Gary Ross’ movie version of “The Hunger Games” obeys the iron-clad rule of transforming beloved fantasy fiction into a big-budget film franchise: Do not offend the fans. This is a dutiful adaptation of an imaginative, evocative page-turner; it renders the most vivid passages of Suzanne Collins’ best-selling novel exactly as you picture the scenes while reading them. The result is well-made and absorbing, but never especially exciting. Collins’ novel takes place in a nightmarish future, where North America has become a country called Panem, comprised of 12 districts. Panem’s leaders insist on an annual ritual, broadcast across the nation, called “The Hunger Games.” Twenty-four teenagers, a boy and a girl from each of the districts, are chosen to compete in this fight to the death. Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), 16 and living in District 12, who volunteers to take the place of her younger sister, Primrose (Willow Shields). Katniss’ sort-of boyfriend is Gale (Liam Hensworth), who doesn’t want to see her go, especially not with her male counterpart in the Games, Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson). During the draggy first hour of the film, Katniss and Peeta travel to the capital, as the movie introduces us to their handlers (Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks and Lenny Kravitz), their fellow “tributes” and other assorted oddballs. Once the Hunger Games begin, the kids are trapped in an artificial forest from which only one survivor can emerge. But the mayhem Ross serves up is toothless. This “Hunger Games” is afraid of giving its young viewers nightmares. It’s just enough to make you curious for the inevitable, and hopefully less polite, sequel.
