REVIEW | The Hunger Games (2012)

I haven't read yet Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games, the phenomenally popular young adult trilogy that instigated a cult following, and is now a crazily talked-about motion picture from Lionsgate. 

The story is actually just another version of a common dystopian theme previously seen in films, novel-based or otherwise: a group of people who, against their own will, are locked in a fighting arena to kill each other off for one victor to emerge. Kill to survive. With two core objectives: control and entertainment.

So, what does The Hunger Games's version offer? 

It's some time in a dystopian future, in post-apocalyptic North America now called Panem, a nation divided into 12 districts governed by the city of Capitol, the seat of a totalitarian government. Every year, the Capitol holds for its rich and couture-wearing dwellers a reality game show-- like a combination of America's Next Top Model and Survivor: The Hunger Games. The contestants or "tributes" are pairs of boys and girls between the ages of 12 and 18, "reaped" or randomly chosen from each district to kill each other off  (after some fashion makeover) in a televised domed arena in Capitol. Our heroine, 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen (Academy Award nominee Jennifer Lawrence), hails from the poorest district, 12, and volunteers as a tribute in place of her "reaped" younger sister. 

Unable to finish the similarly themed Battle Royale due to its sick and graphic violence on children, I was a bit apprehensive to see The Hunger Games, but then found some assurance because of its PG-13 rating. Directed by Gary Ross (Seabiscuit), the movie's violence is "family friendly," the act of killing quick, edited to a blur, so that the violence is not your primary source of art and entertainment but is clearly only a subtext to portray a courageous heroine in an oppressed society. The film is more of an adolescent adventure story rather than that of a grim and violent disturbing nature.

Jennifer Lawrence was perfectly cast as the bow-and-arrow-toting Katniss, which quickly recalls her hard-bitten, impoverished and fearless character in 2010's Winter's Bone where she got nominated Oscar Best Actress; the same determined and indomitable spirit of her character is also transparent in her somber and matured countenance in this movie. Lawrence, indeed, has the power to captivate you, and it is clear that her strong onscreen presence contributed largely to the movie's engaging factor.

The Hunger Games provides a solid storytelling, consistently bleak despite the colorful, showbiz-happy Capitol. The suspense and tension, though, is minimal, mostly because Ross eliminated almost all the violence, leaving only a faint sense of threat to the protagonist. The lack of terror, especially when you know that the heroine will survive, has made some parts a bit boring; however, the smooth flow of the screenplay and its fast-paced and unpredictable moments will carry you to its triumphant ending. 

The cinematography is fairly visually pleasing. The first few minutes of the film, though, uses an almost dizzying shaky-cam treatment to project the tension and the terrifying fate of the children on Reaping Day, in a stark and almost archaic atmosphere of District 12, but then eventually normalizes towards the artfully modern Capitol City.

The Hunger Games, with a good cast (including Stanley Tucci and Woody Harrelson) may not be as mind-blowing to me as the fans hyped it up to be-- but it surely stands out among similarly themed stories. Despite the violent premise (and a common one at that), the story has a heart. Most notably, the film has managed to successfully put on a pedestal an extraordinary heroine, who is not only an admirable young woman still strongly in touch with humanity and morals, but is also a symbol of hope and change in a seemingly hopeless situation.  The Hunger Games will not feed your violent fetish, no--  but it's a kid-friendly, interesting, smart, and entertaining social commentary of a not-so-distant world.

Still worth the movie ticket and might encourage you to read the book.

4 out of 5 stars

The Hunger Games hits Philippine theaters on March 23, 2012