A solid book-to-screen adaptation

Rating: 8/10 (12 June 2018)

Let's start with a positive: This cast is star-studded. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean the stars do a good job, but it's a start-- and luckily for us, they do a tremendous job. Jennifer Lawrence enters the celebrity life coming out of her role as Mystique from X-Men, and perhaps for another time to discuss, I hate that character. With that said, she was also coming from an Oscar nomination for Winter's Bone-- a lifeless film that nobody need bother to see unless you're just compelled enough for the one bright spot of the film which is her performance. And Jenny from the block is handed the role of Katniss Everdeen, a persistent heroine sure to have inspired girls everywhere. Needless to say, she had big shoes to fill, for everybody would be judging whether she fit the mold of the character envisioned from the book. And emphatically I will tell you that she succeeds. You root for the gender role breaking Katniss at every step. Perhaps even more impressive than Lawrence are the people she is surrounded by. The unrestrained costume designs for the Capitol work so well with Stanley Tucci and Elizabeth Bank's characters. But easily my favorites are the hilarious Woody Harrelson and Wes Bentley's beard.
Undoubtedly, you guys know the basis for The Hunger Games. Even so, it is important to at least talk about the structure. There are two distinct halves in the film: the ceremonies before the Games, and the Games themselves. And in the off chance that you have no idea what The Hunger Games is, I shall briefly clarify. A future dystopia consists of 12 districts. In order to keep the threats of revolt at ease, fear is struck by an event known as the Hunger Games that takes place annually. Everybody ages 12-18 have their names put in to be drawn at random with two tributes from the 12 districts, a male and female. And for those of you counting at home, that's 24 tributes every year.
Katniss lives in District 12 with her sister and mother. This district is mineral based, and thus, also hard-working and poor. To the credit of the film, lots of this can be inferred through visual context instead of pointless exposition. The film is 140 minutes, and even though I think that could have been reduced through some cuts, it reminds me of what happened with Jurassic Park. Just like author Suzanne Collins, Jurassic Park author Michael Crichton also had a hand in writing the screenplay for the film adaptation. And he explained what he did by saying that about 10% of the book made it to big screen, and this is simply because that's all that could be fit into it. Similarly, there's details I wished to have seen made it to the movie, but there's only so much that can be done. With all that they had, there's nothing huge that got excluded to cause any outrage.
Something becoming familiar ground is a love triangle in these dystopian teenage novels. And there's certainly glimpses of this in this film, but I'm glad we aren't swarmed by it (can't speak for the sequels). One of my negatives follows from this. I have been a fan of Josh Hutcherson, but to be a little hypocritical, he is not what one imagines as Peeta. The best way to describe his performance is just "good," nothing more, and really nothing less. And completing the triangle is Katniss's childhood friend, Gale. And I'm not sure how much there is to think about for Katniss, for when I have the chance to pick either Josh Hutcherson or Liam Hemsworth, you know I'd take Liam any day... What, I'm getting off track? I do apologize.
As I said before, there are two halves to this film. And separately, they both work. And they are necessary together, but it is pacing that simply is designed better for a book. The ceremonies are fresh and entertaining, but it's a lot of build up for what will end up turning into another half of the film. And this again plays into my belief that ten minutes or so of run time could have been cut to flow everything better. In regards to the Games themselves, I think what was accomplished is pretty astounding. I was so curious how you transfer weeks of survival in the forest into an hour of action-packed fatal adventure. There's never a dull in the action, yet no scene is forced. And the brilliantly harrowing setup for Collins's plot is transferred to the screen by shaky cams that bring the audience to the arena while giving glimmers of wonderful nature in, ultimately, all that the Capitol and its citizens see, a reality show-like game. Gruesome? Absolutely. Stunning? Well, not on the same level of some beautiful films, but for the sake of compliments, yes, stunning.
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