So what is The Hunger Games? To sum it up as briefly as I can, it’s a series of three novels involving a somewhat dystopian future, where an evil Capitol has conquered its districts that once tried to form an uprising against them. To punish its people further, the Capitol has an event called the Hunger Games (AAAAAH, THAT’S THE TITLE, OMG I GET IT NOW) where it takes a boy and girl from each of the districts, and forces them all to fight to the death in a large arena. Sound like Battle Royale? Well… yeah, it does... Thankfully it’s not the same when you actually read them both and compare notes, so STOP bitching about that already and move on with your lives! You know who you are… *glare*
The first thing one will notice when watching this film is that the creators have clearly decided that they wanted to upstage the movie The Blair Witch Project, by competing with them for most shaky camera of all time! I understand that the directors were going for a realistic approach, but blurring everything from ones line of vision doesn’t do that. All it does is make me question whether I drank too much before the movie instead of after, even if it was true in this particular case… *hiccup* Yadontknowme...
The main character of the story is a girl who’s thrown into all of this, and goes on to be a part of the games after offering herself as tribute to save her younger sister from the same fate. We also encounter all sorts of strange and interesting characters throughout this story. Effie is a Japanese anime character come to life, President Snow is a badass you’d never want to meet in a dark alley, and Haymich is… Well…, he’s me in real life; there’s no other way to describe it. Almost all of the characters are very unique and memorable. It’s an ugly/beautiful thing.
The presentation of the movie (minus the camera man having seizures!) was ridiculously well done. Some of the most beautiful CG landscapes I’ve seen all year were present, and the strange outfits of the members of the Capitol were also quite stunning. You really do start to feel like you’re being thrown into this whole other part of the world you never could have imagined, right before being thrown into an arena to kill everyone in the vicinity. Yeah.
So how is the actress who plays the main girl (Katniss)? Happy to report she carries out her parts quite well, even when she’s not playing a teenage version of Mystique from the X-Men. Is she exactly like the Katniss I imagined from the books? Maybe not, but it’s hard to complain when you’ve got an actress that more or less did everything she was supposed to. When she really gets into character, she does it quite well. She has this really intimate moment with her bow and arrow where…; well, let’s just say it would make sex jealous, the way she caresses and presses her lips against that thing… >>
Since there are people out there that will want to nit-pick the differences between this film and the books, I’ll give a shout out to them as well… HOLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! There, that’s it…
No, seriously; the differences between the book and movie weren’t that large, and they got all of the major details right. It was just little things like some of the back-story between the characters and the expositions that occur in Katniss’s head during all of the events that changed things up a bit. In place of the inner-monologues, we get some announcers and such summing up everything going on. Another change of pace is that, while the book left you wondering what was going on in the outside world as Katniss was thrown into all of these events, the movie gives you a full-on look at what’s going on during every major moment. It’s an interesting touch that leaves a little less to the imagination, but much more to the eyes. Huuungry eyeeees… I feel the magic between you and Iiiiii! Admit it; you read it like the song in your head just now. Tee hee! Seriously, shoulda been in the soundtrack…
It’s hard to find many faults in this film unless you’re simply finding issue with the story itself. And hey, that’s an understandable thing to do in this case. The plot sounds absolutely ludicrous on paper (not including the paper of said actual book). When people told me what the plot of this book was (and after I got over how it sounded just like Battle Royale), I simply laughed a bit, thinking “Oh, that’s so dumb…” Then I actually started reading it just to prove to myself it was nothing special… And now I’m admittedly hooked like the rest of the world. Damn you good characterizations over a mainly sub-par plot!!! You get me every time! It’s all “Ooooh, no, it’s silly. You’ll see. It’s just a stupid little thing.” And then BAM! Hooked like a bloody trout on open season. Whether or not you love the stories, you’ll still be interested enough to see where the author is going with them. You’ll also probably want to buy a mockingjay pin like I did… twenty times… and am completely overpricing on eBay. ^_^
So overall, I would say that this movie is pretty damn good (excluding that fact that I wasn’t in it to kick all of their little asses to the curb). Some will have a hard time getting past the caffeinated camera crew, while others may or may not find the plot a bit ridiculous. Others like yours truly, and every other male/ female of the world, will probably enjoy it for exactly what it is rather than what it is not.
8 Totalitarian Districts out of 10
While waiting for the second film, I think I’ll start my own Hunger Games. It involves throwing Justin Beiber in with Jersey Shore cast members and all the people that worked on X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Oh yes; this will work out quite nicely. May the odds be ever in your favor bitches!!! I’ll be rolling in my mockingjay pin cash. Toodles!
