This movie is like Battle Royale for teens, except that that kind of movie is not remotely for children, or even many adults. That's part of the issue with The Hunger Games. It has the tone of a coming-of-age, slightly edgy, young adult action romance, but the most interesting parts of the movie feel more like A Clockwork Orange, Saw or Se7en.
This is not a cute and cuddly story, however much it tries to include that kind of stuff. It wants to have its cake and eat it too and it doesn't work. The most violent, intense parts work the best but nothing else fits with it.
The direction is bland. What else has the director made? Nobody knows. No vision, no style. Way too often, he uses close-ups or medium shots so we can't see the environment properly. Like so many weak directors (Abrams, for example), he thinks he just has to show the characters and their intense emotions and we'll be won over. No, it doesn't work like that.
We have to connect with the world, understand it, understand what the characters want and why. Only then will we feel something. The Hunger Games does some of that, but I can tell most of the inspiration is coming from the book, not the direction or acting, which are much more average.
Jennifer Lawrence is fine in the main role, nothing amazing, but she suits the role. There are just a few too many close-ups where I'm really not sure what she's thinking or why it matters. I don't care that much. I want the world and the events to be interesting. Then I can project myself onto the main character, like with Luke Skywalker, for example.
We connect with Luke over time. Star Wars doesn't expect us to cry when he faces tragedy - and there are several pivotal events/scenes. But it does want us to root for him by the end. We've seen what the bad guys are capable and now the stakes are really high. Too many movies expect too much empathy too early, including The Hunger Games.
Katniss (which constantly reminded me of cat piss and/or catnip, not a great choice for a name) has a younger sister whose only purpose seems to be to gain our empathy. But the sister is overly emotional and kind of annoying. We don't even know anything about her interests. It's so generic. The same with the mother. Make us LIKE the characters, let them do fun or normal things, THEN we'll care. Don't show them constantly crying - that's dull.
The overall plot has some interesting twists and turns - the book is clearly pretty interesting. But as a film, it does very little with the material. A few parts work quite well - when the games start, for example. No sound, but a pretty crazy adrenaline rush, and probably pretty realistic.
Speaking of realism, I have my doubts that females would last long at all in such a challenge. Okay, Katniss is good with a bow and arrow. But, on average, I don't see girls surviving for long, with all due respect. I can only suspend disbelief for so long and the completely failure of the movie to address this insane imbalance is strange, indeed. Imagine having a big sport match between boys and girls and the characters all act like it's a 50/50 toss up. Yeah, sure.
At times, key issues didn't seem to be addressed. In particular, if I was Katniss, I would have been so furious at one point. I kept wanting her to ask or say certain things to someone else. When the main character no longer seems to have basic common sense or self-respect, it gets really frustrating.
Also, she sometimes tells someone else to be quiet. Why? It's such a stupid cliche. Just let them say it! "Go on without me!" "No, I'm not leaving you." "But..." "Shhhh..." And I just died of cringe. If I've seen it 500 times before, add a twist or do it really, really well.
Some of the CGI has already dated although it wasn't horrendous. It's the kind of thing where you can instantly tell something is fake without being able to exactly explain how. But it reduces the immersion nevertheless.
Again, the tone was one of the main issues. We're talking life and death here. You don't have time for your cute little, 90s sitcom moments. At times it felt like Fresh Prince of Bel Air, with characters making jokes or learning lessons, in between teenagers brutally murdering each-other.
Not enough is explained about the world. In short - I don't buy it. None of it makes sense. Big gaps between rich and poor? It can happen, but always for a reason. And no reason is given here. Where is the wealth coming from? We don't know. Like most movies which have a disenfranchised poor group, it completely ignores culture, as if no such thing exists. They must be poor because of malevolent baddies.
The same with the glamorisation of death. It's just not sustainable. People wouldn't accept that. I guess the sequels will probably go into that. The fashion is also strange. I mean, who knows, people wear all kinds of weird things, but this just feels fake. Ironically, all the actors, both playing rich and poor characters, look like they've just put their costumes and make-up on right before the camera started rolling.
Since I've only seen the first movie, I think it's fine for me to speculate about the sequels. I think there'll be a massive revolution (or an attempt at one) which tries to end The Hunger Games and eventually brings all the Districts together in peace and prosperity. The rich, evil people will learn their lesson and the poor will revolt, etc. But deeper questions about human nature, or how economics actually works, will go untouched. I'll find out.
One of the simplest issues with The Hunger Games is just that it's boring, a little too laborious with some of the plot points, a little too artificial with its emotions. Quite a few cliches as well. The villains are 1-dimensional and we learn nothing about the people of the Capitol or what they think and why. In The Truman Show, we get glimpses of the people watching from home - what kind of people they are and how they react.
Also, the movie cheats to make Katniss look better. She only ever kills in self-defence, which is convenient. She never has to face the prospect of killing a child to win and survive, others do things for her. It's a contrived way to elevate Katniss morally and it feels unearned. Realistically, people aren't all good or evil and you'd face some real moral and psychological dilemmas if put into a fight for your life.
THG plays with your emotions too often. Because of the nature of the story, most characters are disposable and this gets abused way too much. It feels arbitrary which characters we (or Katniss) are meant to care about - whatever enhances the drama of the moment.
