The Hunger Games was a fairly new thing for me. The first time i’d heard of it was when the film was coming out, and I watched the first trailer. I was impressed by the trailer, it seemed to be an interesting film with an interesting idea, but even then it still wasn’t something that I HAD to see. Since then, The Hunger Games has blown up, being considered as the new Harry Potter, even the new Twilight, which in my opinion can only hinder the success of the film. The fandom of this film is a more hardcore version of the Twihards, they want to see some violence in this film.
So entering the cinema, I had a pretty open mind towards the film, only hearing from seemingly ever reviewer in the world that the film was amazing. The hip eon this film is pretty big, probably only close to that of Harry Potter and unfortunately Twilight.
The film centres around a girl, Katniss Everdeen, who is one of the inhabitants of District 12, one of the Districts in a dystopian world called PanEm. In this world, there is an event called The Hunger Games, where two tributes from each of the 12 districts must compete against each other, until only one is left standing. Katniss’s sister gets picked for the games, but in an act of selflessness, Katniss volunteers in her place.
The idea behind the film is a brilliant one, something that everyone can relate to in the idea of reality tv gone mad, but also different enough that people can recognise the fact that this is a different time and culture to our own. Jennifer Lawrence is simply perfect as Katniss. Having never read the books, I didn’t have a previous idea of what Katniss should look like, but after seeing this film, I wouldn’t want anyone else to play her. Josh Hutcherson as Peeta, the other tribute from District 12, is also very good, if not a bit too angsty for my liking, but that’s fair enough really considering what he is about to go through. The supporting cast all work well, but Woody Harrelson is perhaps a bit miscast as the trainer of the District 12 tributes.
The film had to have 7 seconds cut out of it so that it could be rated as a 12 rather than a 15, but this film still packs one hell of a punch. The lack of blood in the film doesn’t really register, and the kills once The Hunger Games start look and feel very violent. There is definite tension when Katniss is about to go up to enter The Hunger Games, I personally felt scared for her as she arrived in the killing field where all the tributes start The Hunger Games.
The director, Gary Ross, does well with the film, but I think that maybe he uses a few to many close ups of characters and too much handheld. There were points in the film where I felt that I didn’t know what I was looking at, particularly when the killing started. I couldn’t tell who was being killed and who wasn’t. But overall, I think he did a good job with the film, the setting worked well and the whole film in general was very good.
I don’t think that this film can be compared to Twilight, the romance in this film between the two district 12 tributes feels necessary, not just there and the focus of the whole thing like Twilight is. I found myself wanting the two tributes to get together, instead of wishing one would kill the other. The emotions that the film makes you feel are also where the film differs from Twilight. When one of the tributes is killed, everyone in my showing was staring at the screen open mouthed and visibly saddened. My friend even started crying at this point, and she had no idea what The Hunger Games was about before we entered.
The Hunger Games is one of the best films i’ve seen this year, although my initial reaction after seeing the film was that it was a bit underwhelming. The around the film is so big that I was expecting some amazing, world changing masterpiece, but instead the film is simply an excellent blockbuster. It’s not going to win any oscars, but the box office is going to pile up. Just like Harry Potter.
rating * * * *
luke cutts 