The Hunger Games is good. It hits you in the gut. It’s well-acted. It ought to get Oscar nominations for costume, art direction, and sound editing, as well as another best actress nomination for Jennifer Lawrence. Lawrence is Katniss Everdeen. Woody Harrelson is a perfect Haymitch Abernathy. Josh Hutcherson (once I got past him being noticeably shorter than Lawrence) is an appealing and believable Peeta Mellark. The young actresses playing Prim and Rue are spot on.
It’s a really very, very good movie — but not great. I have to agree with the reviewers who’ve noted there’s something missing — a little passion, a lot of outrage that it doesn’t quite have. After all, this is a about a decadent, tyrannical government that forces teenagers to slaughter each other for its own entertainment and to cow the populace. We should be leaving the theater burning with a “tear down the wall, m———r!” spirit.
I didn’t see that. Except in Katniss’s eyes.
Also (particularly in the beginning) there’s a lot of “shaky-cam” work and a dizzying number of cuts that don’t add anything but vertigo and annoyance.
Still, I was engaged and never bored through its entire 2-1/2-hour length. I think this is a “see it in theaters” movie, as opposed to a “wait for the DVD” movie simply because (as water lily wrote in a comment) even if you don’t go to theaters, you make exceptions for anti-government movies. And this is surely that.
There is one scene, where a lovable young character dies and Katniss raises a hand in defiance to the cameras she knows are observing the games — and an entire district goes mad with rage.
There should have been more moments on that level. I suspect there will be in movie two. In the meantime, though, this movie will do. It lays the groundwork. And if it can’t be called great, it’s surely worth an afternoon or evening of your time.
“best actress nomination for Jennifer Lawrence.”
I loved her in “Winter’s Bone”, as Ree Dolly. I was mightily impressed. What passes for tough women in most “cinema” doesn’t hold a candle to the 18 year old woman I saw in that movie. I know nothing about the books that this movie is based on. She’s the reason I wanted to see this movie and it sounds like she nailed it again.
“you make exceptions for anti-government movies”
OK, I’ll go see it on Monday afternoon.
“I know nothing about the books that this movie is based on.”
Ohhhhhh. That’ll be interesting, then. There were a few moments when I wished I’d never read the books because the corresponding movie scenes became anti-climactic. Do come back and give your own mini-review.
And yes, Lawrence is at least as good here as she was in “Winter’s Bone.” In fact, parts of the film have a lot in common with WB, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she was cast in THG largely on the strength of her performance there.
My 20 year old niece saw the movie, and posted about it on facebook. I asked if she had picked up on the “anti-government” theme.
Her reply: “I would love to say yes, but I don’t know that I understood the whole extent of it lol. But I did get the strong political vibes 🙂 so you should be proud! Haha”
And she highly recommends the books, which she has read. So, I’m not sure if people who don’t already have our inclinations are picking up on it, at least consciously.
Ohmygosh, Kent, that is sad. No wonder Bilderberg media has no fears about portraying fascism accurately in their movies. Nobody gets it.
“Message? There was a message? Hmm. If it was important someone would have explained it to me. I came for the popcorn, costumes and action scenes.”
The camera work was annoying. I hope they ditch that method for movie #2 It almost ruined some scenes for me.
I don’t list any spoilers here, but I delve into the story:
I think the movie should have been longer! It could have revealed backstory on Katniss and Gale, the different districts, the starvation, etc. Perhaps the audience would then have immediately picked up on the anti-government vibe.
When Peeta said to Katniss, “I don’t want them to own me,” I elbowed my husband. (He hadn’t read the book.) He whispered “Yeah.”
I think that if a person is looking for the “us against them” message, they will see it. However, many who aren’t looking for it will probably pick up on the vibe anyway. Unless, of course they live in the Capital. 😉
I am assuming they are making a second movie. If they do it right, I believe it will contain the stronger message.
I sincerely hope that if this movie is as successful as I think it will be, that books, music and films will begin to explore these issues in earnest. We need the arts communities to fuel the fire.
My daughter and I went last night and saw the movie at IMAX. It looks great on the big screen. We got in line about an hour early. Lots of teens and young kids in line. All seemed hyped to see the movie. When the movie started it got so quiet you could hear a pin drop, and it stayed that way throughout the whole movie, and even as they all left the theater. I do not know way. Perhaps it was not what they expected, or they did not get what the movie was about, or they did get it and were so angry it made them speechless. Time will tell.
