The Hunger Games Review

It's always scary for fans to see a beloved novel brought to the big screen, especially in the post-Twilight world.  After seeing Stephanie Meyer's not-good-but-so-addictive novels brought to the big screen in a heap of bad special effects and wooden acting, it was worrisome to hear so many fans and journalists clamoring that The Hunger Games was aiming to be the next Twilight.  Indeed, much of the pre-release hype and marketing focused on the love triangle between Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence), Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), and Gale (Liam Hemsworth), though it barely is even touched on in the trilogy's first installment.  Luckily, The Hunger Games doesn't fall into the trap of trying to appeal to the hordes of Twihards.  Instead, director Gary Ross (Seabiscuit) has crafted a faithful adaptation that, while not achieving the gritty emotion of the book, is about as good as one could hope for.

It's not surprising that the film isn't as good as the book.  Some would say it's a law that the source material is always better than the adaptation, which I think is utterly untrue.  But in cases like this, it almost seems inevitable that the movie will fail to live up to the original text.  It's a matter of point-of-view.  The novels benefit from Katniss's narration - strong, flawed, frustrated, somehow endearing, and - most importantly - limited and subjective.  Understanding the Games and all the hoopla that leads up to them through the lens of our heroine gives the proceedings a unique weight and color.  It's the sort of perspective that is such a seemingly inherent element of the novel form but translates with difficulty to film.

Screenplays tend to resist being novelistic.  Voice-over narration is usually considered a crutch, allowing a screenwriter to lazily reveal important plot elements and characters' internal states without taking advantage of the medium.  Thankfully, The Hunger Games avoids falling into this trap.  Save a brief textual introduction to the world of the story, the film largely avoids being too expository.  There's no narration to help clear up the frenzy of the games, and the chaos is reinforced by tight, shaky cinematography that refuses to cater to its audience.  This is still Katniss's story, and by featuring her in the majority of the scenes, the audience still relates to her and understands how she feels.  But by shifting from her subjective experience to a more omniscient take on the story, something is lost.  There's less urgency, less danger, and less isolation.

Even when Katniss is raised into the arena to fight for her life, the sense of risk is lacking.  Instead of sticking with her, staying in the blood-bathed arena, the film frequently cuts to other characters reacting to or commentating on the Games.  This isn't a bad tactic, and it may even be necessary, but it does distract from Katniss's plight.  Caesar Flickerman (a blue-coiffed Stanley Tucci) provides exposition, explaining to the audience how dangerous tracker jacker venom is and that a cannon blast follows a tribute's death.  Though this information is delivered in a fitting context, it's still jarring.  More subtle are the shots of Gale watching the games with a steely expression, setting up the romantic drama that runs through Catching Fire and Mockingjay.

Fans will be satisfied with the film's faithfulness to the source material.  Though it's been two years since I read the books, nothing in the film came across as being a noticeable addition or a lamentable omission.  This is a wonderfully realized world (despite some lacking special effects).  The costumes and makeup do an ostentatiously effective job of demonstrating the vastly different lifestyles of the Capitol-dwellers and the miners of District 12.  The scenes in the Capitol have a distinctly Seussian flair, with wild hairdos, excessive makeup, and colorful costumes.  The strange fashion is perfectly embodied in Elizabeth Banks' Effie Trinket, whose ensembles provide bittersweet eye candy scene after scene, only to be matched by Banks' well-wrought, slightly sinister performance.  She's a stand-out in a supremely well-chosen cast.

Jennifer Lawrence delivers a fierce but grounded performance as Katniss.  Lawrence manages to capture the hard edge that makes Katniss such a fierce competitor and the compassion that leads her to volunteer as tribute in her sister's stead (a scene that really packs an emotional punch despite featuring so prominently in trailers in commercials) and protect Peeta in the arena.  It's Lawrence's meatiest and most fully-realized role since her celebrated breakout turn in Winter's Bone, and I'm excited to see her delve further into the character in the sequels.  The transformation is already at work in this first installment, as well as the resistance and bitterness that underlie Katniss's participation in the charade following the Games' conclusion.

It's an exercise in futility to try to pick the other stand-outs, since nearly every member of the cast delivers so handsomely.  Woody Harrelson has a ball as the alcoholic former-champion cum mentor Haymitch.  Lenny Kravitz does a beautiful job of bringing stylist Cinna (my favorite character from the books) to life - he has the perfect, soothing voice to deliver the character's criticism and support.  As Peeta and Gale, Hutcherson and Hemsworth deliver solid performances that, again, will have more room to grow in subsequent entries.  As it is, I almost wish the film had spent more of its lengthy run-time outside of the arena, as the characters are so rich (while the arena is somewhat uninspired).

Indeed, the forest that houses the games is interesting only in that it feels like home for Katniss.  Beyond that, there isn't much to it.  It's far less intriguing than the complexity of the tropical timepiece in Catching Fire.  Ross wisely spends much of the time in the arena further developing his heroine as she bonds with Rue (Amandla Stenberg) and allies herself with Peeta.  The action that's present is brutal but tasteful.  It's not enjoyable to watch kids killing each other, but the film manages to make the spectacle as easily digestible as one could hope.

As a fan of the books, I left the theater thoroughly satisfied with The Hunger Games' transition to the big screen.  While part of the magic is lost in translation, the film makes up for it by making great use of its impressive cast and casting an eye over the complexity of the world.  Scenes in President Snow's (a thoroughly creepy Donald Sutherland) rose garden and an angry District 11 start to suggest at the scope of the story that is just starting to unfold.  In a world where the entire Harry Potter franchise has been adapted, it's heartening for bookworms to have a new property to gobble up, especially when it's treated with as much love and respect as is the case here.