I would like to start this review with a brief synopsis of why I have been crazy excited for just over a week now to see this film.
It all began on Mothers Day, my own Mum was kind enough not to be peeved I was having to go to work that day and gave me the first in The Hunger Games trilogy to read on the train. I almost missed my stop I was so engrossed. It took me less than a day to read that first book and I have been incredibly restrained to not have devoured the next two books (trouble with going back to uni is all this studying they expect you to do).
Now I freely admit to owning the Twilight saga in both book and dvd form, and The Hunger Games has been referred to in the same breath frequently by critics and the press. However this is unfair to Suzanne Collins and the movie, both of which are superior (in writing and casting) to the vampire teen love triangle. I can admit when a piece of writing is bad and I know full well in years to come I will be able to read The Hunger Games with the same thrill I did the first time, whereas sometime soon my Twilight books will be relegated to the charity bag.
A brief synopsis then for the uninitiated:
Katniss is a 16 year old girl living in District 12. She has a mother and a younger sister to keep fed after her father was killed in a mining explosion years before. District 12 is the coal district. There are eleven others each with their own purpose, then there is the Capitol.
Many years before there had been an uprising against the Capitol, who inevitably won, and now each year to remind the other districts how lucky they are to be alive (unlike district 13 which was completely destroyed) they hold The Hunger Games. Each year a girl and boy between 12 and 18 from each district compete in these games for fame, wealth, and their lives. Only one will survive.
This is the 74th Hunger Games.
Katniss volunteers to take the place of her sister this year, and along with her co-tribute Peeta will compete for her life live on television for the whole of this new North America to watch.
Onto the review:
The film is fantastic. And I'm not just saying that because I loved the book. It really is a wonderful piece of filmmaking.
I'll start with what all the book lovers will want to know: does it live up to the print? The simple answer is yes, and more besides.
Apart from a couple of niggles (an injury that doesn't occur which I imagine is pretty important to the rest of the trilogy, and a joke that was either left out or cut about giant cakes..) it truly lives up to the message and general feeling of trauma and violation that Suzanne Collins brought to the page.
The violence has been toned down a LOT, there is limited gore, but the brief moments of death you witness are cruel and shocking, perhaps more so because you have not been desensitised.
As for the 'more besides' comment I made, the film has had to deal with transforming a single person narrative into a watchable two and a half hour movie, it could not be done with a narrator or following Katniss' internal monologue, so outside help is required.
The gamemakers are given an on screen presence in the form of a rather interestingly-bearded character called Seneca. Seeing the decisions being made against the players brings another frightening dimension to the story, they are cold and calculating and so much like a TV executive on a reality TV show.
There is also additional commentary by the television presenters Caesar and Claudius (you see the Roman influence?) and you see glimpses of the districts as they watch their televisions.
The casting of this film is near perfect. Jennifer Lawrence (X-Men: First Class) is a brilliant actress and she lived up to my expectations of Katniss, she calculates what to do to win but also has so much heart and bravery, you'd want her on your side in a fight for survival. Josh Hutcherson is finally being cast in roles to live up to his potential, you can see him in The Kids Are Alright and has had a healthy career in kids movies from Bridge to Terabithia to Zathura. His Peeta also lived up to my imagination, he is stocky and stoic, but so kind and intelligent, and clearly head over heels for Katniss.
Too briefly we see Gale, played by Liam Hemsworth (Thor's younger brother), but as the friend left behind by Katniss the glimpses seen of District 12 while the games are on are exactly what you imagined would be happening, jealous looks and painful glances of the boy left behind.
Woody Harrelson is perfect as the drunken mentor to Peeta and Katniss, who has struggled with seeing so many children die that he had given up on the tributes before they began. Elizabeth Banks should also be congratulated as she lives up to the simpering shallow image you build of Effie Trinket, the woman who picks the tributes and 'guides' them into being proper ladies and gentlemen.
Lenny Kravitz gets a role as Cinna, Katniss' stylist and friend who works to create a girl that sponsors will want to help and give her a chance to survive. He does well, Cinna does not have much in the way of personality but clearly cares, as Lenny does well to show.
The battles in the arena are thrilling, the fight for survival so intense and you feel like you have been transported back to ancient times watching an arena of victims forced to fight each other as gladiators or mauled to death by wild animals. The other tributes are scary or just plain scared. There is one particular girl who Katniss adopts due to her similarity in age and stature to her little sister.
All in all it is a sick concept, but one not unfamilar to human history. Both the book and film work hard to convey this, and as it has been seventy four years of these games you get the feeling that something has to change.
