The Hunger Games (2012) review

(Note: The following is a newly written review, updated from an earlier review that I did on this film back in March 2012 on Rotten Tomatoes. I would’ve just reposted that original review here, but looking back I realized that it wasn’t really that good and, also, a little biased. It mostly just consisted of me making numerous comparisons to another certain young adult film franchise which was also adapted from a popular book series. Because of this, I decided to write a new review just in time for ‘Catching Fire’. Enjoy!)

(Also, as a bit of a warning, there are some Spoilers regarding the ending.)

We all know how J.K. Rowling’s ‘Harry Potter’ series, which was already a major success in book form, became even more successful once the books were adapted to film beginning in 2001. In the wake of Potter, many studios tried to cash in on the success of the franchise by adapting other popular book franchises. However, for the longest time, no one really had any luck at creating ‘the next Harry Potter’, despite the fact that some of these movies had really good source material to work with, like ‘Eragon’ and ‘Stormbreaker’. The first book-to-film adaptation that managed to become as big as ‘Potter’ was ‘The Twilight Saga’ but, in the opinion of this reviewer, this was mainly because of the popularity of the source material and not because of its quality; in other words, the movies were terrible. Now, both ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Twilight’ have come to an end, meaning that it’s time for a new franchise to step up and become the next ‘Harry Potter’ and that franchise is ‘The Hunger Games’, based off of the best-selling book series by author Suzanne Collins. Sure, in retrospect, the first adaptation of this franchise isn’t perfect, namely due to some decisions that were made in the transition to film, but overall this first film does a good job at setting up its universe and, more importantly, its lead heroine.

In the future, the nation of Panem exists in a post-apocalyptic North America consisting of the main city of The Capitol and its 12 neighboring districts. After the 12 Districts (previously 13) started a rebellion, The Capitol, after defeating the rebels and apparently destroying the 13^th District, initiated a new annual event called ‘The Hunger Games’, a televised event where 24 ‘Tributes’ (one male and female from each district) fight to the death until only one remains as the winner. During the year of the 74^th Hunger Games, District 12 resident Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) volunteers to be the female Tribute for the District after her sister Prim (Willow Shields) is initially chosen. Along with fellow District tribute Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), Katniss is brought to the Capitol where she and Peeta are put to the test as they must compete with Tributes who have had more experience than them and have better ‘odds’ at winning.

Like most book franchises, ‘The Hunger Games’ serves as the film in its series whose job is to set up the universe and its characters, and as far as that is concerned, director Gary Ross does a very good job at establishing the unique world of Panem and bringing it to the big screen. The key themes of the novel, like the idea of oppression and critiques of both government and the media, are executed well on film. In terms of staying faithful to the source material, the film may not maintain the first-person narrative from the book, as told by Katniss, but I do like that it gives more attention to those behind the scenes, namely President Snow (Donald Sutherland) and Head Gamemaker Seneca Crane (Wes Bentley).  But as for the action once the actual Hunger Games get started, it leads to probably the biggest problems that some have with the film; a lot of shaky camerawork and fast editing. There’s no denying it; it is pretty noticeable, but considering that this film probably wouldn’t have been able to maintain a PG-13 rating considering how violent things get during the Games, it’s sort of understandable as to why they went this route.

But really the best part about this whole film is its main character, Katniss Everdeen. Compared to a certain female lead in another young adult franchise, Katniss can certainly hold her own and is not dependent on a man. This film belongs to Jennifer Lawrence, who does an outstanding job at conveying Katniss’s emotions. She’s backed up by a terrific supporting cast that includes Woody Harrelson as Katniss and Peeta’s mentor Haymitch, Stanley Tucci as Hunger Games commentator Caesar Flickerman, and Lenny Kravitz as Katniss’s stylist and ally Cinna. Sure, this movie does have one of those ‘love triangles’ that you see a lot of in these kinds of movies and the two male leads may not be as ‘developed’ as Katniss, but both Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth, who plays Katniss’ friend Gale (who, for the record, is only on screen for like 10 minutes), do good enough jobs with what they have to work with. It may seem like Lawrence and Hutcherson don’t really have good chemistry but that’s sort of how it played out in the book; Katniss played up the romance in order to gain sympathy from the audience, ultimately resulting in her actually beginning to have feelings for Peeta. However, I do have to add that, as faithful as they were to the book, the filmmakers left out a key scene in the end where Peeta learns about this, which would have helped developed their relationship in future movies. Hopefully ‘Catching Fire’ doesn’t forget this crucial plot-point.

In the end, ‘The Hunger Games’ may not exactly be perfect, mainly due to some shaky camerawork and fast editing during the actual Hunger Games. But as a whole, this film does benefit from some very good writing and, for the most part, very well-developed characters. The one in particular who stands out here is Jennifer Lawrence. Not only is the character of Katniss a well-developed female heroine, but Lawrence carries the movie on her back with the help of a talented supporting cast. Overall, Gary Ross did a very good job at establishing the universe and the characters, but I am curious to see what Francis Lawrence brings to the series with ‘Catching Fire’. Considering that he will be returning for both parts of ‘Mockingjay’, it seems like Lionsgate was impressed by his work on the first sequel. ‘Catching Fire’ is currently getting highly positive reviews, but we’ll just have to wait and see if it manages to be superior to its predecessor.

Rating: 4.5/5