Movie Review: The Hunger Games

Directed by: Gary Ross

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Donald Sutherland

My Rating: 8/10 

Review Summary: With some powerful acting and direction, "The Hunger Games" is sure to please fans of the book and newcomers alike.

Review: If you happen to be or know a teenager chances are you already know "The Hunger Games" book trilogy to be the latest big craze. And considering that "Harry Potter" has just ended, it’s no surprise that Hollywood jumped at the opportunity to adapt this trilogy into movies. Despite the obvious cash-grab at work here, "The Hunger Games" movie, the first in the trilogy, is a great adaptation of the book, and aside from a few minor things, should be one that entertains both newcomers and established fans of the series.

In case you don’t know any teenagers, here’s a quick summary of the plot. At an unspecified time in the future, North America has collapsed and is now a country known as Panem, made up of 12 poor districts that are ruled by the wealthy, extravagant Capitol. As a punishment for a rebellion that took place 74 years previously, each year, the Capitol forces two children, a boy and a girl, from each district to participate in the barbaric Hunger Games, a fight for survival that’s presented as a reality show, which everyone in Panem is forced to watch. When Katniss’ younger sister, Prim, is chosen for the games, Katniss herself volunteers to enter the tournament in her place. The story is about Katniss’ experience in the games along with Peeta, the boy chosen from her district, and how she inadvertently begins a rebellion against the Capitol.

You can probably imagine that a story like this would be a bit tough to film, especially given that it’s a rather violent story despite being aimed at teens. I thought that one of the film’s strengths was that it’s able to show the brutality of the Games without getting too gory for the target audience. I did get a bit annoyed at the cinematography during the fight scenes, which got sort of hard to follow at times, most likely so that they could keep that PG-13 rating.

Director Gary Ross has otherwise done a very good job of adapting the story to the big screen, for the most part making the right decisions of what to cut from the books. One of my issues with the book was that I felt too much time was spent before the characters actually got to the Hunger Games referred to in the title. While it still takes about half the film for the Games to officially begin, Ross was able to keep these bits as short as possible without sacrificing too much character development. Not all of his choices were good ones, however. In particular, the back story of Katniss and Peeta’s relationship (fans of the series might refer to this as “the bread scene”) and the origin of the “Mockingjay” pin were not explained very well, and may be confusing for someone who hasn’t read the books. Without spoiling anything, I also felt that the ending was a bit rushed, and maybe even a little anti-climactic.

What will keep audiences most engaged in the film is Jennifer Lawrence’s wonderful performance as Katniss, especially in the latter half of the film, during the Games, where many scenes are essentially a one-woman show. A lesser actress would have made these scenes boring or difficult to sit through, but Lawrence commands the screen and keeps us interested in Katniss’ fight for survival.

As far as the rest of the casting goes, things were a bit more hit or miss. Some characters were cast very well, like Woody Harrelson as Katniss and Peeta’s brash mentor, Haymitch, and Stanley Tucci as one of the game show hosts (the games are treated like a reality show, complete with interviews of all the kids). A couple other main actors disappointed me, particularly Josh Hutcherson, who plays Peeta and Donald Sutherland as the evil President Snow. Neither of them acted badly, but I personally thought that Hutcherson lacked the charm that his character had in the book, and Sutherland didn’t come across as very menacing.

Overall, however, "The Hunger Games" is sure to be the first big hit of 2012, and given that it’s a good adaptation of some popular source material, it definitely deserves to be. Even if you haven’t read the books, it’s sure to entertain, and I highly recommend you check it out if you enjoy a good sci-fi.