As Claire said, a good movie done well. The contrast between the poverty of the districts and the decadence of the capitol region and the way they dressed and acted was done well. The actor who played the president did an excellent job of portraying pure evil. I loved the announcer and his big grin. Jennifer did an excellent job of playing
Doing this on my Kindle Fire and hit the submit by mistake. As I was saying, Jennifer did an excellent job as Katnis, but the scene at the end of the games [spoiler removed by Claire] lacked passoion and fire. Sort of a letdown. My daughter has not read the books and thought the movie was really good. She guessed that Katniss would be in the Hunger Games again in the second movie. She now wants to read the books. She sort of gets her attitude about government from dear old Dad.
FWIW, this review has the best opening line of them all:
“For a while, The Hunger Games appears to be little more than the bustling answer to a question no one thought to ask: What would it look like if Stanley Kubrick oversaw the unveiling of Alexander McQueen’s spring line?”
http://www.thehindu.com/arts/cinema/article3219849.ece
water lily — I felt the same about some of those early “shaky-cam” scenes. Hand-held camera work and rapid cuts seemed appropriate during the games themselves (especially good for suggesting extreme violence while keeping a PG-13 rating). But for showing life in a plodding, dull-gray coal-mining district? Uh … no. I agree, though that the contrast (in color, costume, mood, etc.) between the Capitol and the outlying districts was outstanding. And yeah, Peeta’s remark says it all.
Mac — The audience I was in was very quiet, too. Although I also noticed that a number of them stayed clear through the endless end credits, a gesture of respect few people make.
Kent — I’m going to opt not to see your niece’s reaction as sad. I’m going to think that on some level she and others DO get it — maybe not as an explicitly “political” message, but on some other level (teens oppressed by authority or somesuch).
Good comments. Keep them coming!
Mac — Yep, I also thought that scene was WAY underplayed. It’s the scene that most made me wish I hadn’t read the books. Not knowing it was coming, the mere fact of it might have been surprising enough all by itself.
ADDED: I think they could have improved that — and several other lacking areas — by doing some of those rapid cuts they were so fond of early on. Bam-bam-bam — cut away from the games to show quick reaction shots of President Snow, Seneca Crane, Katniss’s family, people in the Capitol — shock, anger, fear, rage. Then come back and show what’s happening in the games almost in slow motion. Would have been very effective. Funny that the director darned near chose to throw away one of the biggest scenes.
I wonder if such shots were originally filmed but cut for length? The movie was already long, but never felt long. Several times I had the feeling it would have been improved by adding someting.
Oh, Mac. Sorry, but I removed a spoiler from your comments. I hope you don’t mind.
You know what book would make a great movie? Rebelfire: Out of the Grey Zone. I’ll never quit harping on you to reboot that story…
What Ragnar said.
Maybe it will add more mystery to the comments and more people will want to see the movie to see what you removed Claire.
Don’t need to see what was removed — after all the comments, I’m already *hungry* to see the movie.
I third the motion for a RebelFire movie. (And petition for a sequel to be written SOON!)
I saw it friday night, and honestly if I hadn’t read the book I’m not sure that I wouldv’e liked it as much…a lot of good stuff (the redheaded girl, for instance, and a lot of the early conversations in the book that led to the backstory. I feel that the creepy video just wasn’t quite enough.) was left out although I’ll admit that they added a lot of good tidbits in, like the conversations with the gamemaker and president snow, and the riots during the games.
What made it worth a watch for me was the setting…they NAILED the whole concept visually. Like Oceania meets corrput ancient Rome and set in futristic post-apocalypse America…the comical over the top decadence of the captiol was pretty much what I pictured but the portayal of D12 is what did it for me, pretty much seeing on screen what I pictured while reading.
So overall I’d reccomend it to anyone…but read the damn book first!
I really enjoyed the movie and unlike other movies I saw in the theatre and felt afterwards that I should have waited for DVD I thought this was worth the theatre trip. However I have to say unless you are already one of us who understands what out of control government is and can do to people’s spirits I am not sure many saw that in this movie. I think many just saw a good sci fi movie.
In my experience both this movie and the Matrix too many people probably said something along the lines of “what message?” if you asked them. I fear that is the case with this movie as well. We sat next to a die hard fan of the books and talked to her for 10 minutes or so before the movie and I never picked up even a hint that she saw any deeper meaning in the movie outside of “a good story”. Maybe I am wrong. I certainly hope so because something has to start waking people up soon.
Winston and Mic — Thanks for the mini-reviews.
Mic — It’s just so hard to believe that people don’t see anything here beyond a good story. That boggles the mind. That’s like seeing Animal Farm as a tale about barnyard critters!
