The Hunger Games
Adaptations seem to be the big cash cow in the movie industry as of late. Just look at what we're getting this year. We've already gooten The Lorax. Later on we're getting Avengers and The Lucky One. But now it's time for Suzanne Collins to try her hands at turning her very popular series into full fledged films. Will this series be another hit like the recently finished Harry Potter series or will it spiral downhill like the soon to be finished Twilight series? Well, may the odds be ever in this movie's favor.
In a futuristic country known as Panem, each of its 12 districts give up one boy and one girl from ages 12-18 to represent their district in the Hunger Games, a survival match where only the smartest survive and the ones that make mistakes die. At the reaping, a ceremony where they choose the tributes for the games, a girl named Prim Everdeen (Willow Shields) is chosen to represent district 12, but then her sister, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) volunteers to take her place in the games. Then, a boy named Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) is chosen as the male tribute for this district. So it is up to Katniss, Peeta, and their mentor, Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson), to survive The Hunger Games.
Pretty nice set up right? The great things about this film don't stop there either. Let's begin discussing what I found great about this extremely popular film.
Being that this is a science fiction film, the setting and designs play a major role in telling us more about the world these characters inhabit. Thankfully, the design department did a fantastic job at creating the world of The Hunger Games. The sets in this movie were just beautiful. From the designs to the different districts to the design of the Capitol to the outfits that the characters wore to the Tribute Ceremony, everything is just beautiful.
Now let's take a look at the characters. During the games, there was one really touching moment between Katniss and a friend she meets during the games that really got to me and I wouldn't of expected it during the situation. As for the other characters, let's just say that Woody Harrelson was great as Haymitch. He made me laugh sometimes and he knew how to be serious when he needed to be. The same can be said for Stanley Tucci's role as Caesar Flickerman. He was a really fun character that could make you laugh at anything.
According to the person I saw the movie with, it follows the book pretty well, which it should since it's 2 and a half hours long. There's some parts removed from the book, but nothing major that fans would be dissapointed over.
Before I start discussing my problems with the film, I would just like to say that I'm not a fan of the book. I tried reading it, got to right about when the tributes got off the train, got bored of it, and then gave it away. So please remember that this is all coming from someone that hasn't finished the book and please don't get on my case for not even getting to the games, I get enough of that as it is. With that said, this movie has a lot of problems. First off, there's way too much buildup to the games. I get it. It's a national event so of course there's going to be all this stuff happening. While the press interviews are entertaining, everything else is just boring and hard to sit through. It just feels like filler.
There's also no reason to root for Katniss or Peeta to win the games. Just because they came from a poor family or Katniss promised her little sister that she wouldn't die isn't enough for me to root for her. Don't you think that all the other tributes promised someone that they wouldn't die and they all came from poor families since the only rich people live in the Capitol? Am I just expected to root for them since the movie focuses on them more? If so, that's a bunch of bull crap. No one just roots for someone because they're the main focus. Just tell me that Katniss' mother (Paula Malcomson) has some disease and they can't afford to get the cure, since the movie never said what they win, I'm just guessing it's money like most other tournaments give out. There's so little given to you about why you should want Katniss to win that I ended up cheering for backgroud characters until they were eventually killed.
As for Peeta, there's little backstory given to him. Even with that little backstory, the movie keeps fighting with itself if it wants to give it or not. During the reaping ceremony, once Peeta comes up to the stage, the movie has these little snipits of backstory that last for a split-second. It's not until right before the games that the movie throws in his backstory of when Peeta and Katniss first met. That's all we know about his character. He knows Katniss, likes her, he's strong, and that's it. Why not give us some more backstory on his character? Heck, why not give us some info on the other tributes as well? There's no backstory given to any character in this movie. I don't think I've seen this many flat characters all at once before. Katniss is the only one given a great backstory. Everyone else is just flat. They range from liking Katniss to hating her guts for a reason that's not really explained.
