The Hunger Games Review

Going into The Hunger Games, I hadn't read any of Suzanne Collins' novels and I wasn't familiar with any of the characters or the plot. I didn't know what to expect from this film and I ended up enjoying it for the most part.

The film deals with a deadly competition held in the distant, totalitarian future. The competition is called the Hunger Games. Two children from each district are selected to participate in the Hunger Games. During the Hunger Games, the children are forced to kill each other and the last person standing is the victor.

The film follows 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who volunteers to compete in the Hunger Games in place of her young sister Primrose. Jennifer Lawrence gives a realistic, tough performance that anchors the film and tosses aside weak female cliches.

The first half of the film is building up to the actual games and there is very little onscreen violence shown for such a violent concept. One of the biggest disappointments of the film is that it resorts to its sanitized, family friendly PG-13 rating and shies away from graphic violence and brutal imagery that was present in the novel. If the film had shown more violence, the impact of the games may have packed more of a punch and sent home its message more clearly. Instead, the filmmakers film the violent scenes with shaky camerawork and quick editing, reducing some of the scenes to incoherence.

The main strength of the film lies in Jennifer Lawrence's performance, as well as the strong supporting cast. The supporting actors include Woody Harrelson, Donald Sutherland, Stanley Tucci and singer Lenny Kravitz. Surprisingly, Lenny Kravitz, typically known for his music, gives an understated and subtle performance in his portrayal of Cinna.

Woody Harrelson is the most entertaining part of the film and he is one of the more interesting characters. Harrelson plays the cynical, drunken Haymitch who survived the Hunger Games years ago and is in charge of advising Katniss and her fellow District 12 representative, Peeta. Harrelson provides such much-needed humor in this dark and gritty film and he is the most consistently watchable character the film gives us.

At 142 minutes, The Hunger Games does occasionally drag at times, especially during a 30-minute stretch in the middle of the film where Katniss just walks around in the woods and very little happens. However, for someone like me who did not read any of the books, I did enjoy The Hunger Games overall.

I admire the intense and gritty mood of the film, the strong performances and allegorical messages the movie sends across. I just wish the filmmakers had cut a few minutes from the middle to get the pace going a little more. I also wish they had shown more onscreen violence and had filmed certain sequences more coherently.

In the end, I am excited to see where this film series goes and I am looking forward to the sequels. At least I can understand why people are lining up to see this movie. Unlike the Twilight film series, this film is well-acted, has depth to it and actually entertains people beyond the sight of shirtless, tan boys running around and spewing terrible dialogue. Seriously, if your reasoning for seeing a film is to look at shirtless boys you can just look at a Hollister bag for free. Thank you, that is all.