The Hunger Games

Rating: 3.5 Shurikens

What to say about The Hunger Games? I heard the movie was coming, based on a trilogy of novels, written by a woman, and aimed at a teenage audience, about a post-apocalyptic future. It seems that the central government of the country that rises from the ashes of America, after rising oceans and natural disasters, has to put a revolution down by force. The country is then named Panem, and the twelve Districts become  basically enslaved colonies of the Capital. All of the efforts of their labors are taken, and they are allowed to keep only enough to subsist. All the other resources are sent to the capital, and if there is anything left, it goes to the Districts. There was a thirteenth district, but it was reportedly eradicated as an example to the others.

The Hunger Games are staged annually, and each of the twelve Districts has to volunteer two young people between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, to fight in an arena which is based on a new and original design each year. But wait, there's more. The district that produces the winning contestant earns rewards for their entire district. But even that is not all: There can be only one winner, and all the others must die at the hands of each other. Only one can walk out alive.

The story is about one girl, Katniss Everdeen, who volunteers to take the place of her little sister, who just turned thirteen and had the bad luck for her name to be drawn from the names of all the teenagers in District Twelve. Katniss has a lot of experience hunting with a bow and arrows, even though it is illegal to go out into the wilderness to hunt. She has been quite successful and has a real talent with the bow, a lot like Robin Hood or Hawkeye. The books are written in the first person, essentially from the point of view of the girl herself.

This is pretty heavy stuff. I quickly obtained each book in the trilogy, and I found the first book fairly entertaining, the second book was better, but by the time I was finished with the third book, I was tired of the first-person narrative. It was hard for the author to keep the heroine involved in the complicated storylines resulting from tying up all of the loose ends created in the second book.

The movie follows the book quite closely, although some details were changed to allow a shortening of the story. Some other details were omitted completely, and of course, as with all book adaptation movies, you lose a lot of the character interactions and nuances, especially if you read the book first. In the case of The Hunger Games, it remained entertaining in spite of the abridgements. I think that the enjoyment of the movie would be enhanced by reading the book, otherwise you would have little idea what is actually going on.

Katniss is played by Jennifer Lawrence, who played Mystique in X-Men First Class, and is expected to be in the same role in the sequel due in a couple of years. She will also be in the Hunger Games  sequel, Catching Fire, which is the title of the second book. This probably means that there will be a third, since the second movie is expected next year. This particular series will be best exploited quickly, lest the readers all grow up and forget about it.

Katniss has a close friend, who is her hunting partner, named Gale Hawthorn, who is played by Liam Hemsworth. Chris Hemsworth, who plays Thor in Thor and The Avengers, is the older brother of Liam. Anyway, Gale and Katniss are good friends, and you can just tell there is a spark between them. This relationship is not well-developed in the books, and even though you almost expect Katniss and Gale to go into the arena together, it isn't happening. Peeta Mellark, the Baker's son, is picked as the boy, and the obligatory love triangle is formed. Peeta is played by Josh Hutcherson, who was in Journey to the Center of the Earth alongside Brendan Fraser, and its sequel Journey 2: The Lost Island. In my opinion, the casting for Peeta was unfortunate, as Hutcherson is a little boyish-looking, and doesn't present a serious heroic appearance, but that is just My Opinion. He will return in Catching Fire, as will Liam Hemsworth.

The story unfolds as the drawing of names takes place, and soon the contestants are on a train to the Capital, where they meet one of very few winners from their own district, Haymitch Abernathy, played by Woody Harrelson. Haymitch is obligated to be the mentor of contestants from his district, and his help is important to Katniss and Peeta. When they arrive at the capital, they are assigned a wardrobe artist, Cinna, played by Lenny Kravitz, the rock musician. Seneca Crane is the leader of the team which designs the games, played by Wes Bently, a very capable villainous actor who played Blackheart in Marvel's Ghost Rider. President Snow is played by the venerable Donald Sutherland, who has numerous movies to his credit.

The outcome of the movie is highly predictable, especially if you read the books. The target audience has mostly read the books, so they are probably not surprised at all. The acting is fine, but the story is weak in places, and you can see the actors trying to appear as if they are making some kind of sense in their dialog. Part of the difference between the movie and the book is the whole first-person narrative thing. It doesn't translate as well to the screen since all through the book you are in her head the whole time, and the movie is mostly viewed from the outside in.

I wasn't too thrilled with the movie. I am happy that the woman who wrote the books has seen them really take off and make her tons of money plus being immortalized in movies. I love a capitalist success story. Other than that, I would recommend waiting for the DVD or Blu-Ray or just get it on demand. The special effects are good, but the story somewhat weak, and some of the characters are also kind of poorly acted, and even the star seems unconvinced of things which should be core values for her. I won't say any more, you have to see it for yourself. I give it 3.5 Shurikens.