And so The Hunger Games movie adaptation is here at last; did the big-screen version of the best-selling novel by Suzanne Collins live up to all the hype? I’d say that for the most part, it did indeed, but that is not to say that it’s not without its flaws. For those of you not familiar with the plot; Katniss Everdeen is choosen as a Tribute from District 12 to take part in The Hunger Games. The games were created by the Capital as a reminder t0 the 12 Districts of Panem of their failed rebellion years ago. Each of the districts has a “Reaping” (lottory) and picks one male and one female between the ages of 12 and 18 to be “Tributes” (contestants) in the games where they will fight to the death until there is only one left alive.
First, let me start with what did work in the movie. Namely, the cast, it was top-notch and well acted from all involved. Jennifer Lawrence is cast perfectly as main character Katniss Everdeen and has the acting chops to prove it. The rest of the cast is made-up of equally talented actors, including Josh Hutcherson as fellow District 12 Tribute Peeta Mellark, Donald Sutherland as the creepy President Snow, a hilarious Stanley Tucci as the blue-haired host of the Hunger Games Ceasar Flickerman, Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket, and Woody Harrelson (who is greatly cast) as Haymicth Abernathy. They all help flesh out the characters, who could have easily been forgotten if performed by less-talented actors. Hell, even Lenny Kravitz gets in on the action as Cinna, Katniss’s stylist and isn’t too shabby of an actor. Making its film debut is the awesomely-weird beard of Seneca Crane played by Wes Bentley, the beard is just great and the world needs more beards such as his… just saying.
Director Gary Ross was a good choice to helm this flick, but is limited with what he is able to convey on the screen. I felt that the ‘was it or wasn’t it made-for-TV’ relationship between Katniss and Peeta, which was a major focus of the book, never quite has the same gravitas and attention that it had in the book and the movie suffers slightly due to that. The scene between the two characters in the cave is a perfect example of this, but despite that scene not working as well as I’d have hoped for there is room for their relationship to be further explored in the sequel ‘Catching Fire‘. The cinematography is nicely handled, despite the problems of the hand-held shot fight scenes which limit the scope of the action at times.
Despite the flaws that The Hunger Games has, it is still a great movie and fans of the book will be able to enjoy it as a companion piece to the book. Newcomers will also enjoy the movie but might miss a thing or two. I will leave you with the words of Effie Trinket, – “Happy Hunger Games, may the odds be ever in your favor!”
