The Ohio Sci-Fi and Horror Marathons

As I watched this dark fantasy I couldn't help but wonder how LITTLE money this movie would have made if it wasn't based on a mega-selling YA book series. After all, dystopian future films rarely hit box office gold: THE ROAD, CHILDREN OF MEN, THE HANDMAID'S TALE etc.. Not to mention either version of LORD OF THE FLIES which was clearly an inspiration for HUNGER GAMES (the Japanese BATTLE ROYALE has never even gotten a formal theatrical release save for some arthouse screenings). Of course, this film managed to avoid the dreaded R rating by soft-pedalling the kills killing kids sequences.

**********Some moderate Spoilers in the review**********


Not having read the books, I come into HUNGER purely as cinema. And, as a movie, it's sadly mediocre.
Jennifer Lawrence is an up-and-coming actress, although it must be said that she is a bit too old (and well-fed) for the part. It's not surprising from a commercial standpoint that the filmmakers quickly move past the dank Appalachian scenes, but, by doing so, it also greatly diminishes the backdrop of the 'Hunger Games' contest.
When the movie moves to the capital for the big contest you see all the glitz and glamour - but, don't get the context of the contrast. Stanley Tucci, Donald Sutherland and, especially, Woody Harrelson provide much needed gravitas to the proceedings. One cool bit is that music producer T-Bone Burnett included some fairly obscure classical music on the soundtrack by the likes of the great Steven Reich (3 MOVEMENTS FOR ORCHESTRA). If the filmmakers haven't seen A BOY AND HIS DOG, I'd be amazed! The pasty-faced heavily costumed capital denizens have an uncanny resemblence to the underground ruling populace in BOY.
On to the games. Here is where HUNGER stumbles the most. You never get the sense of the survival aspect of the contest. We're told that something like a third of the contestants will die from illness, the environment, starvation etc. - but, we only see them die in combat. It's a 2 1/2 hour movie, but there is never a sense of it being a...uh...marathon of willpower. And, the film does a poor job with the scoreboard tally of what contestants are still alive. I understand that the novel is a first person narrative from Katniss' POV so some sense of her confusion and disconnect would make sense; But, the movie contains numerous scenes that Katniss would know nothing about -- so it is very much a 3rd person movie. It's just another example of the sloppy filmmaking here. My biggest problem was with the rules of the game. What rules? It seems like they are arbitrary. The mysterious 'Sponsors' (whose role is never clearly defined) can send either aid or fireballs to incinerate a contestant when they feel like it? Huh? It's stated over and over that this is the 74th year of the contest, yet nobody seems to follow a rule book and the residents still seem amazed that these things occur. Maybe, it's all clear if you read the books.
It's a tiresome trend that films based on other material feel that they don't have to explain themselves to 'outsiders': I.E. WATCHMAN, TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY, COWBOY BEBOP etc. "Oh, it's explained in the book/graphic novel/TV series," doesn't suffice. A movie should stand on it's own. It's great if the underlying material adds depth, but, they should be explicable to everyone.
These frustrations aside, there is the problem of Gary Ross' direction. Jittery camerawork for no good reason. A seeming lack of interest in creating genuine suspense. Screen-filling closeups in every scene no matter the dramatic import. Plus, the film looks cheaper than the money spent on it ($72M). It's an epic of marketing, not production.
Certainly, not awful, but, this is a disappointing start to a 'blockbuster' series.



****************End of Review*****************



I can't say that I will swear off the sequels, but the ensuing films will have to be much stronger to retain my interest.
It's also fun to hear all these tweeners thinking that HUNGER GAMES is at all original. Besides the obvious LORD OF THE FLIES book and movies, there are films such relatively recent films as THE RUNNING MAN, SERIES 7, DEATHRACE and BATTLE ROYALE I & II not to mention THE TENTH VICTIM, DEATHRACE 2000 and going way back, 1932's THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME (by the filmmakers behind the original KING KONG). There are numerous others.
Oh, and most of those films are superior to HUNGER GAMES.

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Long Live the Orson Welles Cinemas

THE HUNGER GAMES has alot more going fot it than most of the movies you mentioned, like you said its It's an epic of marketing and the timing couldn't be better..Harry Potter is done forever (?) and the kids that grew up with Harry Potter are looking for that next Epic Series of movies to latch on to, also those kids are not kids anymore, the orginal kids that grew up with Harry Potter are between 18-22 years old now so they want a more "Adult" story line while still being fantasy. I read all 3 Hunger Games books because my 18 year old daughter asked me to, we went together to see the movie opening night and spent the whole weekend talking about the movie and how it differed from the books, and yes we did this axact same thing with ALL the Harry Potter Movies/Books. So I am not at all surprised that the movie is a huge hit.

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Jaws3dfan®
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I enjoyed the movie. I went in knowing nothing of the books, and while I got the impression there was something missing (or some explanation missing) from a scene or three, I was able to follow along more than easily enough. With all the big movies coming out later this year, this certainly won't be my favorite of the year, but I still enjoyed the movie, and I expect I'll be there for the sequels.

The shaky cam was a bit annoying at times, but understandable as a tool to keep the intensity in the violent scenes without being forced into a R-rating that would've obviously ruined this movie's box office returns. That said, hopefully whoever directs the sequel cuts down the shakycam use.

An entertaining sci-fi movie that's worth seeing. Had it screened at the sci-fi marathon this year, I probably would've ranked it in the top half of films. (Unless this turns out to be a year of all-time classics or something like that.)

I would't be surprise that there might be a unrated version comming for the home version. I'll wait when it comes out on Blu Ray.

I just saw it. I agree with L.A. Connection. Lazy filmmaking. Spoiler alert.

I didn't understand the scene where they blew up the food. It was mentioned that some mines were reburied. Where were the mines to begin with? How did Katniss and Rue know the mines were there and could be triggered by apples? Why were some of the mines apparently in the middle of the pile of food? There also weren't as many cannon blasts as there were deaths. The scene that Rue died in had two deaths. I didn't notice cannon blasts for either of them. It also seemed like the camera department was too lazy to take their tripods and other camera stabilizers when they were on location.

Haymitch told Katniss and Peeta that they had to wait until the countdown reached 0, or they'd be blown away, or die, whichever way he phrased it...the mines were planted around the pedestals they started out on...as far as the cannon thing goes, katniss lost some of her hearing temporarily from the blast, I think they were trying to convey that with the lack of audible cannon fire, along with the gravity of rue's death and how it affected her...overall, I agree the shaky cam madness was VERY unnecessary...

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"Ernest Hemingway once wrote, 'the world is a fine place, and worth fighting for.' I agree with the second part"

Yeah, I had some things explained to me by someone who read the book. I didn't think they meant mines. Considering the apparent technology level, I assumed nothing at that point. When the fireballs showed up, I assumed they meant that. According the him, the book explains that in great detail so it makes perfect sense. Enough was missing from the movie that I couldn't figure it out in the theater. If you have to have read the book for the movie to make sense, the adaptation did not go well.

I also had the holodogs explained to me. The book version of that sounds even worse than what was in the movie. Overall, that movie did not leave me with a desire to read the books or see the rest of the series as it comes out.