MOVIE REVIEW: 'The Hunger Games' just not very good
Considering what the book “The Hunger Games” is based on, the filmmakers had ample opportunity to create a film that offered a compelling experience to longtime fans and newcomers alike.
While they succeed at making “The Huger Games” an enjoyable experience overall, it’s an experience held back by uneven pacing, poor character development and the filmmakers’ aversion to taking any risks.
The film stars Jennifer Lawrence as the protagonist Katniss Everdeen, who volunteers herself for the games, which involve fighting to the death in the wilderness in order to spare her sister from having to compete. Lawrence puts on a strong performance throughout the film, giving Katniss a rough exterior while still showing enough emotion to reveal there is more depth to her than initially meets the eye.
Many of the adult actors do a fine job as well. Stanley Tucci, Elizabeth Banks, Donald Sutherland and Woody Harrelson are just a few of the adult actors who are able to breathe life into the characters they portray.
Most of the younger actors, excluding Lawrence, put on pretty lackluster performances.
“The Hunger Games” also suffers from some weak pacing. Sometimes it seems to move through seemingly important events much too quickly without ever building any tension. For example, "The Reaping" seemed like it should have been a scene filled with emotion and foreboding but instead feels rushed and rather meaningless.
On the other hand, some scenes during the games themselves seemed to drag until their relatively mundane conclusion.
While audiences will surely care about what happens to Katniss, the filmmakers seemed to expect audiences to care about other characters as well, even if they have barely appeared in the film. The film makes one of the character’s deaths seem really important, but the dying character had barely been in the movie before that point. This makes it really hard for viewers unfamiliar with the books to care at all about the death of a completely undeveloped character.
The final problem with “The Hunger Games” is the games themselves are pretty tame. Audiences should be disturbed by witnessing a barbaric event where 24 teens are forced to kill one another. Instead, the deaths are merely glossed over, and the camera shakes so much during fight, it will be a chore for audiences to keep up. It effectively robs the games of having any emotional impact.
“The Hunger Games” is still a good movie but one that seems to take one step back for every two steps forward.
Film: The Hunger Games
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi
Rating: PG-13
Score: 3 out of 5
