The Hunger Games Leaves Audiences Hungry for More

A Lionsgate film, Rated PG-13, running time 142 minutes

What with all the hype that was online and all over campus, I decided it would be a good idea to check out the Hunger Games movie. This movie is based on the book of the same name and is a modern The Most Dangerous Game but with a twist. The story of the movie and the feeling shown by the actors left me totally engrossed in the film, to the point that I honestly and truly cared about the main character and the horrible position she is in. With a compelling story and great characters, this movie really made me want to check out the book series.

Directed by Gary Ross, The Hunger Games is a film adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ book of the same name. It is an action-drama film set in a dystopian future where every year an event called the Hunger Games is held. This game is a sick and twisted form of entertainment where two representatives from each of the 12 districts of this country are brought to the Capital and made to fight each other to the death in a televised arena. The story follows sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen (played by Jennifer Lawrence), a girl from the impoverish coal mining region called District 12 whose young sister was chosen randomly to attend the Hunger Games, but in an act to save her sister, she steps up and volunteers to be part of this horrible form of entertainment.

The world that was imagined for this movie was simply stunning. It had the perfect mixture of 1984 and the Most Dangerous Game and I was simply blown away by the imaginative world in which this movie takes place. The scenes set in the impoverish District 12 gave you the perfect feeling of how terrible these peoples’ lives are and how they have to struggle for even the most basic necessities. While those in places like District 12 are poor and have no money or luxuries, the Capital is the exact opposite, a place of high fashion and opulence. The way it was portrayed in the movie made me want to begin reading the book.

Another thing that I loved about this movie is the costume design and the overall visual feel of the movie. The clothing worn by the people in the movie truly show a massive separation between those in the Districts and the Capital. Where the people coming from District 12 are wearing simple clothing made for functionality, the people of the Capital are wearing these bizarre and almost alien-looking compilations of fabric and makeup. This distinction between the Capital and the Districts had a massive impact on the film and I believe it was done beautifully. But not only was the clothing visually stunning, but the overall visual aspects of the film added so much to the movie experience. The look of the “reaping” (the event in which people from the Capital choose who will participate in this year’s Hunger Games) had many visual similarities to the people being brought into Nazi concentration camps. Not only that, but the Capital itself was the perfect image of the bright and shining future, with huge skyscrapers, beautiful parks, and massive buildings and I thought this part of the movie added so much to the film.

I honestly struggled to find anything bad about this film. The only thing that bugged me about this film is the camera work. The makers of this film fell prey to the common usage of the shaky camera technique, the one that adds confusion to battle scenes and adds a feeling of intensity to the film as a whole. While I have no problem with the shaky camera technique when it is used occasionally and appropriately, the filmmakers may have gone a little bit overboard with it on this film. While not to the extent that it absolutely ruined the movie for me, the camera work did bug me a little bit toward the beginning but after a while I ended up forgetting it was even going on.

The Hunger Games was a genuinely good film and one that I would be willing to watch multiple times over. It had a great story line, amazing visuals and the only thing that was remotely “bad” was quickly forgotten and alone was not enough for me to give the movie a bad grade. I am happy to award this movie with a fantastic A for making me want to know more about the world in which it is set. I know that when this movie comes out on DVD then I will most certainly buy it and I will be making a trip to a book store soon to pick up the books as well.