The Hunger Games- Review

A moving and powerful film mired by a few flaws that prevent it from being masterful.

Plot synopsolis-Set in a future where the Capitol selects a boy and girl from the twelve districts to fight to the death on live television, Katniss Everdeen volunteers to take her younger sister’s place for the latest match.

The Hunger Games is based on a novel by Suzanne Collins, the first in a trilogy. After it’s recent box office numbers there will no doubt be more films to come. The story takes place in Panem, which is the old continent of North America, which has been devestate by an apocolyptic event.

Within Panem are twelve districts, from each district a lottery takes where a boy and a girl are selected to take part in a violent reality TV show, which takes place in a city called Capitol.

From the outset The Hunger games should not be anymore than a teen version of ‘The Running Man’ or ‘The Battle Royale’. The concepts of a gladiator gameshow have been done numerous times before. But with it’s subtle but obvious social references to celebrity culture, human violence, identity and poverty, The Hunger Games manages to be a very enjoyable without being patronising and at times very moving film.

The heroines are Katnis Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), both characters have been cast perfectly. Jemmifer Lawrence plays the strong willed but remorceful Katnis with perfection, from the moment she volunteers to take her sister’s place in the games to the moment they begin. With Woody Harrelson supplying the central supporting role as Haymitch Abernathy, the casting is one of the films strengths.

On arrival at Capitol we witness an extravagence of pretensciousness, wealth and delusion, the people are dressed like fashion show props. Although perhaps over done the imagery is powerful, the city is very colourful and beaming with life compared to the districts that surround it, and where the contestants have been taken from.

As the film leads up to the games the contestants go through a series of training excercies, it’s not hard to see the similarities with current talent shows that infest our television, the film portrays them as nothing but commodities as they lavish on the most wonderful feasts that are given to them, and the trappings of celebrity. The film manages to show the irony in which the contestants improve their hunting skills that they will eventually use against one another, whilst for the most part they appear to be friendly and absent minded about the causes that they will have to eventually inflict on one another.

In the last third of the film when the games do eventually begin I actually felt a little underwhelmed, with so much build up the scenes seemed to drag on, much of the intriegue beforehand seems to be lost with moments of nothingness, empty minutes and emotional piffle that doesn’t always hit the mark.
But there are numerous scenes that are brutal, not in what we see but the context under the circumstances that they occur. One of the best scenes is involves a wasps nest, which I won’t go into too much detail, because I don’t want to spoit for you. There has been some controversy over whether the rating should have been a 15 and not a 12A, I disagree, while some scenes display mild violence they are not explicit.

As someone who has lived in the curent bubble of reality TV and celebrity that has infected our society (and of which I find entirely repugnant), it was good to see its delusion and falousy mocked and satirised. With strong perfomances all round, a powerful message and moments of screen brilliance. The Hunger Games is a very entertaining film well worth your time and money.

4/5