After a long and impatient wait, The Hunger Games finally opens in cinemas. Based on the bestselling young-adult novel written by Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games is the first installment of a trilogy, which has captivated imaginations worldwide.
Filling the void left by the massive franchises Twilight and Harry Potter, and beloved by fans, The Hunger Games has a lot to live up to, and knows it. From the casting, setting, script and music, everything about this adaptation is perfectly pitched. It’s irresistible to watch, and thankfully is able to appeal to both the old and new audience that it’s marketed at.
Set in post-apocalyptic times, the film charts the 74th annual Hunger Games, in which 24 ‘tributes’ from each district fight to the death until only one is left standing. In the opening scenes, the narrator and protagonist, Katniss Everdeen, played by Jennifer Lawrence (Lovely Bones, X-Men) volunteers for the games, after her younger sister is chosen to represent District 12.
The casting, which has gained heaps of publicity over the last few months, is flawless. A mixture of old and new faces appear in the film, with burgeoning talent Lawrence holding the whole thing together with her portrayal of Katniss, the complex and unlikely renegade. The love triangle, which has enthralled thousands of lovesick teenagers, is judged perfectly, and although it smacks a little of the Twilight Jacob/Edward rivalry, there is a subtlety and naturalism employed in the portrayal of the conflicting relationships. This goes for the majority of the relationships in the film, ranging from the minor, to the major, and even if you haven’t read the books, it is easy to grasp the back-stories that run alongside the major story-line.
This subtlety and naturalism is also found in the setting of the film, which again is judged fantastically well. As already mentioned, The Hunger Games is set in the dystopian landscape of Pan-Am, however, everything in the film is illustrated as real, touchable and ultimately believable. From the grey, stark landscape of District 12, to the perverse brilliance of the Capital, the setting is used not only to captivate the audience, but also acts as an emotional tool, as the audience are allowed to feel the harsh contrast between those who have, and those who have not, and see the injustice of the Capitol which lies just beneath the sparkle.
However, this film is not all doom and gloom. Refreshingly, there is a glimmer of comedy that runs throughout the nail-biting action, which acts as a relief from the onslaught of injustice, death, terror and grief in the film. This comedy is provided by the two tribute mentors Effie Trinkett (Elizabeth Banks) and Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson), along with the fantastic Stanley Tucci playing Caeser, whose mega-watt smile and cobalt hair were sidesplitting.
However, what’s really refreshing about The Hunger Games is the credibility and depth that is palpable throughout. The actors are gifted, the setting believable and it’s clear that the books have thoroughly been considered, as although it has had to make compromises, it’s still captures the spirit and energy which made the books so popular in the first place. As a massive fan of the books myself, I entered the cinema with high expectations and anticipations, and emerged grinning like the Cheshire cat. This is a film that is thrilling from start to finish, and if you’re not a fan before you sit down and watch it, you certainly will be as the credits roll.
Thanks to Jenny Lee for this film review.
