“The Hunger Games” is a movie that could get very different reviews depending on how much or how little viewers know about the young adult book trilogy by Suzanne Collins on which the movie is based. Those who know and love the books may be disappointed by how much is left out of the movie, while those who know nothing about the storyline may feel a bit confused as the movie starts in rapidly.
I might have had just the right balance as someone who has not read the novels but who has read a lot of the magazine articles leading up to it – from pieces on the casting of Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson in the main roles to pieces on adapting the novel into a screenplay. I knew enough about the story that it didn’t seem jarring when Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and her sister Primrose (Willow Shields) are gathered at a community event where two kids between the ages of 12 and 18 – one boy and one girl – are selected to fight to the death against 22 other kids in a televised bout. But some of those who attended the film with me felt a little confused, even though they found the movie enjoyable. The one person who had read the book talked afterwards about many of the nuances that were left out of the movie, including a lot more about a rebellion that is coinciding with the Hunger Games. Viewers get just a glimpse of it.
The movie has quite a cast of characters and plenty of great actors to play them including Stanley Tucci, Wes Bentley, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson, Lenny Kravitz and Donald Sutherland. But the movie revolves around Jennifer Lawrence who plays the central character, the heroine Katniss Everdeen.
Collins created Katniss to be an unwilling hero who is brave in a way that most teen girls who have read the books will wish they could be, but she still has a lot of vulnerability that shows through in the film. Lawrence, who showed off her acting chops in “Winter’s Bone,” knows how to take a beating on screen. But she also knows how to cry.
Katniss lives in a country that is divided into districts – she lives in the outer reaches in District 12, which is occupied by coal miners. The members of different districts don’t interact with each other, and there is a strong presence of peacekeepers who keep people in check. Katniss takes care of her sister, Primrose – since their father died her mother hasn’t been that useful. She hunts outside the city limits with a bow and arrow and is precise. Her best friend is Gale (Liam Hemsworth) who dreams of running away and living in the woods. But Katniss is too practical for that.
The movie gets into the meat of the story pretty quickly after a short introduction to the characters. When Primrose’s name is called out to be the tribute for District 12, Katniss becomes the first-ever person from her district to volunteer to enter the competition. Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) has his name drawn as well. The two are given a few minutes to say goodbye to their loved ones before they are swept off to the capital city, where they will have a few weeks before they enter the games in what is likely to be a death trap. They will compete against 24 other teens to the death.
Katniss and Peeta, who have never been outside their district, have a few advisors to help them prepare for the games. Effie (Elizabeth Banks) accompanies them on the train and offers them food in abundance – a luxury since Katniss’ family had to hunt illegally to have enough to eat. Haymitch (Woody Harrelson) is their mentor, an outer district resident who managed to win the hunger games when he was a tribute. He is more focused on drinking than helping the pair, but soon sees the potential in Katniss. His best advice to her is to get people to like her because it will offer her help from sponsors once the games start. Cinna (Lenny Kravitz) helps to style the two for a parade that introduces them to
the world – they make an entrance that outdoes even the most outrageous reality TV show entrance.
Once they start training with the other tributes, the social class discrepancies become even more clear. From Districts 1 and 2, teens train their entire lives and then volunteer to compete in the games. If they win, they get a lifetime worth of riches and prestige. The winner of the games most years is someone from District 1.
The games start in a blood bath as the tributes run to gather supplies from a central location. The stronger of the opponents use it as an opportunity to kill off the weakest links. Katniss sets off on her own and tries to keep to the perimeter of the arena, which is a giant forest-like setting. The arena, however, can be manipulated to make things more interesting for viewers. So as Katniss tries to stay away from others, but a manufactured forest fire drives her closer to her enemies.
She continues to escape from harm’s way through skill, luck and sometimes a bit of help from others. She forms an alliance with Rue (Amandla Stenberg) for a short time and is on-again-off-again with Peeta. As the Games go on and Katniss continues to thrive, President Snow (Donald Sutherland) warns game master Seneca Crane (Wes Bentley) that the games are meant to contain rebellion, not promote it.
The movie is on the long side at more than two-and-half hours, but it was well-paced and engaging. The best praise for it is that it has encouraged those in my group who have not read the series to get started on it before the next movie in the trilogy is released.
