I gritted my teeth everytime someone spat the line “May the Odds be Ever in your Favor” and it just proves a movie has invoked emotions in you and I am happy that ‘The Hunger Games’ did so. Directed by ‘Seabiscuit’ helmer Gary Ross, ‘The Hunger Games’ had been the most touted book to movie adaptation since its announcement an year back or so. Based on ‘The Hunger Games Trilogy’ by Suzanne Collins, this movie marks the first of the planned trilogy. I never read the book so even after watching the previews I was less interested…I’d known squat about what the hype was all about, though I regret now, after watching the movie, I wish I should have been in on all the hype. Without further ado, I’d like to add, The Hunger Games rocks!
As I said I had no idea about the premise and I never bothered to look into the synopsis before I went in for the movie so the experience was just that much enjoyable. The Hunger Games have been compared with the Twilight series and I have to say that its absolutely insulting to be compared to a Vampire Romance novel/flick. The Hunger Games is essentially adult in theme. Gary Ross made this movie with the same passion he showed for ‘Seabiscuit’ and it shows. Set in a dystopian America, a young male and female is selected from each of the 12 poverty stricken districts via vote and send to Capitol city to compete in The Hunger Games fighting their way, against each other leaving only one victor at the end. The mood of the film is so grim from start to end. The concept of 16 – 20year olds in a game of murdering each other is in itself a ghastly topic.
The movie stars Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen, volunteering out of circumstances for The Hunger Games along with Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) from District 12. Obviously we root for Katniss from start and Jennifer Lawrence made it possible for us to feel so. She did a splendid job portraying a 16 year old girls’ emotions in these circumstances and its no surprise. From what we have seen in ‘Winter’s Bone’ & ‘X-Men First Class’ she isn’t new to awe-inspiring performances either. I was touched to see her shivering before she left for the arena. Or crying after she had her first kill even though she had no intentions to kill anybody and was just doing so coz she was forcefully put in a situation to do so. I’d say that these scenes were the blink-and-miss kinds…a little bit depth to her character could have been much more better. Outstanding performances by Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Bank and Stanley Tucci just added more flavor to the already enjoyable treat. Wes Bently was less wooden and could be overlooked. Josh, initially, looked like he couldn’t shake off his retard-esque face but he quickly picked up the pace and was doing good partnering with Jennifer albeit I found no spark was ignited between the two in the romantic sequences.
The movie was less gory but was implied, passing off the movie as PG 13. A bit more gore wouldn’t have hurt. Gary Ross isnt a veteran in action but I felt the action was filmed subtle and it kinda made the sequences much more tense. The score was composed by T-Bone Burnett & James Newton Howard and it set an over-all good mood to the movie. I am a big fan of Howard but I couldn’t distinguish his score. VFX is nothing to brag about but still was used in creating a wonderful world and arena matching dystopian future.
I have heard the book was twice as much better, but that’s usually almost the case always. I for one loved the movie, thanks to the brilliant direction and Jennifer Lawrence’s jaw dropping performance. Kept me on the edge of my seat right through to the end and I have already crossed my fingers for ‘Catching Fire’. Now bring the heat on!
What I Thought! 