“Welcome,
and Happy Hunger Games”
After watching “The Hunger Games”, there was one thought I
couldn’t shake out of my head. Director
Gary Ross really, really wanted to make a ‘Jason Bourne’ movie.
Based on the
best-selling series of books by Suzanne Collins about a post-apocalyptic future
where the world is broken up into twelve districts, and once a year a boy and
girl are chosen from each district to do battle with other districts and each
other. To the death. The Hunger Games is really about the main
character Katniss Everdeen played pretty perfectly by Jennifer Lawrence
(Winter’s Bone, X-Men: First Class) who volunteer’s as tribute in order to
prevent her younger sister from competing in the games. The film follows her from her coal-mining
town to the Capitol where everyone dresses like David Bowie, and eventually to
the battle arena, which takes the form of a remote controlled forest.
It takes a
while to get to the actual games as the first part of the film takes it’s time
to explain everything to the audience.
When it gets going and kids start getting picked off in violent ways, it
feels very claustrophobic and blurry in an intentional way. Maybe they didn’t want to show too much
violence towards kids, but then why make a movie where that’s all that happens
for most of the story?
What stood
out to me as someone who read the first book was the creation of a real villain
in Donald Sutherland as President Snow.
In his small role he exudes evil, I wanted to see more of him and I hope
to get that in a later sequel. The other
surprise was Josh Hutcherson as Peta, he turns in a really genuine performance
that keeps up with the always great Jennifer Lawrence.
The film
overall feels like a catch-all for the fans, most of whom are young and don’t
really care about the too-tight shots, quick cuts, choppy editing, and the
over-exposition. What they want to see
is their favorite characters leap off the page and fight for their lives. The Hunger Games gives them that, but not
much more.
--Robert L.
Castillo
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