Could have been great

Rating: 6/10 (4 June 2013)

This is a review of the Hunger Games movie. Not a review of how good an adaptation of the book Hunger Games is.
The Hunger Games is clearly a film with a primary target audience. So any criticism should be mindful of that. The fact that it is a targeted film yet remains eminently watchable for people outside that demographic is to its huge credit.
I think most people by now know the basic story so I won't go into that. The strengths of the film lie in its tremendous premise and the back story around it (accusations of plagiarism in relation to Battle Royale are harsh). Also the performance of Jennifer Lawrence is a powerhouse and she has a wonderful career in front of her. The action scenes are filmed very sympathetically, leaving you in no doubt of the horror that is happening without really showing anything to compromise the target audience.
The film does fall down in a couple of areas though. It seems completely unaware of some of the powerful themes it has at its disposal. Not nearly enough was shown of the relationship between the populace of the Capital and the outer districts. Perhaps this is dealt with more in later instalments. The characterisation of the tributes was also thin on the ground, and the idea of the games as a true test of skill, endurance, psychology etc was massively underdeveloped. Perhaps this was deliberate to show that the organisers were obsessed with controlling the action. If it was, then I would say it was a mistake.
Overall I think the film is quite a rarity. It has some wonderful ideas and although enjoyable, it feels like it was reined in to ensure it met its target audience. It's arguable that in movie making, there are few greater crimes.