The Hunger Games is a mix of The Truman Show, Lord of the Flies, and Gladiator. For those of you that have read Suzanne Collins’ books know just how brutal this dystopian society is. The movie is just as ruthless and realistic in its depiction of a society which sends 24 children, each year, to an arena where they fight in a last man standing style tournament.
The world that Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) inhabits is a cruel one indeed. We’re never told if this bleak dystopian future takes place in the United States, but we don’t really need to know that. What we do know is that wherever these people live the area has been split up into districts. Each district has its own responsibility. For Katniss, her district is in charge of mining coal.
The tournament is a way to suppress the masses. A large, power-hungry Capitol rules over the 12 districts with fear. Like many science fiction movies before it, Hunger Games shows us an extreme example of just how scary a “civilized” society can get if they think what they’re doing is right; or worse yet, somehow righteous. Like the Romans of old, the Capitol city is full of blood-lust. They disguise this yearly event as a tribute to those who have died for the country, but in reality they just want to see kids killing kids.
Katniss is a self-taught hunter. There isn’t a lot of food to go around in her poor district, so she has to hunt for deer and squirrels in the nearby forests. It’s a difficult life. I liked director Gary Ross’ decision to make Katniss’ district (District 12) resemble that of another Jennifer Lawrence movie, Winter’s Bone. Right from the start you can see that this movie wasn’t rushed to theaters in order for the studio to make a quick buck on the hype of the books (much like “Percy Jackson” was). Instead Hunger Games has a very distinct look to it. A polished, albeit, dreary appearance. Although the shaky-cam does make a few appearances, especially during the movie’s many fight scenes.
Every year people from the Capitol make the rounds and select two children, a boy and a girl, from each District’s population. This year Katniss and her younger sister Primrose are waiting in the crowd of teenagers dreading the moment that the Capitol’s representative picks the name out of the bowl. When Primrose is picked, Katniss volunteers herself to go to the games instead of her younger sister.
I haven’t read the books, but my wife assures me that this movie – which is 142 minutes long – strives to cover just about every part of the book in one way or another. She says that it’s as close an adaption as she’s ever seen, so fans of the book can be excited that all their favorite parts will be included.
What struck me most about the movie is how vicious it was in its depiction of kid on kid violence. It doesn’t shy away from it. Which brings up a whole other question, mainly, how Hunger Games got away with a PG-13 rating is simply a mystery to me. Sure, there isn’t blood splattering all over the place, but this is very dark material especially when you see it played out on the big screen. I’m convinced that even though young adults everywhere loved the books, this film may indeed be a little too strong for them. But that’s up to the parents to decide.
The Hunger Games does achieve a great amount of entertainment. Jennifer Lawrence is one of the best young actors out there, and her performance here is nothing short of masterful. It may get overlooked come awards time simply because the movie is of a blockbuster caliber, but make no mistake; she may just deserve to be named with the best of the best.
