YA Phenomenon Gets An A-OK Adaptation

Rating: 7/10 (24 March 2012)

Though the financial juggernauts known as tweens aren't well-respected for their literary taste, lumping 'The Hunger Games' in with other young adult books transferred to theaters would be reductive. Here, we have a bleak, yet accessible adventure novel that doubles as an intro to social critique, something that can't be said for recent YA efforts where ponderous teen angst masquerades as human drama. Its path to bookstore ubiquity came with many familiar potholes; romantic entanglements and haphazard plotting seem, at this point, par for the course. But along the way, The Hunger Games managed to invest readers in a world with characters and stakes that raise questions reaching far beyond "which boy do I like?"
Of course, using young people killing each other is a pretty blunt, but undeniably effective, way to establish a sense of urgency. Author Suzanne Collins brings to the post-apocalypse a disturbing revision to coming of age rituals; the surviving nation of near-total cataclysm demands 24 young people, ages 12 to 18, fight to the death in the annual Hunger Games. Each of the states' twelve districts offers up one boy and girl to do battle in a vast arena, where the only way out is to be the last "Tribute" standing. In district 12, the drawing for the 74th annual games forces 16 year-old Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) to volunteer as Tribute, in place of her sister.
It's a pastiche of evocative ideas, a sampler menu of other, undoubtedly, more challenging works. The fingerprints of 'The Lottery', '1984', and even 'Logan's Run', are unmistakable in their influence. Those "in the know" have been touting the Japanese thriller 'Battle Royale' as the real source of inspiration (if not outright conceptual theft), but that film's use of blood sport as social metaphor is replaced here with a more deliberate approach. We do, after all, have two more books to set up, so it's not surprising that roughly half the run-time of 'The Hunger Games' is spent establishing the world surrounding them.
Even at a lengthy 140 minutes, there's no time for light touches. The gulf between Katniss' Ozark-ian District 12 and the opulent Capitol that hosts the games is presented in broad strokes befitting names that creative. The American Idol-inspired training period for the Tributes offers equal opportunity for easily recognizable satire. A takedown of voyeurism and artifice in reality programming would have had more bite, say, ten years ago, but here it manages to float thanks to a healthy dose of self-awareness.
Playing the game outside the game requires cunning and popularity (fittingly, a dystopian future lets the high school experience live on). For once, getting a makeover is a justified plot motivator, as Katniss catching the eyes of influential viewers is all part of the long-term strategy. How the condemned react to the hand they've been dealt is as close to a deft touch as the film manages. Director and co-scripter Gary Ross keeps the gruesome reality of kill-or-be-killed as mostly an undercurrent in the early goings, letting momentum take hold of what could have easily become maudlin.
Ross's strength lies in the quiet moments, which benefit from being just that. James Newton Howard keeps his score tactfully reserved in the opening half, letting you soak in the big moments through looks and gestures. Even in blockbuster filmmaking, a buzzing fluorescent bulb will let you know the air has gone out of the room better than any orchestra. The silence that accompanies the start of the games makes for what is perhaps the film's most accomplished moment.
From that point on, The Hunger Games kicks into its high gear back-half, one no less prone to bouts of sputtering. The only thing messier than an underage bloodbath is trying to film it within the boundaries of a PG-13 rating. Persistent shaky-cam is a practical solution to keep the nitty- gritty of murder safe(ish) for youngsters, but the sense of discombobulation it can produce is aggravating. It's a good thing Katniss specializes in the bow, because the fracas of close-range combat would have robbed her actions of their necessary impact.
It is, after all, Katniss' story from word "go", leaving the non-fodder supporting cast as either thinly sketched, or relegated to simple introductions. Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth form the base of a requisite but mercifully contained love triangle, with Hutcherson as fellow District 12 tribute, Peeta, getting the lion's share of the pair's screen time. Woody Harrleson gets the most love of the secondary players as a loutish former champion, who's tasked with training Katniss and Peeta. The kinds of sponsors he wants for Katniss, and the ones he could use himself, are quite different.
Though well-established as a "wildness girl" following her revelatory performance in Winter's Bone, Lawrence proves more than capable at mixing stoic resolve with the emotional heft required in the occasionally forced tender moments. Survival is a pretty utilitarian personal journey, which is somewhat limiting, but Katniss doesn't need a grand arc because she's given credit as a compelling character from the start. The great economy of the film's early scenes can't undercut how effective Collins is at crafting a heroine worth investing in.
The 'Hunger Games' has plenty of traits that are easy to nit-pick over; the climax is rushed, and life-saving plot devices abound, but it's tolerable because there's so much appreciable at its core. No, it is'nt high-art, but there's something encouraging, if not downright exciting, about a mature, well-executed piece of popular fiction that plays to the fans while staying inviting to the uninitiated. A week ago, I wouldn't have given 'The Hunger Games' more than a passing thought. Now, I'll include myself in the ranks of those cautiously optimistic for the next serving.