The Hunger Games: An "In-Depth" Review

The Advance Screening of The Hunger Games at
Mall of Asia Premier Cinema last March 21. (Photo from Ariela Badenas)

The movie adaptation of The Hunger Games premiered almost a week ago here in the Philippines, to much fanfare and hype. I was able to view it during the advance screening of the film last Wednesday at Mall of Asia together with my friends from Hunger Games Philippines. (A shout-out to our friends at Astroplus! Thank you for the seats!) Fast forward to today, the movie has already raked in $1.71 million locally, the highest among the Asian nations. It goes to show that when Filipinos fanaticize, they fanaticize hard. So hard it would be Christmas for the distributor and the cinema houses.

Katniss Everdeen, the Girl who Raked in Millions.

It was without a doubt that The Hunger Games would be breaking all sorts of box-office records, and it did to no one's surprise. But the question that lingered in everyone else's mind was that if it could live up to everyone's expectations. Can it be as good as the book, even better? Let's break it down, from an unbiased fan's perspective and a self-confessed movie junkie.

For those living under a rock for the past four years or so, The Hunger Games is set in a dystopian society where the brutish and totalitarian Capitol selects a boy and girl from the twelve districts to fight to the death on live television. In the far-flung coal-mining district, Katniss Everdeen (portrayed by Jennifer Lawrence) volunteers to take her younger sister's place who unfortunately got reaped in her first time of eligibility. Talk about having the odds not in her favor. All eyes are on her now, as she's out to survive inside the arena full of booby traps and what-nots and prove that's she's no measly kid from an underprivileged part of Panem. And if it the situation calls for her to kill the rest of the blood-thirsty tributes, you bet she won't go down without a fight.

Yes, she volunteered to partake in a death match.

While you were reading the previous paragraph, you might have uttered "Gore? Violence? Sounds Battle Royale to me! Rip-off!" Yeah, you and a gazillion more out there have uttered the exact same thing. Let me set the record straight: The Hunger Games is no Battle Royale, and that comes from someone who has seen BR1 and 2 8 years ago. The only thing that they have in common is that they both have people killing each other inside a contained area. Brutality and violence are an added bonus. The Hunger Games resembles 1984 by George Orwell than any other work, be it a film or a literary work. But let's put it this way. Here's a visual representation of The Hunger Games in a literary and film equation:

Take the cult personality of the totalitarian government
of Orwell's 1984, plus the rebellion of the fed-up citizens.

Add the brainwashing and control of Fahrenheit 451.

Sprinkle a dash of the "survival" plot of The Running Man while being "hunted".
Host also an added bonus, ala Caesar Flickerman.

The quest for freedom and independence of one that
would inspire others, and the defiance to the controlling hands
of the "government" ala Rollerball. 

The complex orchestration of everything by a man, ala The Truman Show.

And the "luck" of being chosen
to die ala The Lottery.

Add them all up, you get The Hunger Games.

Now that the issue has been settled, let's focus on the movie. So once again I bring up the question: was this adaptation an honest-to-god accurate visual representation of the book? A resounding YES. This what you get when you let the author (Suzanne Collins) co-write the screenplay with the director (Gary Ross): not only did she get to insert the original perspective she had in mind, but the director got to inject his own vision as well that lead to a rather harmonious interplay of ideas. It was an amicable deal for both parties, and it was a deal that paid off well. 

Right: Gary Ross. Left: Suzanne Collins.

Some might argue that some scenes---Madge Undersee originally giving Katniss her pin, or an obvious hatred on Haymitch the mentor by Katniss and Peeta Mellark the male tribute at the beginning of their partnerships--should have been left as it is. I would have to partly agree with them, but some alterations haven't even affected the totality of the film. It might not be Madge who gave Katniss her Mockingjay pin, but at least it was someone from her own district. The pin doesn't signify anything important YET in this part. So for now, the pin stands as a token from home: that wherever she goes, she represents District 12 and she has to do everything to survive and emerge as a victor. And besides, do we really need to put every single detail up there? Too time-consuming.

