The Hunger Games (2012)
Directed by: Gary Ross
I must admit that when I first heard that this film was going into production, I was less than excited about it. Having not read the book, the thought of children being forced to fight to the death brought back too many memories of Battle Royale. My opinion at the time was that an Americanized, PG-13 version of Battle Royale was most definitely in poor taste. Fortunately, a good friend of mine convinced me to read the book. I was still worried that the film might have trouble communicating the book's theme of the struggle against political and socio-economic oppression to a teenaged audience, but I knew it was present and expressed clearly in the book.
My biggest critique of the film is a stylistic one. Especially at the beginning, I felt that the film couldn't decide if it wanted to be an indie art film or a major studio blockbuster. The cinematography in the opening scenes invoked a feeling of chaos and distress, which was appropriate for District 12, yet didn't match at all with the rest of the film. It almost felt to me like the film had two DPs, one for the first half our and another for the rest. The film did have a cyclical progression from chaos to order, which occurs twice, but the cinematography of the return to chaos during the Games was too different from the beginning to maintain continuity.
Obviously the non film school brats of the world weren't bothered by this, which is evidenced by its current worldwide gross of over $600 million. Did I mention that the production budget was a mere $78 million?
You probably think the above critique was me just picking nits. Its true. That's what I do, especially to the films I enjoy watching. If I hadn't liked the film then I would have just said so and saved myself the trouble of typing out this review.
Lionsgate took a deep and complicated novel and created a deep and complicated film, with brilliant acting (Katpee anyone?), better special effects than John Carter, and even some social commentary. Oh and then there are the other two books.
The odds are definitely in Lionsgate's favor.
Who's ready for Catching Fire?
4.5 out of 5 stars
Viewed March 23, 2012
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