Winston — Totally agreed on how visually effective THG is! People who haven’t yet seen it probably think it’s a bit strange that so many of us keep going on about costumes, colors, etc. (and for me, even sound design) as if they’re an unusually big deal. But in this movie, they are an unusually big deal — an integral & crucial part of the story and so extremely well done.
Saw the movie yesterday and really liked it. It stands up as a good story. I was pretty much smacked in the face with the anti-government message. I left the theater wondering if it was made by a splinter right-wing Hollywood group.
It was interesting reading last night and today many people trying to explain the left-wing message in the story. The most convincing is that the “Capitol” (the book’s spelling) represents America and the sectors represent the rest of the world. Others are trying to say that the story is about what happens when there are too few resources to go around, not what happens when peoples are segregated and restricted by the government from trading or owning much in the way of private property etc.
This seems like a big stretch to me. The story is clearly set in the remains of the United States. The government is clearly socialist or fascist-socialist, there were 13 sectors (as in 13 Colonies), people aren’t allowed to own weapons, the government controls production and distribution etc. etc.
I wondered if the left-wing message just didn’t translate from the book to the movie so today I read the book. The book mentions “rising seas” and scarcity of resources but that was about all I could really point to. The book does not make it clear that the scarcity of resources is real, in fact, in both the movie and the book it seems as though the scarcity is manufactured by the government rather than real. The book does not, as some claim, show a corporate dominated system, rather the book and the movie both emphasize the absolute power of the central government.
A thinking human should leave the movie thinking, big government, small citizen and making connections between the socialist world, and existent dictatorships and the system of government oppression in the story.
Brian — You read it (both book and movie) exactly as I read it.
I know people (including us, I suppose) read in what we want to see. But the “left wing” analyses you cite are … wow, really a stretch.
And anybody who doesn’t get that the scarcity is manufactured by and for the Capitol’s benefit is … I was going to say deaf, dumb, and blind, but that would be too politically incorrect these days, so I’ll just say they’d have to be stupid!
Ditto for not noticing that “13 districts” is a direct salute to 13 colonies.
Man. So many mind-boggling attitudes toward this film and the books. But thanks for sharing those.
Claire,
I’m a long-time Speculative Fiction (Harlan Ellison’s more-inclusive term) reader.
And I’m struck by a glaring void in this “Hunger Games” world,
There are no men in this world.
At least, no Fathers.
Because, you see, Men do NOT offer up their children as ‘Tribute,’ nor allow Tyrants to take them away as such. No, they KILL the Tyrants, to protect their children!
And while there seems to be plenty of farm-able land they
prefer to waste Time & Effort on Fancy Dresses, makeup, fancy hairstyles
– rather than put it to work clearing land and planting crops.
Your review is spot-on and exactly what I was thinking. Especially this:
“Also (particularly in the beginning) there’s a lot of “shaky-cam” work and a dizzying number of cuts that don’t add anything but vertigo and annoyance.”
I can’t stand shaky-cam. I remember the Bourne movies had that at I had to close my eyes because I was feeling sick. Thankfully Hunger Games didn’t use it as much as Bourne did.
They did a very good job overall and matched the books. Other than the shaky-cam, no complaints.
Ted “Ohmygosh, Kent, that is sad. No wonder Bilderberg media has no fears about portraying fascism accurately in their movies. Nobody gets it.
“Message? There was a message? Hmm.”
Uhhh, remember Avatar? Not too many people saw the message in that one either, and it was bad enough to make my skin crawl. The masses only saw “Ooohhh pretty blue cat people!”. My favorite review of that piece of excrement: http://www.atomicnerds.com/?p=3460
Par for the course. The 10% or 30% get it, the crowds are unaffected. I cant wait to see Hunger Games.
Would that it were so simple, Dennis Foley.
In the world of THG, the fathers who tried to kill tyrants were themselves ruthlessly killed decades earlier. And the shortage of food is part of the control strategy exerted by the Capitol.
But do you know where the story goes from here?
Game Kitten — OMG, yeah. The Bourne movies. I liked the first one a lot. Couldn’t even watch the later ones. Not so much because the incessant shaky-cam was making me physically ill (though I did have to leave a theater showing The Blair Witch Project because their shaky-cam got me so dizzy). But because shaky-cam’s use in the Bourne films was so egregious, annoying, and distracting from the story.
Even though I walked out of Blair Witch, I still think that was brilliantly done and hand-held was the only way it could have been done right. But to use it just because Well, gosh, all the trendy filmmakers do is &^%$#@!