This leads us to Gary Ross. Has he done what was expected form him? Once again, yes. (What do you mean yes? Not a resounding yes?!) For this part, I'll let the critics say their piece:

Director Gary Ross generally avoids the elaborate exterior shots and special effects that dominate high-concept blockbusters. (Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader)

Ross moves between action and human drama with nimble awareness of the weight of the issues coursing through the story of fascism, propaganda, and, yes, adolescence under the weight of the world. (Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post)

Gary Ross, who directed Seabiscuit, manages to get this nag out of the starting gate and across the finish line with no major blunders, but without much in the way of inspiration, either. (Roger Moore, McClatchy-Tribune News Service)

Gary Ross' first foray into action filmmaking is occasionally hampered by wobbly camera-work, but is successful in the way it communicates the horror of violence without threatening the teen-friendly rating. (Tom Clift, Moviedex)

Gary Ross has a minimalist style that enhanced dialogue-dependent and character-driven efforts like Seabiscuit and Pleasantville, and it's precisely why the first half works so well -- and why the second half needed a stronger presence behind the camera. (Matt Brunson, Creative Loafing)

Many have complained about the documentary-esque, even war-like camerawork during the first few minutes of the film, as pointed out by critics such as Clift and Denby who said and I quote,

Even when two people are just talking calmly, Ross jerks the camera around. Why? As the sense of danger increases, he has nothing to build toward.

True enough, it was shaky and jerky. And when your camera gets shaky and jerky, imminent danger is within range. And then, danger indeed knocked on Katniss Everdeen's doorstep. This is where Gary Ross faltered a bit: there was too much build-up towards the games itself. He might have started the build-up quite prematurely, and it did not play off how I expected it to be. Towards the games there were several other scenes that hampered this build-up, and rather contributing to the over-all intensity the scenes dampened the mood. Then there's this PG13 rating that hindered him from going spectacularly violent on the games. Not really the kind of BANG I expected it to be.

But if there's one thing to commend about Ross' directorial technique, it was how the tracker-jacker hallucination scene was crafted and played out. And I cannot emphasize how beautiful it was. Fear and uncertainty were very evident in Katniss who cannot distinguish reality from her hallucinations. It was happening to her all at the same time (being haunted by her father's death, to her life and house crumbling down, and then back to Peeta telling her run to safety), and it was a scene that could have gone awfully wrong if it wasn't for the guidance of Ross.

But of course it wouldn't be as perfect if it weren't for the brilliant performance by Jennifer Lawrence. Okay I'll admit it: I wasn't exactly the biggest fan of JLaw when she was cast as Katniss. All hell broke loose when I found out it was her. I stand corrected now, and I couldn't even see any other actress giving depth and brilliance to Katniss' character like what Lawrence has already given her. It was a critical decision, to cast the right actress to play Katniss Everdeen. Casting Peeta Mellark (portrayed by Josh Hutcherson) was also a critical decision. The story would basically revolve around them for the next three movies, and I think there's an on-screen chemistry between the two that could mean well for the films. By the way, if you're wondering why the romantic chemistry wasn't evident in this adaptation, it's because there's none. Please do recall that Katniss wasn't really that into Peeta yet at this part, and I think JLaw did good in portraying the "not-so-attached-to-Peeta" part.

Jennifer Lawrence redefines bad-assery.

But of course there's also the veteran Donald Sutherland who portrayed the villainous President Coriolanus Snow, whose mere presence made me shiver down my spine. Effie Trinket portrayed by Elizabeth Banks also did deliver. With her quips such as "THAT IS MAHOGANY!" and outlandish Capitol looks, she provided the much-needed light scenes in this dystopian film to balance out all the gloominess going on. Lenny Kravitz and Woody Harrelson might not have been given much screentime in this film since their importance would be later highlighted in Catching Fire and Mockingjay, but nonetheless they've done fantastic jobs. Props as well to Alexander Ludwig who played Cato, whose death made girls (and some guys) cry bucketfuls of tears. And a three-fingered salute for Amandla Stenberg's portrayal of innocent little Rue, whose death signified a pivotal turning point in the story.  Also, WES BENTLEY'S BEARD SAYS IT ALL! If there's one underutilized talent here, it would be Paula Malcolmson's character Mrs. Everdeen. Although to be fair to her, there wasn't really any material for her to begin with. I just hate the fact that Paula's talent was wasted. Overall I personally think the right choices were made, well except for Liam Hemsworth whose acting I still can't fully embrace.

For the other aspects of the film such as musical scoring and production design, I give it an A. It was how I imagined the Capitol to sound and look like, and it was so much more! Lady Gaga and Nicki Minaj would pale in comparison with the citizens of the Capitol. Total Capitol feel!

Move over, Lady Gaga.

I'm pretty sure most of you would just scroll way down here to just read my final verdict, way past  what I wrote for the past 3 hours. To give you the satisfaction, here. But I just want to say, the film could have been greater. But the translation from page to screen? Justice has been served.

Book to film adaptation: A

The film as it is: B/B+