There is a small love story but nothing in the realm of Twilight, it does not overwhelm the story, but makes you feel so much more for the characters and their fight for survival.
If you have not read the book I'm not sure you need to in order to enjoy the film, in fact you might find it more enjoyable not to do so, I found I was waiting for the next thing to happen rather than relaxing into the story. The next time round I'm sure I'll relax and sit back now I know what has been missed out and added.
The Hunger Games is one of those rare gems that is both a triumph in book adaptation and stand alone filmmaking. The credit must go to whoevers decision it was to ensure Suzanne Collins was also script writer along with Billy Ray and Gary Ross, who also directed. Between them the direction and script worked cohesively without leaving the book in its wake. This is unlike the adaptations of Chocolat or Stardust which, while fantastic films in their own right, are nothing like the original stories.
I look forward to seeing this film again, as I look forward to reading the book again. I only wish they had gotten the cake joke in...
The film doesn’t really get going until they actually do get to The Hunger Games, but when it does get started up its entertaining, tense, unpredictable, and very well executed from Gary Ross. I also couldn't believe that this was his 3rd film after other flicks such as Seabiscuit and Pleasantville, which are both good but are different from this one. Still though, great jobs from everybody involved and I cannot wait for the sequel. Good review Becca.
ReplyDeleteI am looking forward to seeing this movie I managed to read all three books in about 14 hours which is a record for me. The characters are compelling and Katniss especially is very complex. I hope the movie shows how she isn't thinking about revolution on an intellectual level but.just doing what she feels right and just at the time.
ReplyDeleteI must confess to being one of those people that had avoided this because it was spoken of in the same breath as Twilight. It wasn't until I saw the trailer that it piqued my interest. I saw the film at the weekend and my verdict is that it is surprisingly good.
ReplyDeleteI will now probably check out the books because comparisons with Twilight does the story no favours. Its depth and ideology would put it more in line with His Dark Materials. I really like the fusion of the Huxleyian and Orwellian ideas of dystopia especially clever.
About a year ago I read the first chapter of The Hunger Games, it was being handed out in a pamphlet to promote the upcoming film. I read through it but was unimpressed with the emotionless style of writing. At the time I put it down to poor writing in assuming that Collins was dumbing down to appeal to a young audience but now having seen the complexity of her story, I think that is unlikely. How would you account for it?
The reason for the lack of emotion in the writing, at least at first, is because we are following the narrative of Katniss Everdeen, a girl who is just trying to get by after losing her father and effectively her mother. She doesn't allow herself emotion because starvation is too much of a risk if she is anything but hunter and surrogate mother to her little sister. I think Suzanne Collins is a very clever writer, far more so than Stephenie Meyer who relies on the obsessed nature of her characters to sweep up the audience rather than proper characterization.
DeleteI would sincerely urge you to give the books a go, I adore Phillip Pullmans writing too, even the Amber Spyglass which many don't like because it just gets so very strange. I think the books have a lot to say about voyeurism and the state, makes me glad I don't watch things like I'm a Celebrity or Big Brother!
Sidenote>I also think its incredibly sad how almost everyone I have spoken to has told me "well its just a rip off of Battle Royale", if only people had studied the Romans to the extent I have they would recognise that the Hunger Games with its televisual aspect is in fact more akin to a Roman circus than it is to forty Japanese children forced to slaughter each other on an Island that nobody on the outside is watching. Rant over. Apologies :)
It clearly doesn't come over in the movie but battle royale is televised.
DeleteThat said I understand why you see it more roman than battle royale I maintain it is the idea of children battling to the death where the comparison lies. Is there a worse crime than forcing children to murder each other for entertainment?
Clearly! Considering all you saw were the army people and the sadistic teacher monitoring their movements through those horrific chokers I completely missed that it is supposed to be televised. Found a really good review of it on here http://www.cultflicks.net/ which sums up what I was trying to say in my own review!
DeleteThe repellant idea of children murdering each other for entertainment is the root of both BR and HG, I just maintain its not the first time its happened - a LOT of children were murdered in Roman Circuses.
The very first scene is the little girl who won the last one coming out having her picture taken and camera crews everywhere but that is as close as it gets to showing cameras.
DeleteFunnily enough I wrote a blog post on it earlier tonight and compared it to Roman gladiators in a Twitter world. Due to go up in about half an hour once I've worked through the typos.
ReplyDeleteWould love to see it - please post it up here or contact me via twitter!
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