There's also so many random scenes that make no sense because the movie doesn't explain why it's there. For example, during the games, Katniss is hallucinating from a sting she recently received. So then this random scene pops up of a bunch of guys in a mine. Then the mine explodes. Then we see Katniss screaming at her mother. According to who I saw it with, that was supposed to tell me that it was her father who died in that mine explosion. The movie never said that or gave any hints that it was her father that died. I could of bought that it was her close friend or uncle or anything for that matter. I could of bought that it was her next door neighbor that she loved. I know that Katniss' father was dead, but never was it explained that he was a miner. Not much really was explained about him other than he died.
Another random scene, and this one even confused the fan of the book I saw it with, is right after Katniss mourns the death of someone in the games. The movie shows District 11 watching Katniss, what I guess is, the sign of the districts. Then, all of District 11 turns against the Capitol. This is completely out of nowhere and no explanation is given for why all of a sudden they decided to attack. Now, this would of made more sense if this was the 5th or 10th Hunger Game, but it's the 74th Hunger Game. Haven't tons of 12 year olds died and been mourned over in the past? This district must just be easy to win over, I'm guessing. What would they of done if she just flipped them off? The movie does focus on this attack, for about 2 minutes in total, but then forgets that it ever happened. There's more random scenes, but I won't discuss them all.
Enough with the problems before the games. How are the actual games? The movie gives a ton of buildup to them, so the games have to be epic and awesome right? Wrong! Right when the games start, this song plays that blocks out all the screaming and tearing that these kids are having done to them. Why? This is an action movie, so of course we want to hear that. Especially if you're not going to show much of it later, and it doesn't show any more than those first couple seconds of the games and the last minute. Now, I know that it does this because it's a PG-13 movie, but there's still no reason to not entertain us with that kind of action.
Speaking of that, Katniss is a huge coward. I get it. It's survival of the smartest and whoever makes one wrong move dies in an instant, but you want to make sure that you're also entertaining the viewer. Watching her sit in a tree for 30 minutes isn't entertainment. Haymitch couldn't stress it enough to be entertaining because being entertaining saves your life by getting you sponsers, but Katniss doesn't want to entertain the viewer and the movie focuses on only her and never anyone else. Yes, Katniss does kill people, but it's never in a satisfying way. It's mainly using the environment to save her. Resourceful, but not entertaining. While she does play it smart, I just wanted to see one, only one, one-on-one fight where they use their weapons to fight each other. That does happen at one point, but it's ruined by someone saving her ass. If Katniss is the best of them all, like the sponsors said, then why save her? She's the enemy. I don't care if she saved your friend. If you want to live, you'll kill anyone to win.
Out of all 24 tributes, you'd think we'd get to see a lot of action moments right? Again, wrong! We get to see 3-5 action scenes and none of them are satisfying, except for the final battle, which I guess is a little acceptable.
My final problem with this movie, and this is being extremely nitpicky and I'm not going to hold this against the movie, just thought I'd point it out, is the title. The Hunger Games. Notice that it's called The Hunger GAMES and not The Hunger GAME. So you'd think that there would be multiple games, but there isn't. It's just one long game and I guess it's called Games because it happens every year or something. What I thought would of happened was that they'd fight and kill for a day, then the survivors would move on to a different location, like start at the forest, then they fight in a post-apocalyptic city, and then a different location until there's only one remaining, like a tournament type deal, but no. We get one setting and it doesn't end until one is left.
So with all its problems, is this film still worth seeing? Well, it really just depends on who you are. If you have fully read, understand, and like the first book, definitely see this film. Fans love this movie and I see every reason they would. The movie was made for them. As for everyone else, well, if you're going to see this movie and either haven't finished or read the book, then make sure you bring someone that has finished it so that they can explain everything that may confuse you. If you didn't like the book, don't see the movie. It's not gonna change your mind. You're gonna find a ton of problems with it just like I did and it's just not for you. For those of you that believe I hated on this movie because I hated the book so much, that's not true. I went into this movie with an open mind. I went in wanting to see an awesome action movie and for the film to prove me wrong. I wanted it to give me a reason to continue reading since I stopped so early. Everyone kept telling me to continue because the games are coming up real soon right after I stopped. I didn't get that from this movie. I'm glad that I didn't continue reading because it was probably another 200 boring pages before I got to the games. I felt that this was a Lifetime version of an action movie.
