*** out of ****
Directed by: Gary Ross
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Woody Harrelson, Liam Hemsworth and Stanley Tucci
Running time: 142 minutes
The Hunger Games is more than a Battle Royale with cheese. Based off a hugely popular trilogy of books by Suzanne Collins that draws inspiration from other works, the film mixes up these source elements and adds its own ingredients – captivating characters and ingenious plotting, among them.
Does the film adaptation grasp the novel’s impalpable intensity and excitement? Mostly.
For the uninitiated, The Hunger Games takes place in the nation of Panem, which consists of a bourgeois Capitol and twelve surrounding districts. Around 75 years ago, the districts rose up to usurp the Capitol’s power and lost.
To remind Panem’s citizens of just how powerless they are, the Capitol hosts a competition each year called The Hunger Games. One girl and one boy aged 12 to 18 from each district compete in a fight to the death until one sole survivor remains.
At the start of the film, Katniss Everdeen, (Jennifer Lawrence), hunts game with her close confidante, Gale (Liam Hemsworth) in the forests outside their district, the twelfth. She is the provider for her mother and younger sister, Prim (Willow Shields), since food rations are limited. (Think of Katniss as an extension of Ree Dolly, the heroine that Lawrence portrayed in the Oscar-nominated thriller Winter's Bone.)
Katniss becomes the hunted, however, when she volunteers to be her district’s representative in the Games. Joining Katniss in the arena is Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), the son of the district’s baker.
But before the Games commence, Katniss and Peeta have training to do. Staying in the plush Capitol, they are given ample time to train with weapons, get advice from their district’s mentor – an agitated, sarcastic drunkard named Haymitch (Woody Harrelson) – and smile for the garishly dressed crowds of onlookers that are feasting for the much-hyped competition.
Peeta plays it cool and soaks in the limelight, while Katniss is decidedly more reserved, although her bow and arrow skills impress game-maker Seneca Crane (Wes Bentley). Rounding out the colourful supporting cast is Elizabeth Banks as haughty chaperone Effie Trinket, Lenny Kravitz as debonair stylist Cinna, and Stanley Tucci as the flamboyant TV host Caesar Flickerman.
The name Katniss comes from a plant that is rooted in muddy water. Katniss is a strong-willed, independent warrior that stands for resistance from a muddy, decrepit life – like the way that flower stands in muddy water.
Since Katniss is the fierce soul of the novels, Jennifer Lawrence’s portrayal proves to be the film adaptation’s sharpest weapon. Virile and commanding even as she nurses her own trembling vulnerabilities, Lawrence is the anchor of this well-paced, gripping thriller that could have been more effective if a director without such a muddled vision had been behind the camera.
In earlier sections, director and co-writer Gary Ross (Seabiscuit) uses a handheld approach to lend a documentary-like realism to District 12’s ashy, battered atmosphere. This gritty aesthetic should have been abandoned as soon as the players take their place in the Games course. Here, the shaky camera becomes distracting. Jittering in close-ups as youths are hacked to bits, the camera disorients the onscreen action, bringing chaos when clarity is needed.
Regardless, the tone of the film remains somber throughout, thanks to a wonderful ensemble that grasp the harsh reality of Collins’ chilling dystopian universe. Still, Ross should have treaded into darker territory more often. The idea of kids (well, young adults) annihilating kids is horrifying, and the attitudes that propel this violence are ripe for commentary and discussion.
Ross - whose debut film, Pleasantville, was a sharp satire about political repression - should have gone for the jugular with the subject matter. While these Hunger Games are gripping, they are also safe.
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