A word of caution: This review may contain spoliers. Picture a world in the distant future where teens are forced to kill each other until one is left in the name of public entertainment. Sounds like something that should come out of a history book but it is the premise for the popular book The Hunger Games that came out in theaters on Friday.
The story starts off in Panem, where teens are picked each year to fight in the Hunger Games, which is run by the evil Capital. Jennifer Lawrence gives an amazing performance as the main character, Katniss Everdeen, who volunteers to be in the games. Josh Hutcherson brought the character of Peeta, District 12’s male tribute, to life. Woody Harrelson made Haymitch, the only winner from the previous Hunger Games that came from District 12, actually likeable.
One concern about the books and movies is the amount of violence. After all, we are dealing with teens killing each other. The violence was not glorified or downplayed. In fact, it was just the right amount of violence. The challenge any director faces when adapting a popular book series is staying faithful to the books while at the same time making the movie able to stand alone. As a huge fan of the books, it is safe to say that Gary Ross stays incredibly faithful to Suzanne Collins’ original novel.
The minor changes from the book actually add to the movie and make it better. For example, in the books, we never hear of the Head Gamemaker Seneca Crane (Wes Bently) until the second book when he is dead (spoiler alert!). However, we see him front and center in the movie with the other gamemakers and President Snow (Donald Sutherland). Scenes with the gamemakers really showed how the tributes were just game pieces to them. The movie also did well an emotional level. It captured the heartbreaking scene when Katniss volunteers for her sister, Rue’s death, and the sharp contrast between the rich Capitol and the Depression-style District 12.
A nice added twist was showing the start of the rebellion in District 11. I was also touched during the end when Cato (Alexander Ludwig), one of Career tributes, had a moment of character development. It deepened his character and showed that people really do not want to be controlled by the Capital or President Snow. As good as the movie was there were a few little nick-picky issues I had.
First, the chemistry between Peeta and Katniss in the cave scene was not what I expected. Fans of the books know this as scene is critical to the relationship between Katniss and Peeta, but the film rushed this scene. Even though the movie does run at two and half hours, the filmmakers could have fleshed out this scene better.
Another minor issue was the camera work. The camera was incredibly shaky during the entire movie. While this helped during the fight scenes, it was just annoying during the rest of the film. All in all, if you are looking for an action-packed movie with heart and morals about or world, I highly recommend this movie, as well as with the books if you have not read them.