In a futuristic country known as Panem, each of its 12 districts give up one boy and one girl from ages 12-18 to represent their district in the Hunger Games, a survival match where only the smartest survive and the ones that make mistakes die. At the reaping, a ceremony where they choose the tributes for the games, a girl named Prim Everdeen (Willow Shields) is chosen to represent district 12, but then her sister, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) volunteers to take her place in the games. Then, a boy named Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) is chosen as the male tribute for this district. So it is up to Katniss, Peeta, and their mentor, Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson), to survive The Hunger Games.
Pretty nice set up right? The great things about this film don't stop there either. Let's begin discussing what I found great about this extremely popular film.
Being that this is a science fiction film, the setting and designs play a major role in telling us more about the world these characters inhabit. Thankfully, the design department did a fantastic job at creating the world of The Hunger Games. The sets in this movie were just beautiful. From the designs to the different districts to the design of the Capitol to the outfits that the characters wore to the Tribute Ceremony, everything is just beautiful.
Now let's take a look at the characters. During the games, there was one really touching moment between Katniss and a friend she meets during the games that really got to me and I wouldn't of expected it during the situation. As for the other characters, let's just say that Woody Harrelson was great as Haymitch. He made me laugh sometimes and he knew how to be serious when he needed to be. The same can be said for Stanley Tucci's role as Caesar Flickerman. He was a really fun character that could make you laugh at anything.
According to the person I saw the movie with, it follows the book pretty well, which it should since it's 2 and a half hours long. There's some parts removed from the book, but nothing major that fans would be dissapointed over.
Before I start discussing my problems with the film, I would just like to say that I'm not a fan of the book. I tried reading it, got to right about when the tributes got off the train, got bored of it, and then gave it away. So please remember that this is all coming from someone that hasn't finished the book and please don't get on my case for not even getting to the games, I get enough of that as it is. With that said, this movie has a lot of problems. First off, there's way too much buildup to the games. I get it. It's a national event so of course there's going to be all this stuff happening. While the press interviews are entertaining, everything else is just boring and hard to sit through. It just feels like filler.
There's also no reason to root for Katniss or Peeta to win the games. Just because they came from a poor family or Katniss promised her little sister that she wouldn't die isn't enough for me to root for her. Don't you think that all the other tributes promised someone that they wouldn't die and they all came from poor families since the only rich people live in the Capitol? Am I just expected to root for them since the movie focuses on them more? If so, that's a bunch of bull crap. No one just roots for someone because they're the main focus. Just tell me that Katniss' mother (Paula Malcomson) has some disease and they can't afford to get the cure, since the movie never said what they win, I'm just guessing it's money like most other tournaments give out. There's so little given to you about why you should want Katniss to win that I ended up cheering for backgroud characters until they were eventually killed.
As for Peeta, there's little backstory given to him. Even with that little backstory, the movie keeps fighting with itself if it wants to give it or not. During the reaping ceremony, once Peeta comes up to the stage, the movie has these little snipits of backstory that last for a split-second. It's not until right before the games that the movie throws in his backstory of when Peeta and Katniss first met. That's all we know about his character. He knows Katniss, likes her, he's strong, and that's it. Why not give us some more backstory on his character? Heck, why not give us some info on the other tributes as well? There's no backstory given to any character in this movie. I don't think I've seen this many flat characters all at once before. Katniss is the only one given a great backstory. Everyone else is just flat. They range from liking Katniss to hating her guts for a reason that's not really explained.
There's also so many random scenes that make no sense because the movie doesn't explain why it's there. For example, during the games, Katniss is hallucinating from a sting she recently received. So then this random scene pops up of a bunch of guys in a mine. Then the mine explodes. Then we see Katniss screaming at her mother. According to who I saw it with, that was supposed to tell me that it was her father who died in that mine explosion. The movie never said that or gave any hints that it was her father that died. I could of bought that it was her close friend or uncle or anything for that matter. I could of bought that it was her next door neighbor that she loved. I know that Katniss' father was dead, but never was it explained that he was a miner. Not much really was explained about him other than he died.
