Movie Review: ‘The Hunger Games’ Revisited

We already posted a rather gushing review of The Hunger Games when the movie arrived in cinemas (review found here). Having arrived at cinemas via the hype train and coming of the back of the books explosion in popularity it’s pretty easy to see the film with rose tinted, blood stained glasses. With the arrival of The Hunger Games on Blu-Ray we’ve got the chance to take a step back and take a second, more critical look at the first of the years blockbusters to evaluate the movie on its own merits.

Director: Gary Ross

Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Joss Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, Wes Bentley, Toby Jones, Donald Sutherland, Lenny Kravitz

Plot: In the future the United States has become Panem – a wealthy, decadent city surrounded by twelve working districts kept in poverty. Every year, as punishment for a rebellion 74 years prior, the twelve districts are forced to contribute a young boy and girl to compete in The Hunger Games. The televised event is a vicious fight to the death in a dangerous, booby trapped environment.

Review: The notion of taking a bunch of people and televising them killing each other for a grand prize (usually along the lines of not having to be murdered) like some modernised version of the Ancient Roman circus is not a new one, having been covered in both The Running Man and Battle Royale in recent decades. Originality is not what this movie is about and the indignant alpha-nerds who got bent out of shape about The Hunger Games being an “obvious Battle Royale rip-off” are certifiably stupid. Not because the concept was not even original then (stories like The Most Dangerous Game predate the above examples, and the whole, you know, Roman circus thing) but because such a blanket comparison fails to grasp the very obvious differences in message, purpose, style, tone and approach.

The Hunger Games is a layered movie. None of the layers are especially deep, but they are undeniably there. Class warfare is one obvious theme, with the ruling class abusing the working folk for sport only for them to rise up against them. Current trends in media and fashion are held up for parody. Human nature is put under the microscope in a sci-fi setting. A strong character arc is begun and all the themes are held together by a thrilling tale of survival in a terrible situation. Director Ross binds all the concepts together in an engaging narrative that keeps viewers on the edge of their seat.

With such a varied cast of characters there is much resting on the young performers. Jennifer Lawrence shows fantastic star quality in the lead role and is aptly supported by Hutcherson and Hemsworth as her two potential love interests. The rest of the young cast do well with the limited screen time afforded to each and, a touch of over-acting from some of the more psychotic competitors aside, they are all believable characters. Some of the most memorable performances come from the older support cast. Banks and Harrelson have great chemistry as Katniss and Peeta’s mismatched support crew. Wes Bentley has remembered how to act again and Donald Sutherland is menacing in their respective roles as game controller and evil president. The most entertaining is absolutely Stanley Tucci as television host Caeser Flickerman, embodying the shallow nature of the capitol and selling the role of celebrity perfectly.

Some of the best scenes in the movie come not from the big, dramatic moments, such as Katniss and Peeta getting personal in a cave, but the smaller, introspective moments that Ross has slipped in when deviating away from the source material. A morose Haymitch watching young children eagerly play with their toy swords speaks volumes for a completely dialogue free scene. Likewise the nameless characters who populate the control room of the games provide plenty of strong sequences, whether it’s the one controller coldly launching hazards at Katniss in stark contrast to the chaos she’s surrounded by or their surprisingly human responses to the romance between the two competitors.

Gushing aside there are some issues with The Hunger Games on a purely cinematic level. Whilst the second half is a solid block of perfectly paced action the first half can drag its feet. The character development during the capitol scenes pays off when their lives are on the line but at the time it feels padded. Ross and his editing team get carried away with multiple cuts and shaky-cam shots when the frenetic approach is greatly out of place (such as Katniss jogging home). Some parts of the original score are brilliant, yet at times it can be over-bearing. A prominent example is early in the games when Katniss is reflecting on those who have already died, and the performance from Lawrence really is enough to communicate the tone without such a leading score.

Minor issues when compared to the overall experience of watching the movie, which is a riveting piece of cinema. If you haven’t seen it yet, do so.

Score: NINE outta TEN