Movie Review: "The Hunger Games"

"The Hunger Games" was overall as close a faithful adaptation to the book as I could have hoped, but it had it's limitations. The novel itself was short, but depicted a very dark society, with the guise of peace. The capital always in charge of keeping the peace through fear, which they did with the annual hunger games, in which a boy and a girl from each district (1 to 12, as 13 was destroyed) fight to the death. The victor gets a nice house, and basically seems set for life. The novel follows Katniss Everdeen, the tribute from district 12, and she tries to win her first hunger games.

 

Overall, the movie was a success. The book is written in first-person, which makes it way to really feel what's going on inside Katniss's head. However, it also is what led us to not see any events she didn't witness. This is where the movie served as a fantastic supplement to the book. We were able to see Haymitch's flowering up the sponsors to get Katniss her parachute gifts; we saw the actual center where the games are conducted; and we saw conversations with the president. I also think we were introduced to a new character, the game maker, who at the end seems to have committed suicide over the events that concluded the games.

 

The problem with the film is that we can't get inside Katniss's mind. That was the best part of the novel, really feeling and experiencing her thoughts. Jennifer Lawrence actually does a very good job, especiallyw when Rue dies. However, you don't really feel the emotions she has for Peeta, and also when she's kissing him just to get more gifts. We didn't see the night vision goggles, the gift bread from district 11, the gift pot of chicken stew, etc. And, we didn't get to fully experience her relationship with Rue; it felt rather rushed to me.

 

That being said, then film nailed certain crucial aspects. The tension before Katniss goes to the arena was palpable, and the beginning of the games was so chaotic, I felt like I was there. The cinematography was rather shaky, and my best friend who saw it with me said it made him motion sick. But the moments that were done well were done very well. And Stanley Tucci was fantastic as Cesar. And while the initial fire dress was simply decent, the second dress she wore, while she was spinning, was stellar. But I didn't like how, at the end, they'd didn't emphasize how dire her situation truly was. In the books, you really feel scared for her, and can feel her tension and unease. Here, things just went so fast at that point, and they didn't even address whether she had feelings for Peeta or not.

 

If I were to make the film, I would've started with scenes from a prior hunger games, with a young kid outsmarting his opponents in ingenious ways and winning. Later, we'd find out that that kid was Haymitch. Instead, they started with words on the screen and an interview with the game maker; not the most exciting, but the again, the book started with Katniss going to hunt,

 

Overall, a very good adaptation of the book, and it was limited by the fact that we couldn't read Katniss's mind, a flaw that I don't think any movie could have overcome. As a supplement to the book, I seriouslyw enjoyed it, and look forward to watching it again. I loved the visualization of the capital, and the Ganges themselves, and I think it'll be a treat to see in high def!