The Hunger Games:
To preface my review, I should note that I have read the Hunger Games trilogy and went into the movie expecting a Hollywood-ized interpretation of a young adult novel. I was quite wrong.
For the first time ever, I think a film I watched turned out better than the source material. Book fans, i mean no offence, but The Hunger Games novels are extremely engaging with a cast of excellent characters and an amazing plot - but not well written. This is where the film wins out.
Shot in a shaky-hand held camera style to express the 'personal narrative' of the lead heroine Katniss (instead of the books rambling), The Hunger Games manages to use its unique cinematography convincingly in proving that such a style (which can be annoying at times) is necessary to convey the nature of the plot, and the perspective of our lead. The premise of the novel can very easily be interpreted to look like an 'epic action saga' on film which would minimize the dark reality of what the Hunger Games really proposes - The film does not make this mistake. It contains its melancholy concept in its lead characters, and never allows the viewer to forget it. Backdrops of grandeur still exist though, but to show the sharp contrast between what matters and what doesn't within the society of 'Panem'.
The acting was superb, Jennifer Lawrence is a better Katniss than the one i read in the book. And Josh Hutcherson is Peeta Mellark. My only complaint in casting is with Woody Harleson (who portrayed Haymitch Abernatchy, a character who was supposed to have the persona of Dr.House, but instead came off like a flamboyant cowboy buffoon).
For the teenage audience that this film is marketed towards - I am surprised at how little the director held back, there was no sugar-coating, no cheese, and no glossing over the horrors of the society in the film. Even the lighter moments of the film were kept short and done so with an underlying sense of doom, as it was meant to be. And the traces of blossoming romance between the leads were succinct, convincing and refreshing. The entire movie was also set to a score composed by James Newton Howard, who brilliantly infuses folk and old-world sounds and melodies to make the film more mysterious and even beautiful at times.
In all, I surprisingly really enjoyed The Hunger Games. It had a polarizing reaction by the group of people I went with, one of my friends even hated it. Personally, most of the criticism I have is towards the flaws in the general story, which is more 'book criticism' than film, so I have not mentioned it here. Either way, it exceeded my expectations.
3.5/5
Edited by TintinleMechant - 12 years ago