Director: Gary Ross
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Rating: A-
The film adaptation of the bestselling book, The Hunger Games brings us to a dystopian world where every year two
tributes, one male and one female, are selected from each of the twelve districts
of Panem to participate in the Hunger Games, essentially a televised fight to
the death. Think “The Lottery” meets Gladiator, with an element of Big Brother. The film is set around the 74th
Hunger Games and follows District 12’s female tribute, Katniss Everdeen
(Lawrence) as she struggles to overcome the odds and survive. In order to be able to return home, she must
be the only surviving tribute at the end of the games, including District 12’s
male tribute, Peeta Mellark (Hutcherson).
The film does lose some of the novel’s story and doesn’t go into as
much detail in regards to the political background of Panem. I don’t actually feel that further detail is
needed, though. There was a war, it
ended badly, and as a consequence the winners imposed a hugely cruel
consequence – the Hunger Games. What
further background information is really needed? The actual games aren’t as action packed as
one might have expected – but the book itself isn’t that action filled
either. I really liked the way that they
handled the action that they did show. I
also really like the way that they show the backstory and what’s going on
outside of the Games; the book is very cerebral and only follows Katniss. The
movie, however, avoids utilizing narration and instead shows you the things that
book-Katniss only thinks about. My one
problem with the film is that I felt it cut too much of the relationship
between Katniss and Peeta. Some of my
favourite parts of the book were the moments between the two of them, so I was
disappointed to have that aspect of the film marginalized. I did really like the film’s ending. I really felt that it ended things on a
happier note than in the book.
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