I don't regret missing The Hunger Games all these years but at least I've got a few movies to distract myself with now.
This is not a cute and cuddly story, however much it tries to include that kind of stuff. It wants to have its cake and eat it too and it doesn't work. The most violent, intense parts work the best but nothing else fits with it.
The direction is bland. What else has the director made? Nobody knows. No vision, no style. Way too often, he uses close-ups or medium shots so we can't see the environment properly. Like so many weak directors (Abrams, for example), he thinks he just has to show the characters and their intense emotions and we'll be won over. No, it doesn't work like that.
We have to connect with the world, understand it, understand what the characters want and why. Only then will we feel something. The Hunger Games does some of that, but I can tell most of the inspiration is coming from the book, not the direction or acting, which are much more average.
Jennifer Lawrence is fine in the main role, nothing amazing, but she suits the role. There are just a few too many close-ups where I'm really not sure what she's thinking or why it matters. I don't care that much. I want the world and the events to be interesting. Then I can project myself onto the main character, like with Luke Skywalker, for example.
We connect with Luke over time. Star Wars doesn't expect us to cry when he faces tragedy - and there are several pivotal events/scenes. But it does want us to root for him by the end. We've seen what the bad guys are capable and now the stakes are really high. Too many movies expect too much empathy too early, including The Hunger Games.
Katniss (which constantly reminded me of cat piss and/or catnip, not a great choice for a name) has a younger sister whose only purpose seems to be to gain our empathy. But the sister is overly emotional and kind of annoying. We don't even know anything about her interests. It's so generic. The same with the mother. Make us LIKE the characters, let them do fun or normal things, THEN we'll care. Don't show them constantly crying - that's dull.
The overall plot has some interesting twists and turns - the book is clearly pretty interesting. But as a film, it does very little with the material. A few parts work quite well - when the games start, for example. No sound, but a pretty crazy adrenaline rush, and probably pretty realistic.
Speaking of realism, I have my doubts that females would last long at all in such a challenge. Okay, Katniss is good with a bow and arrow. But, on average, I don't see girls surviving for long, with all due respect. I can only suspend disbelief for so long and the completely failure of the movie to address this insane imbalance is strange, indeed. Imagine having a big sport match between boys and girls and the characters all act like it's a 50/50 toss up. Yeah, sure.
At times, key issues didn't seem to be addressed. In particular, if I was Katniss, I would have been so furious at one point. I kept wanting her to ask or say certain things to someone else. When the main character no longer seems to have basic common sense or self-respect, it gets really frustrating.
Also, she sometimes tells someone else to be quiet. Why? It's such a stupid cliche. Just let them say it! "Go on without me!" "No, I'm not leaving you." "But..." "Shhhh..." And I just died of cringe. If I've seen it 500 times before, add a twist or do it really, really well.
Some of the CGI has already dated although it wasn't horrendous. It's the kind of thing where you can instantly tell something is fake without being able to exactly explain how. But it reduces the immersion nevertheless.
Again, the tone was one of the main issues. We're talking life and death here. You don't have time for your cute little, 90s sitcom moments. At times it felt like Fresh Prince of Bel Air, with characters making jokes or learning lessons, in between teenagers brutally murdering each-other.
Not enough is explained about the world. In short - I don't buy it. None of it makes sense. Big gaps between rich and poor? It can happen, but always for a reason. And no reason is given here. Where is the wealth coming from? We don't know. Like most movies which have a disenfranchised poor group, it completely ignores culture, as if no such thing exists. They must be poor because of malevolent baddies.
The same with the glamorisation of death. It's just not sustainable. People wouldn't accept that. I guess the sequels will probably go into that. The fashion is also strange. I mean, who knows, people wear all kinds of weird things, but this just feels fake. Ironically, all the actors, both playing rich and poor characters, look like they've just put their costumes and make-up on right before the camera started rolling.
Since I've only seen the first movie, I think it's fine for me to speculate about the sequels. I think there'll be a massive revolution (or an attempt at one) which tries to end The Hunger Games and eventually brings all the Districts together in peace and prosperity. The rich, evil people will learn their lesson and the poor will revolt, etc. But deeper questions about human nature, or how economics actually works, will go untouched. I'll find out.
One of the simplest issues with The Hunger Games is just that it's boring, a little too laborious with some of the plot points, a little too artificial with its emotions. Quite a few cliches as well. The villains are 1-dimensional and we learn nothing about the people of the Capitol or what they think and why. In The Truman Show, we get glimpses of the people watching from home - what kind of people they are and how they react.
Also, the movie cheats to make Katniss look better. She only ever kills in self-defence, which is convenient. She never has to face the prospect of killing a child to win and survive, others do things for her. It's a contrived way to elevate Katniss morally and it feels unearned. Realistically, people aren't all good or evil and you'd face some real moral and psychological dilemmas if put into a fight for your life.
THG plays with your emotions too often. Because of the nature of the story, most characters are disposable and this gets abused way too much. It feels arbitrary which characters we (or Katniss) are meant to care about - whatever enhances the drama of the moment.
I don't regret missing The Hunger Games all these years but at least I've got a few movies to distract myself with now.