Review - The Hunger Games

I am sure you have read hundreds of Hunger Games reviews and already seen the film but because I only watched it a few days ago, you'll have to endure another review.

Based on the book by Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games is set in a distopian world, where districts give up one male and one female under 18 to fight to the death for the rich and powerful citizens entertainment. We follow District 12's two competitors Katniss (Jennifer Lawerence) and Peetah (Josh Hutcherson) through their training - both physical and media - as they enter the big brother house of death against other teens in a winner takes all battle.

I am not going to harp on about the plot because everyone knows it anyway (or they should) but that is not really the point of the film.

The real meat in the story is how the audience watching The Hunger Games is manipulated by different people. We see the Haymitch (Woody Harrelson) wheeling and dealing for Katniss so she can get special care packages sent to her in the game area when she is injured, we see Seneca Crane (Wes Bentley) the director of The Hunger Games doling out surprises for the contestants, at the behest of President Snow (Donald Sutherland).

It all looks like it is a setup and that is exactly what President Snow thinks, and the final shot of him storming off, gives you a real sense that he wants to wield his power.

Jennifer Lawrence is once again very good, in a role that could have came off as cheesy but she hits all the right notes, Woody Harrelson is excellent too giving Haymitch a real human touch. A special mention for Stanley Tucci as the host of The Hunger Games Ceasar Flickerman - he was absolutely brilliant!

Gary Ross directs this well with subtle nuances being the key. The violence shown mostly off screen or in a blur so it keeps the film accessible to its core audience whilst not masking the fact that these kids are killing each other. Despite the depressive nature of the material The Hunger Games manages to keep things rolling along at a nice pace, without getting too bogged down in the distopia.

With two more Hunger Games films on the way (three if they two part the last film) I am actually looking forward to see how they go about this.