It seems again time for another wildly popular book turned moneymaking blockbuster. Suzanne Collins’s story, “The Hunger Games,” is widely loved, which makes it a low risk franchise. If this film has one thing going for it, it’s that Suzanne Collins adapted the story herself. We’ll assume it’s an accurate interpretation of the book. With her screenplay in place, it’s up to the director and actors to bring the script to life.
The story revolves around Katniss Everdeen, a teenage girl living in a dystopian future. To save her sister, she volunteers to battle other teens to the death, but this isn’t just a contest of strength — to survive, she’ll have to traverse dangerous environments and outwit her enemies. The first half of the film is spent in the lavish capital city, training the teens and finding them sponsors to help them survive the oncoming hardships.
Jennifer Lawrence fills the role of the strong and silent Katniss, whose stoicism enhances the less frequent moments of raw emotion, when things finally become too much for Katniss to bear quietly. Alongside her, Josh Hutcherson plays Peeta Mellark. Unlike Katniss, he wears his emotions on his sleeve, which gives the characters a lot to play off each other. Joining them is an all-star cast with many great performances.
Director Gary Ross captures each moment with a PG-13 rating in mind. He gives the audience enough information to establish emotion without making it unsuitable for younger viewers. This helps many scenes achieve a level more graceful than gruesome, but can work against others. The final fight in particular is so zoomed in and shaky that it’s almost impossible to tell what’s happening, and these being the final survival moments of the film, it would have been nice to feel more connected to the action.
There are other minor flaws, but “The Hunger Games” is a stunning, emotionally taxing film with brilliant acting and tense action.
4.5 “Mockingjays” out of 5
Written By Chris
Edited by Aaron
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