Review: The Hunger Games

       Now that the Harry Potter movies are over and the Twilight series is (thankfully) drawing to a close, there is a sudden movies-based-on-young-adult-literature void in Hollywood. The heir apparent to these two series is The Hunger Games, based on a series of books by Suzanne Collins. I should preface my review by saying that I haven't read any of the Hunger Games books, so I am approaching my review of this movie solely on it's merits as a movie, with no reference to its merits as an adaptation. However, I did see this movie with my girlfriend who has read the book this film is based on, and she said that it stayed relatively true to the source material. The books detail the lives of the citizens of Panem, a fictional, futuristic, dystopian North America. Panem is ruled by a wealthy capitol, called simply 'The Capitol” which is surrounded by 12 powerless districts. Every year the districts must pay tribute to the authority of the Capitol by having one boy and one girl each between 12 and 18 years old, to be chosen at random to fight the death against the tributes from the other districts in an arena filled with hidden cameras so that all the citizens of Panem can watch the battle. The winner of each year's Hunge Games is given immense wealth in an otherwise starving country. The books, like much of the sci-fi genre, are a parable for our present day and age. There is a stark and growing difference between the small wealthy ruling class and the so-called 99% who are distracted from the real issues by reality television.

       This story focuses on the 75^th Annual Hunger Games. In coal-mining District 12 on the day when the tributes are chosen (the Reaping), the main character Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) volunteers to be tribute after her younger sister Primrose is initially chosen. The male tribute from District 12 is Peeta Mallark (the suddenly ever present Josh Hutcherson). The two of them are taken to the Capitol, where they are trained and given the opportunity to impress the potential sponsors in order gain supplies in combat. With some help from their mentor Haymitch (Woody Harrelson), a previous Hunger Games winner, Katniss makes a strong impression with her bow and arrow skills, while Peeta tries to ride on her coattails by drumming up a story of romance between the two. When the actual Hunger Games begins, the film focuses mainly on scenes of survival rather than scenes of teenagers fighting. This is to highlight a point made earlier in the film that most of the tributes will die from dehydration, starvation, and exposure rather than by the hand of another tribute.

       However, no one dies from any of these causes. Most everyone dies by sword or arrow, and the majority of the deaths aren't even shown on screen. This is probably a factor of this being the first movie done by director Gary Ross to feature a lot of action. Ross had previously made his name by making movies like Pleasantville, Seabiscuit, and Big. These heartwarming, uplifting movies lack the cutthroat savagery of the Hunger Games and it clearly confused Ross. In an apparent effort to add a sense of frenzy to many of the scenes, the camera is taken off the steady-cam rig to give a shaky first person perspective as though the viewer is actually there. However, the shakiness of the camera is very distracting. There were a few moments where it was hard to be sure what was going on. I'm glad to hear that Gary Ross will not be directing the next movie in this series. In terms of acting, the supporting cast does a very good job. Particularly Stanley Tucci as the television host of the Games. He's a blue-haired combination of the cheeriness of Ryan Seacrest and the detachment of Donald Trump. The leads, Lawrence and Hutcherson are less impressive. Many of Lawrence's lines feel more like simple readings rather than acted dialogue, and I have yet to buy Hutcherson as a convincing actor. I expect under the supervision of a director more experienced directing action movies, the sequels to this film ought to improve on the pitfalls of the first film.