By Anthony Nguyen
Based off of the internationally popular and successful book series written by author Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, directed by Gary Ross, graces movie theatre screens this March in an adaptation to the first novel.
Set in a post-apocalyptic America, known as Panem, which is split up into twelve districts, every year the government randomly selects two tributes (one male and one female) from each district to face off against one another in a fight to the death until there is one survivor. The film follows the story of Katniss, played by Jennifer Lawrence, who volunteers to play in these ‘games’ in place of her sister.
With a large ensemble cast, it goes without saying that not only the leads, but the supporting cast, which mainly consisted of younger actors, portrayed their characters brilliantly. Lawrence in particular, displayed award-winning acting talents and achieves in bringing emotional depth into her character through the emotional and physical journey through the arena.
The film employs a great use of CGI, particularly in various scenes of the Capitol city. Greatly enhancing the visuals and allowing the audience to see the futuristic magnificence and eccentricities of the city as described in the novels.
Although the themes of the novel itself are very dark, with a strong emphasis on the violence and various deaths of adolescents, Ross should be commended on his fantastic job of toning down the violent scenes to suit a younger audience demographic. Although we do not see much gore, the film does not skimp away on the violence. The vicious (and bloody) horrors are very real and are more emphasized through the actors in the film which show that it is as violent as you can imagine.
The film goes for just over a lengthy 2 hours, yet the development of several characters seemed quite poor, especially for the supporting cast of the other tribute contestants. Though understandably would have proved to be difficult due to such a large ensemble cast. Additionally, the ending of the film seemed a rushed, and left many aspects that would be a little confusing to all but those who have read the books themselves.
Pleasantly for fans, the film is extremely faithful to the books with very few and insignificant changes. Ross delivers a fantastic film that would please not only fans but also people who have not read the books beforehand. The Hunger Games would be considered as one of the best sci-fi movies of the decade.
Kryztoff Rating 5K
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