Beautifully grotesque.

Rating: 8/10 (23 April 2012)

The Hunger Games is a new concept in a long line of post-apocalyptic future fantasies. Where other stories of the same genre often deal with technology and artificial intelligence as the main threat to human existence, Hunger Games actually takes us back to Roman times, with a revitalised version of "Panem et Circenses" or "Bread and Circuses". Simply put; human devastation as mass entertainment. Welcome to Panem: formerly known as The United States of America, where every year, a young man and woman from each of the twelve districts are selected to fight each other to the death, with only one possible survivor. These Games are broadcast on national television as a means to keep the people happy and submissive.
Considering the fact that this film is based on a teen book series (written by Suzanne Collins), I can't help but feel this concept is pretty far out there, and actually it's kind of sick. It's not a pretty idea to think that one day we might live in a world where watching young people, ranging from 12 to 18 years old, brutally murder each other is considered to be a form of mass entertainment. Thankfully, this is 'just' a story, and I must say, a very entertaining one at that (no pun intended).
The story revolves around the two youngsters from District 12, where the people are dirt poor and life is utterly desolate. 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen volunteers as 'tribute' to fight in the Hunger Games, after her little sister is initially selected. Her male counterpart is Peeta Mellark, and together they set off to train for and participate in the Games.
The character of Katniss is played by Jennifer Lawrence, and she is terrific. Actually, she is my biggest recommendation for watching this film. Before this, I had only seen her in X- Men: First Class and thought she was pretty good, but after seeing The Hunger Games, it's not hard to see why this 21-year-old already has her first Oscar nomination under her belt. She has a very natural quality about her, which makes it very easy to make you empathise with her character. She's not a superficial, happy-go-lucky kind of girl; she's actually very sullen, not even particularly likable. And yet you just love her from the get go. I guess it's charisma, and Jennifer Lawrence definitely has it.
Actually, this film is full of great actors. One of the greatest is definitely Stanley Tucci, who plays his most flamboyant role yet. His character (Caesar Flickerman, the TV-host who emcees the Games) is ridiculously over-the-top, but brilliantly amusing. With blue hair, prosthetic teeth and a big horse's smile which he flashes incessantly, he looks like a PG-13 version of the Joker. And if you're at all familiar with Tucci's work and talent, you know just what I mean when I say he's making this character appear to be oh-so nice, yet subtly sadistic at the same time. He's just great, period. Woody Harrelson also has a pretty interesting role as Haymitch Abernathy, a once-winner of the Hunger Games, who now mentors Katniss and Peeta in their training. He's scruffy and gnarly, basically just typically another weird Woody character, which is always worth the watch. Wes Bentley plays Seneca Crane, a character most notable for his unusual facial hair: he sports a beard Lucifer himself would be proud of. However, the biggest surprise to me was Elizabeth Banks, whom I am well familiar with, but never really cared for because I only know her from superficial, comedic roles. I was pleasantly surprised to see that she can also play challenging roles like this one. She plays Effie Trinket, a bizarre, neo-Renaissance type from the richest District, big wig, crazy make-up and all. She's pretty much the female version of Tucci's character and she was a delight to watch, beautifully grotesque in all her decadence.
Unfortunately, it can't all be great. I had three major problems with this film. One: if you haven't read the book, there's a lot that doesn't make sense. They really should have spent a little more time explaining everything, because more than once it simply wasn't clear to me what was going on and why. Two: Peeta's character. It could be just me of course, but he annoyed the crap out of me. He just comes across as such a sissy that it's frustrating to watch. Katniss burns her leg and deals with it. Peeta cuts his leg and stays lying in a cave because he "can't walk". And then he lets her take care of him, at the risk of her own life. Give me a break. Three: totally disappointing climax. I was waiting for fireworks, for Katniss having to make brutal decisions, but this never happened. It just kind of faded out.
And this is how you can clearly tell this story has a mainly teenage demographic, and they obviously wanted to keep it PG-13. Because despite the sometimes pretty brutal violence, nasty use of weaponry and tomato ketchup-a-plenty, overall the whole just lacked, well... balls. You can tell they tried to spike things up a bit here and there, but the film failed to make things truly interesting at moments where it definitely should have been. In my opinion, had they decided to make this rated-R, it would have been infinitely better.
Having said that, you can rest assured there is still plenty to enjoy. Visually it is absolutely awesome and simply beautiful. The costumes and make-up are great, as are the CGI effects. The characters (aside from Peeta...) are great, and the whole futuristic 'universe' that is created is pretty inventive.
There is actually still a lot more I would like to say, but I've reached my word-limit, so I'll just leave you with this: Thumbs up!