Another random scene, and this one even confused the fan of the book I saw it with, is right after Katniss mourns the death of someone in the games. The movie shows District 11 watching Katniss, what I guess is, the sign of the districts. Then, all of District 11 turns against the Capitol. This is completely out of nowhere and no explanation is given for why all of a sudden they decided to attack. Now, this would of made more sense if this was the 5th or 10th Hunger Game, but it's the 74th Hunger Game. Haven't tons of 12 year olds died and been mourned over in the past? This district must just be easy to win over, I'm guessing. What would they of done if she just flipped them off? The movie does focus on this attack, for about 2 minutes in total, but then forgets that it ever happened. There's more random scenes, but I won't discuss them all.
Enough with the problems before the games. How are the actual games? The movie gives a ton of buildup to them, so the games have to be epic and awesome right? Wrong! Right when the games start, this song plays that blocks out all the screaming and tearing that these kids are having done to them. Why? This is an action movie, so of course we want to hear that. Especially if you're not going to show much of it later, and it doesn't show any more than those first couple seconds of the games and the last minute. Now, I know that it does this because it's a PG-13 movie, but there's still no reason to not entertain us with that kind of action.
Speaking of that, Katniss is a huge coward. I get it. It's survival of the smartest and whoever makes one wrong move dies in an instant, but you want to make sure that you're also entertaining the viewer. Watching her sit in a tree for 30 minutes isn't entertainment. Haymitch couldn't stress it enough to be entertaining because being entertaining saves your life by getting you sponsers, but Katniss doesn't want to entertain the viewer and the movie focuses on only her and never anyone else. Yes, Katniss does kill people, but it's never in a satisfying way. It's mainly using the environment to save her. Resourceful, but not entertaining. While she does play it smart, I just wanted to see one, only one, one-on-one fight where they use their weapons to fight each other. That does happen at one point, but it's ruined by someone saving her ass. If Katniss is the best of them all, like the sponsors said, then why save her? She's the enemy. I don't care if she saved your friend. If you want to live, you'll kill anyone to win.
Out of all 24 tributes, you'd think we'd get to see a lot of action moments right? Again, wrong! We get to see 3-5 action scenes and none of them are satisfying, except for the final battle, which I guess is a little acceptable.
My final problem with this movie, and this is being extremely nitpicky and I'm not going to hold this against the movie, just thought I'd point it out, is the title. The Hunger Games. Notice that it's called The Hunger GAMES and not The Hunger GAME. So you'd think that there would be multiple games, but there isn't. It's just one long game and I guess it's called Games because it happens every year or something. What I thought would of happened was that they'd fight and kill for a day, then the survivors would move on to a different location, like start at the forest, then they fight in a post-apocalyptic city, and then a different location until there's only one remaining, like a tournament type deal, but no. We get one setting and it doesn't end until one is left.
So with all its problems, is this film still worth seeing? Well, it really just depends on who you are. If you have fully read, understand, and like the first book, definitely see this film. Fans love this movie and I see every reason they would. The movie was made for them. As for everyone else, well, if you're going to see this movie and either haven't finished or read the book, then make sure you bring someone that has finished it so that they can explain everything that may confuse you. If you didn't like the book, don't see the movie. It's not gonna change your mind. You're gonna find a ton of problems with it just like I did and it's just not for you. For those of you that believe I hated on this movie because I hated the book so much, that's not true. I went into this movie with an open mind. I went in wanting to see an awesome action movie and for the film to prove me wrong. I wanted it to give me a reason to continue reading since I stopped so early. Everyone kept telling me to continue because the games are coming up real soon right after I stopped. I didn't get that from this movie. I'm glad that I didn't continue reading because it was probably another 200 boring pages before I got to the games. I felt that this was a Lifetime version of an action movie.