ILTim — Loved that review of Avatar.
I liked the movie — but only because of seeing it in such wonderful 3D. Whole time I was enjoying it, I was thinking thoughts like that reviewer’s.
“Because, you see, Men do NOT offer up their children as ‘Tribute,’ nor allow Tyrants to take them away as such.”
Oh, but we do. Every time we let our children register for the draft. Every time we let them be reaped to play the “games.” Every time we let them be conned into thinking that being in a government uniform is an honorable thing.
Every goddamn time.
Dennis Foley is right to point out the relative lack of men who lead the good fight and otherwise exhibit bravery, strength, and intelligence.
Sexy young women in masculine martial roles, though entertaining, are not realistic, yet many young women I know actually believe that the average woman is as physically strong with as much stamina as the average man. Over the long haul the cause of freedom, in the physical as well as the intellectual realm, has always been shouldered predominantly by men. Generally, women are by nature predisposed to prioritize safety and security, especially of their children, over notions of freedom and rights.
It is my concern that hyper-feminist, anti-racist, anti-Semitic, and anti-sexist memes have been perpetrated by the MSM, Hollywood, public schools, and the courts so repetitiously and to such an extreme that more and more men and boys now seem to accept that their existential guilt, base natures, intellectual inferiority, and general incompetence render them incapable of profound action without the wise, kindly assistance of a savvy female or high-testosterone male of another race, thereby justifying the economic marginalization and cultural vilification foisted upon them.
Sounds like a lot of HOOP-la to me.
😉
I read the books, then saw the matinee movie on opening day (yes, I’m cheap). Most of the main points have been covered already. I’ll just add that I hope there is a director’s cut DVD released that has the missing scenes that likely would have made it even better.
My wife and I both enjoyed the movie, and now she’s reading the books. Once she’s done, my grandson will read them. Plenty of good teaching points.
We look forward to the 2nd and 3rd movies!
Steve — Oh, being cheap when it comes to movies is a good thing. I never go to nighttime shows. I was mightily offended that the local (little) Big City theater is now charging $6.50 for a matinee — and I didn’t even consider their *&^^%$# $4.50 bottles of water and $6.25 small tubs of popcorn.
I, too, hope there’s a directors cut that embellishes the film with those missing scenes.
Andrew, there will always be the occasional strong female just like there is the occasional weak male.
I don’t worry about the folks who watch the movie and don’t get the message. The Enemy has been winning over generation after generation through the use of stories whose anti-freedom messages aren’t obvious enough for most of the population to recognize them…if we’re to win back any ground, we have to be prepared to employ the same subtlety.
Of course, it’s a bit _depressing_ that people have gotten that dense, but I still think the message can be effective in spite of people not recognizing it.
Well, this is probably a dead thread by now, but my son and I went to see it this afternoon. Loved it. There’s this thing I’ve grown to really despise about female leads in action “cinema”, and that is the 100 lbs woman in 6 inch heels running down these 210 lbs studs who fight mixed marshal arts, squat 590 lbs and run 4.2 sec. 40s. So that was my concern here, but it wasn’t like that at all. I thought it was very believable and loved the subtlety of the message. It also has a happy ending (quit your smirking) that made me want to see the next one for certain. Just an all around good movie, probably the best one I’ve seen in a long time.
Well, EN, if this is a dead thread, four ghosts have commented in it today. 🙂
Glad you enjoyed it (and yeah, I understand those concerns).
So … do you agree that Jennifer Lawrence should get another Oscar nomination for this role? And did you notice the similarities to Winter’s Bone despite the two films also being so different?
Yes, on the Oscar, and yes on the similarities, but all credit to her for making me not think of Ree in this movie. I’m sure she got this role because of the quiet and gutsy strength she showed in Bone. My son and I were discussing the fact that both movies were extremely similar. Bone had a lot to do with personal freedom, and freedom is freedom. Not having read the books it’s hard to tell, but “Teardrop” (John Hawkes) would have been a better Haymitch. I admit the lack of a strong man other than President Snow grated on me a bit. There wasn’t one man in the movie who would’ve have shocked me had he dropped his pants and bent over… not that there’s anything wrong with that… Some have wondered how this movie got made in Hollywood. I have a good handle on why it got made. I’m thinking the movie was traditional in it’s depiction of certain groups that are out of favor with our overlords.
I missed Winter’s Bone when it was released. Just found the local B&N store has it, though. Looks good from the trailer.