Cinema: The Hunger Games 8/10
Director: Gary Ross
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth
Plot: in a futuristic land called Panem, one boy and one girl from each of the twelve districts must fight to the death in a televised reality show.
Suzanne Collins’ novel "The Hunger Games" has taken the world by storm since its release in 2008; it opened to critical acclaim, sold over three million copies and has now been turned into a film adaptation. Gary Ross is one of the last directors you’d imagine to take on a task such as this. His previous works include the script for the film Big, starring Tom Hanks back in 1988. Also, he’s only directed three other projects before helming, “The Hunger Games”, none of which had any relation to Collins’ novel and none of them sat in the action, adventure genre. Ross however does a brilliant job in bringing the world of Panem to life.
District 12 has a gritty, grey and tired look which Ross spends just enough time exploring effectively, using hand-held cameras to make the world seem that little bit more real. Jennifer Lawrence, despite being a little older than her character, plays Katniss brilliantly. Her facial expressions throughout the film rarely change, but somehow she’s so easily readable during times of danger, happiness and loss. The Capitol is another spectacle that the film does so brilliantly. The costumes, makeup, tall skyscrapers and futuristic, tribute-carrying train are all seen for only seconds; a real reason why this film succeeds, because the film consistently focuses on the characters and sidetracks the action and set pieces to fill in the gaps.
Josh Hutcherson fills his role as Peeta Mellark well also. He wouldn’t be my personal choice for the role as he doesn’t come across as entirely convincing during the more emotional scenes, but he does do the action and play-up to the Capitol scenes well. Another highlight of the film for me was Stanley Tucci (who’s known for his roles in The Devil Wears Prada, Captain America and Burlesque), playing the interviewer and game narrator, Caesar Flickerman. He plays the role chillingly as he gains pleasure from children killing each other year after year yet still keeps a smile for the camera.
The action in the film is mostly very good. A particular scene with Katniss running from large waves of fire, darting through the arena like a real onscreen heroine is one of the most iconic scenes in the film as well as one of the scenes during the training process, where Katniss shoots arrows wherever she damn wishes. The action is cut just at the right moments to maintain its “12” certificate, it doesn’t dwell on gore or suffering but just shows the first blow of attack which keeps these particular scenes extremely fast paced.
In conclusion: The Hunger Games is a hauntingly fantastic debut for a series which will become more and more of a phenomenon as time goes on. Ross captures the strictly-controlled world of Panem perfectly, and adds in extra scenes such as the Game’s Control Room and Presidents’ rose garden adding to the climax of the film. The Hunger Games is a blockbuster that’s gritty and widely open for a sequel.
Director: Gary Ross
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth
Plot: in a futuristic land called Panem, one boy and one girl from each of the twelve districts must fight to the death in a televised reality show.
Suzanne Collins’ novel "The Hunger Games" has taken the world by storm since its release in 2008; it opened to critical acclaim, sold over three million copies and has now been turned into a film adaptation. Gary Ross is one of the last directors you’d imagine to take on a task such as this. His previous works include the script for the film Big, starring Tom Hanks back in 1988. Also, he’s only directed three other projects before helming, “The Hunger Games”, none of which had any relation to Collins’ novel and none of them sat in the action, adventure genre. Ross however does a brilliant job in bringing the world of Panem to life.
District 12 has a gritty, grey and tired look which Ross spends just enough time exploring effectively, using hand-held cameras to make the world seem that little bit more real. Jennifer Lawrence, despite being a little older than her character, plays Katniss brilliantly. Her facial expressions throughout the film rarely change, but somehow she’s so easily readable during times of danger, happiness and loss. The Capitol is another spectacle that the film does so brilliantly. The costumes, makeup, tall skyscrapers and futuristic, tribute-carrying train are all seen for only seconds; a real reason why this film succeeds, because the film consistently focuses on the characters and sidetracks the action and set pieces to fill in the gaps.
Josh Hutcherson fills his role as Peeta Mellark well also. He wouldn’t be my personal choice for the role as he doesn’t come across as entirely convincing during the more emotional scenes, but he does do the action and play-up to the Capitol scenes well. Another highlight of the film for me was Stanley Tucci (who’s known for his roles in The Devil Wears Prada, Captain America and Burlesque), playing the interviewer and game narrator, Caesar Flickerman. He plays the role chillingly as he gains pleasure from children killing each other year after year yet still keeps a smile for the camera.
The action in the film is mostly very good. A particular scene with Katniss running from large waves of fire, darting through the arena like a real onscreen heroine is one of the most iconic scenes in the film as well as one of the scenes during the training process, where Katniss shoots arrows wherever she damn wishes. The action is cut just at the right moments to maintain its “12” certificate, it doesn’t dwell on gore or suffering but just shows the first blow of attack which keeps these particular scenes extremely fast paced.
In conclusion: The Hunger Games is a hauntingly fantastic debut for a series which will become more and more of a phenomenon as time goes on. Ross captures the strictly-controlled world of Panem perfectly, and adds in extra scenes such as the Game’s Control Room and Presidents’ rose garden adding to the climax of the film. The Hunger Games is a blockbuster that’s gritty and widely open for a sequel.
Joe, I'd like to use one of your blog posts for a educational textbook exercise for people learning English. How can I contact you about this?
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for your comment Sarah! I've sent an email to your address from your page.
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