The Hunger Games: Movie Review

Did the Hunger Games satisfy your appetite?

Rotten Tomatoes: Critics 86% Audience 95%

Plot Summary: (IMDb)Set in a future where the Capitol selects a boy and girl from the twelve districts to fight to the death on live television, Katniss Everdeen volunteers to take her younger sister’s place for the latest match.

Overall Impression: The movie was just okay. I think my impression is tainted because I’ve read all three books, and my expectations were high. I know it’s hard for a movie to compete against human imagination because the visual elements produced on film usually fall short.

The Violence: The violence is definitely toned down because of the PG13 rating, not much blood and gore.

Misses:

– It was a bit long and slow/drawn out, especially in the beginning.

– I thought the movie fell short on highlighting some of the themes in the book, e.g.

• The class issue between the district’s citizens (Katniss’ friend Madge (the mayor’s daughter) didn’t need the extra food, so her name would most likely not be called. Madge was not featured in the film).
• The scarcity of food and resources causing malnutrition and desperation.
• The consequences for wrong doing. (Katniss mentions, the “cutting off of tongues,” but the Avoxes are not shown).
• Overall, I don’t think it captured the intensity of the games.

* I realize it’s hard to touch on these issues because of time constraints, so that’s understandable.

Given the time frame, I think the film hit the bulls eye with the following:

Hits:

• It pretty much stayed true to the book. (There were a few deletions and changes, but for the most part the movie followed the book).
• I think overall the movie visually portrayed the games well.
• The contrast between the districts and the Capital (the haves and the have nots).
• The Capital fashions–overall were good.
• The commentary that explains why the games began and the commentary during the games.
• Showing the Capital and district citizens watching the televised event. (This is not present in the book. It was great seeing this in the film).

Maybe my expectations were too high. I’m going to see the movie again to see if my perception changes.

Did you see the movie? What did you think?