they're hit as if it's a race to the finish line. An element entirely of the film's own making is the cut-aways to the gamemakers and audiences watching throughout Panem. These are incredibly effective in showing the cold, thoughtless way in which the capitol play God with teen's lives, and showing the reaction Katniss' actions have outside the arena.

But the film's concept itself is a breakthrough in teen films. The fact that a film targeted at a teen audience is confident enough to explore the themes of totalitarianism, desensitization and absolute power corrupting absolutely means that, hopefully, people will realise that the mindless masses aren't so mindless anymore.

Defining Scene:

Katniss mourns the loss of one of the tributes. And District 11 erupts.