Film Review - The Hunger Games (2012)

The Hunger Games
Director(s): Gary Ross
Genres: Science Fiction | Young Adult
Duration: 142 Minutes
Release Date: 23rd March 2012
IMDB Rating: 
Butterfly Rating: 
Trailer: See Here
Buy From: Amazon | Ebay

In a dystopian future, the totalitarian nation of Panem is divided between 12 districts and the Capitol. Each year two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal retribution for a past rebellion, the televised games are broadcast throughout Panem. The 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors while the citizens of Panem are required to watch.

When 16-year-old Katniss's young sister, Prim, is selected as District 12's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart Peeta, are pitted against bigger, stronger representatives, some of whom have trained for this their whole lives. Will they survive, and will the the odds be ever in their favour?

This film is an adaptation of a novel.
Please bare in mind that during this review, there may be spoilers referring to scenes in the novel.

When it comes to reviewing The Hunger Games film, it's very difficult, having read The Hunger Games, to not compare the two. Of course, one was produced first and another was produced with the aim of being based of of the original, not exactly like it, so it surprised me when I had reached to end of the film and I'd ended up enjoy the film much more than I had the novel. Exactly why this happened I don't know, but I do know that I'm much more excited to watch Catching Fire than I was eager to read Catching Fire.

I think one of the biggest and best selling points for the film was how the world that I adored had been brought to life infront of me. I'm a sucker for details in films and the designers and those creating the amazing world of Panem and the Districts did a phenomenal job of recreating the world I had grown to adore previously, if not made it so much better. The vividness involved, the large scale scenes of Panem and even the tiniest of scenes; Katniss in her bedroom, the room she was in with Cinna right before the Games, even the train furniture, it was all so perfectly chosen to mimic the novel and it blew me away. The contrast between Panem and the Districts too was much harsher and much more real when placed in front of my eyes, the dullness of the clothing, the difference in the world they lived, yes it was prominent and clear in the novels, but I much preferred the experience of viewing it rather than reading it and that only meant the film gained bonus points for that.

There were of course moments in the film I didn't appreciate; the fact that the pin was found, not given frustrated me a lot more than it should, and the fact that there wasn't as much opportunity to see and feel the games as I did in the book, however, I was also pretty glad that the film didn't drag out unnecessary scenes such as Katniss walking, hunting, walking, drinking and so on, there was a lot more action, the action I was promise in the novel, so for that reason it was so much better. I did actually really like the additional scenes they added to the film, some from Catching Fire and some were added freestyle and usually that annoys me about book-to-film adaptations, but the scenes with President Snow were so brilliant it made him a much better villain that he was in the books and it was easier from a viewers point to dislike him and the game-makers much more and much better than you could in novel. I think for me personally, it was seeing the world of the games from both the inside with the characters and from the outside, with Haymitch bartering with the sponsors to the game-makers making pieces of their game, down to the simplest of details of creating the games and how it was all so well made to seeing more of Gale and his feelings about Katniss being in the games. There was just so much more to like and enjoy in the film and I'm not ashamed to say I liked it much more.

The final selling point for me in the film was Katniss. Now now, before you all get distressed, we know I didn't like Katniss in the novel at all, I found her, sufferable when reading from her perspective, however, because the film was in much more of third person perspective just focusing on Katniss more, I found I connected to her much better and I could relate to her feelings and her actions so much more than previously and I think that could be down to Jennifer Lawrence's acting skills and Gary Ross as a director. They ensured that Katniss still had that unlikeable quality to her, constantly unimpressed and angry at the choices life has dealt her, but how they developed her character throughout the film, to appreciate the skills of the other tributes, to honour how lucky she was to survive, but also actually make her 'romance' with Peeta so much more believable than it was in the book was brilliant. Peeta was also hugely likable as he was in the novel, but I do think that Josh Hutcherson wasn't the right choice of actor; he almost made Peeta come across as weak and unstable which I didn't really like, however, what little of Gales we did see was portrayed very nicely by Liam Hemsworth, so from an acting point of view, it wasn't all that bad.

I think in the end, it was something about the cinematic experience that had me enjoying The Hunger Games more then it's novel counterpart. Favourite scenes from the novel were taken and expanded brilliantly, especially the hounds in the end, I swear to you, I definitely thudded my ceiling, I jumped so high, and the wonderful choice to keep to music rather than song for a lot of soundtracks was such a good choice because the music and background sounds really added to the feel of the film and even the most silent of moments with no outer noise was just so fantastic, it's so difficult to fault those parts. I did struggle with some of the CG areas of the film; they were too unclean and too unfinished and could have been smarter in areas, but that didn't take away from the experience too much. In truth, I think the film took everything I loved about The Hunger Games and gave it to me ten fold, it gave me a beautiful experience of the world and it made me finally connect better to some to some of the characters, as well as understand more about the games on a viewing level since that is how the games are meant to be viewed, so I felt like I was watching the games with Panem rather than being in the games with Katniss and I much preferred that. The relationships were much more believable through sight than through words and I actually just find it really difficult to hold much against the film.

In my opinion, I don't think you should force yourself to read the book beforehand. To me personally, it made no difference because I didn't really enjoy reading The Hunger Games, so my expectations were much lower and I think that's why I enjoyed the film much more, however, I would advise you not to watch it in a darkened room if you haven't read the book because there are moments were you might just have a heart attack.