The Hunger Games (2012)

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Life is a game. So fight for survival and see if you're worth it. 
- Teacher Kitano in Battle Royale (2000) 
In another life, I'm an athletic director or something similar. I've always been fascinated with brackets and standings and scheduling sports. It's not so much the competition that interests me - it's the concept of matchups and strengths and weaknesses. The NCAA tournament is so entertaining, and not even because I'm a basketball fan (which I am). I love seeing what a team's path would have to be to get to the final four and identifying which team has the right tools to pull off a monumental upset. The best team in the country almost never wins the championship - it's the one whose route to get there included opponents whose weaknesses played to their strengths.

The Hunger Games book series from Suzanne Collins captured the young adult literature world, much in the same way Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series did. So, naturally, it had to follow the same route to the big screen. But, while Twilight made stars of its actors, The Hunger Games grabbed a laundry list of already well-known and talented actors, best of all to play the series protagonist Katniss Everdeen: Oscar nominee Jennifer Lawrence.

Apparently there was a war and, in effort to squelch an uprising, the government create 12 districts, each being managed singularly and simultaneously. Every year, two children (a boy and a girl) between the ages of 12 and 18 are randomly selected from each district as tributes. They are sent to the Capital to compete in "The Hunger Games," a "to-the-death" battle, the winner being crowned and embarrassed by riches (briefly). When Katniss's sister is selected, she volunteers as tribute to keep her from having to compete. From there, she is taken by train to the Capital by Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks), their escort for preliminary preparations. They are given access to a mentor - a former winner (and drunk) named Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson) who coaches and advises Katniss and her fellow district 12 competitor Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) on the ins and outs of the game, how to play, and how to gain sponsors, who will help them survive. Upon arrival at the Capital, they meet with Cinna (Lenny Kravitz), an image consultant who dresses them and provides suggestions on how to handle themselves publicly. After all, this is a TV show.

courtesy of movie-moron.com

And that's what adds an extra layer to the game - the governmental/media control of it. So, producers can manipulate the game play, change the rules on the fly, and drum up interest in specific competitors that they find their audience relates to (but not too much, or they risk an uprising). So, while these teenagers all try to kill each other in the wilderness, it broadcasts on the show hosted by Caesar (Stanley Tucci) and managed by Seneca (Wes Bentley), all of whom report to the president of Panem (Donald Sutherland).

Upon the release of this film, major comparisons were made between it and the little seen Korean cult film Battle Royale. In general plot they are similar - a bunch of teenagers are asked to fight to the death. But, in delivery, they couldn't be more different. While The Hunger Games focused on the strategy of the game and the survival of its protagonist (throw a little love triangle in there, too), Battle Royale was quite a bit grittier and more graphic and violent, centered on the trivial problems these teenagers still manage to dust up while facing certain death. I would argue Battle Royale is almost a dark comedy, while The Hunger Games is not trying to be anything but a popcorn blockbuster. If anything, it's more similar to The Running Man, which also served as criticism of media control (though still pretty funny), but not in a way that forces you to think too hard.

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The Hunger Games - deliberately, I'm sure - leaves a lot of unanswered questions. Given that this is simply the first of a series, it has much more time to fill in the gaps it leaves. It gives little insight into how this world came to be and why any of these overseers do what they do. Why does Caesar take such pleasure in watching these innocent teenagers murder each other? What led Haymitch to his current state? And what the hell is the deal with Effie's outfit and behavior? I'd love to see that movie - one that dives further into the controllers of the game and why they are in their respective positions. That being said, every supporting character from the population of "showrunners" is interesting and entertaining and the actors that play them grab hold of their roles and dig in deep.


As for the competitors, the majority of them are handled with kid gloves, relying on action movie cliches heavily. We never leave Katniss; while that works (thanks to a pretty damn good performance from Lawrence), it still leaves almost every other character as nothing more than a shell, all becoming some form of a villain or a brief ally. I'm curious why certain ones were so mean and callous, while others were willing to lend a hand. What are their stories? Did they get treated to a mentor, an image consultant, etc. before they entered the game? If not, it probably explains why they don't make any effort to get people to "like them."

In the end, rules are broken (and changed), but at what cost? Director Gary Ross has left such an open end to the film that the second of the series could start anywhere and from about a half dozen perspectives. While that makes this movie difficult to accept as a stand alone piece of filmmaking, it does serve as a pretty ingenious way to tease the next one. Pedestrian direction, somewhat cheap special effects, and some sub-par acting aside, The Hunger Games is an enjoyable blockbuster with some good performances and great plotting. It moves swiftly, but doesn't feel as stupid as so many other summer moneymakers. Now, if you'll excuse me, time to go to my archery class.

SHOULD YOU SEE IT: Encouraged