I hardly make comments like this in a review, but man is Jen way too beautiful for this world.

Orginally Written December 11th 2015

The Hunger Games is a lot more of a clever film than its recent reputation has allowed me to remember. It stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, directed & written by Gary Ross, as well as written by Billy Ray, and author of the original novel, Suzanne Collins. It had a budget of $78 million, grossing back $694.8 million. (IMDB Provided Info) Winning no major awards, I’d say it was still a pleasant surprise for most critics going to see it, sitting at a solid 84% approval average rating on Rotten Tomatoes. I chose to review this film since the phenomenon it’s created is quietly wrapping up with the release of the last half of the third film, Mockingjay Part 2. I’ve slowly lost patience with this series after the first Mockingjay Part, but I remember having a strong like for this film when it first came out, and having an even stronger like of the sequel Catching Fire. I’ve always appreciated this film though for being the Stand Alone of the franchise, but had written it off in my memory as a clunky start to the series that is overshadowed by it’s much more popular sequel. Many conversations I have lately lead me to believe that popular opinion does not favor this one that much after Catching Fire came out, so I went into this one feeling a little worried about how it would be. However, I was pleasantly surprised.

There’s a lot to go through with this one so let’s start with the plot: In response to a rebellion uprise in this film’s dystopian world, the Capitol, leaders of this civilization, have sanctioned that each district is to raffle off 2 children – one of each gender – to compete in the gladiator style tournament of The Hunger Games. Our main protagonist Katniss Everdeen, is a capable hunter, but still fears being chosen for the games, but lets those fears rest when her sister Primrose is picked in the raffle and volunteers herself as tribute, to take Prim’s place. The rest of the film focuses around Katniss’s struggle to not only survive in the games, but become popular enough to gain a following from The Hunger Games viewers, and thus be given support during the games.

The setup and framing devices used in this film are brilliant. This seems like the typical hero’s journey, in fact, it is the typical hero’s journey in the way it’s being executed. However, the same nagging thought continued to occur to me as I was watching this. Every time Katniss succeeds both in the pre arena Hunger Games events – the talk shows, parades, and training sessions, as well as in the arena – I found myself cheering for my hero. But every time I finished cheering, I said to myself, “Wait a minute, this isn’t good, none of this is good, this is a twisted game show that is getting at least 23 kids killed per season. Why would the capitol find enjoyment in this? And even more important, is it bad that I’m only focused on Katniss getting out of this?” Another interesting decision is to have some of the kids be one-dimensional killers, which again helps us to stay cheering for Katniss, but again, makes you ask yourself if you should even been cheering for anyone in the first place, or just pray that this show gets canceled. I also asked myself if this would have been a stronger film if they just went with a Mockumentary style route, and had the whole movie be told like a season of this Hunger Games T.V. Show? It may have been a more amusing satire, but the fact that it’s told in a traditional narrative style completely works to this movie’s advantage. It also may of been too on the nose if done in an over the top, Mockumentary style. In Star Wars, you never stop and question all the Stormtroopers being killed, you just go along with it because it’s the kind of film it is. Stormtroopers are bad guys. This movie calls that thinking into question. The violent and murderous opponents in the arena are mostly innocent kids just like Katniss, and the movie is framing most of them as the villains; the same way any other game show manipulates us in how we look at certain contestants. You know what this all reminds me of? It reminds me of Pain & Gain, and how that movie used traditional movie storytelling clichés to help frame it’s issue, and asks how we look at the traditional hero. Katniss is obviously a more likeable hero than any of the guys we followed in Pain & Gain, but the principals are the same. You don’t root for someone because you’re told to, and by the way it’s being presented, but because of the characters motivation behind doing it. Don’t hope for Katniss to win, hope for this program to be shut down.

I do have to say, one of the funniest things about this whole series is that it fell into that Twilight kind of popularity, with hype trains about: “Team Peeta or Team Gale? Who should she be with?” The clowns on that train are playing right into The Capitol’s hands. Maybe the hype train’s on its way to the Capitol. The romance here is all part of that Soap Opera kind of flare that this movie’s criticizing. In all literalness in the world of the film, this corny love story is manufactured. Whether Peeta or Katniss have true feelings for each other or not, it’s all played up for the sake of putting on a good show. Even at the end of the film (SPOILERS!), when they decide to try and kill themselves when they’re told they both can’t win the Games – they’re the only two left – it’s not about “I couldn’t live without you, so let’s just die together.” They’re just trying to stick it to the Capitol, but they’re going to frame it as a tragic love story when they present this to the public, so they can continue to be adored and avoid punishment.

The performances here are at top form. I’ll admit, one of the weaker aspects of the film is the script and the dialogue, but Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson keep what could’ve been unengaging leads that the script almost leaves them as, and keeps your attention on them the whole way through. Woody Harrelson brings a surprising amount of personality for what could’ve been a forgettable washed up drunk, and is always a joy to watch on screen. Elizabeth Banks was the one that surprisingly stole the show for me. She encompasses exactly what’s wrong with this society. Everyone else in the movie that is negatively affected by The Hunger Games seems to show at least some acknowledgement of how horrible it is, but avoids speaking out against it in fear of being punished. But Elizabeth Bank’s character of Effie has been given the chance to enjoy all the Luxuries of the games, and keeps on a smile the entire time, ignoring the cruelty of the games for the sake of a few nice weeks in the Capitol.

Problems? Yes, there are a few. The biggest one is actually with the concept in general. Why in all hell would anyone go along with this Hunger Games thing? Okay, why are all the districts going along with this Hunger Games thing? The point of this was to suppress the rebels,  and stop an uprising, but this plan in real life would do nothing but provoke the rebels even further. When there’s a riot in a district after one of their candidate’s death, I scratched my head wondering why this wasn’t already happening. I also find this to be a bit of a shoddy script at times. Forced exposition like Katniss and her best friend Gale’s conversations in the beginning, seems a little out of place. I feel like they wouldn’t need to re-establish certain points they make to each other. And even worse are the obnoxious references they make that only people reading the books would understand. Katniss threatens the cat in the beginning, saying “I’ll still cook you,” and that just leaves people paying to see this, that hadn’t read the book confused in their seats. I’m not even going to explain it here, because if the film didn’t bother to explain it, I won’t either. I don’t agree with the common criticism of this film that the shaky cam way of shooting, makes it unwatchable, and I actually find myself getting into the look, and I think it helps add the grittiness of the overall look to the movie. It takes about 20 minutes to get used to it, but I think the movie overall looks really good. The art direction, the design of The Capitol is a lot of fun, it’s very showy and commercial looking, which is what I’d imagine the environment of all these self absorbed nuts who watch The Hunger Games for fun, would surround themselves with.

I was genuinely surprised with my revisiting of this film, and find it to be somewhat underrated nowadays. With such an original take on this kind of story, and the way it plays with framing and expectations, just like how my favorite film (Pain & Gain) does, but still in its own unique way, it really is a good strong film, and I highly recommend it.

8/10