The Hunger Games

Rating: 7/10 (5 April 2012)

A tangible and powerful look at America's fascination with reality shows and violence on television, The Hunger Games is the only movie in 2012 that I saw twice in one day. It is also the only film in which I felt a strong connection to the main character. Maybe it's our age, or just that with the dark hair Jennifer Lawrence I look somewhat similar (which makes my girl crush all the more creepy), but I felt a kinship with Miss Katniss Everdeen. That being said the lovely Jennifer Lawrence just killed it. For lack of more appropriate adjectives, she acted the crap out of this role. I fell for her almost instantly which kept me rooting for her the whole way through, which is exactly what Suzanne Collins wanted. Although everyone else seemed to fall secondary, I think the film was excellently cast. I'd heard somewhere that Josh Hutcherson was miscast, but I thought he did a fine job, at the very least I didn't notice anything bad to comment on. The filmmakers did a good job at highlighting the differences between the higher Districts and the Capitol. In fact when I saw the Capital I nearly fell out of my seat! It was like a legion of crazy pop stars, it felt like you were literally walking through a Katy Perry or Nicki Minaj music video. Although the thing that surprised me the most about The Hunger Games was Elizabeth banks, who was completely unrecognizable in her role as Effie Trinket the District 12 escort. Though it is EARLY in the year and any real recognition is unlikely, I hope that the Academy will at least take notice of the costume design.
I can't remember if Gary Ross has done a film like this before, and by that I mean something with this much action, fight scenes. Although there wasn't as much violence as one might expect, and a lot of the real bloody violence takes place at one particular moment. The fact that they were children brutally killing each other made it all the more difficult to swallow. Gary Ross used shaky camera work to mask some of the brutality of it all, and using Stanley Tucci and Toby Jones characters commentary to replace Katniss' narration was a brilliant compromise if you ask me. I think The Hunger Games would have done better as an R- rated feature. Not that the box office could be any better, but as a film about a televised fight to the death, it would have been interesting to have seen it taken to the next level. Although, that way so many of the the young fans would of had to miss out on the... fun?
Overall I REALLY enjoyed The Hunger Games, and in fact, I cannot wait to own a copy of my very own. Hopefully with lots of Special Features!