The Hunger Games

Welcome to 2013 everyone, I hope it has found you all well so far.

I’m sure most of you have already watched this week’s feature, but if you still haven’t found it at the Redbox, or Netflix or your other option of choice, I will make a firm recommendation to check it out soon.

The Hunger Games is yet another book turned movie, and it is another one that is done well. I’m not a reader, but the rest of my household and her family all are, and this was a book that garnered much discussion in my presence, so I knew more about this story than most other non-readers before screening the film. I had done my best to not pay attention to their discussion in detail, so I did have some character misconceptions. Aside from that, all I knew was that there was more than one book in this series, so I was planning for a disappointing ending that would undoubtedly make me have to watch the next installment to get real closure. I’m happy to say that I was wrong about that part. This is a full story, with an ending that you can walk away from, but the door does stay open for the plot to continue. As a moviegoer, I appreciate this type of story telling.

The basic story is that the world is broken into sections called districts. They have been broken into these districts as the result of a rebellion, and now each year there is a televised event called ‘The Hunger Games’ where a boy and a girl from each district are randomly selected to compete in a battle to the death. The winner is showered with riches, and the losers, well they just die. But they’re deaths help keep the population in order as this is a reminder not to rebel against the government. I’m sure the book goes into much more detail about why this system is in place, but for the movie, they give you enough for it to make sense.

From there the main character Katniss takes the focus. She is from a poor
district and actually volunteers to fight in the games so she can take the place of her younger sister (who was randomly selected). You always assume that she will win (main character and all) but the story weaves in the boy from her district as well, Peeta. The interaction of the two is like a present day reality TV show, and is presented as being for show in some cases as well.

The rest of the detail you really need to see for yourself. Especially the character that is played by Elizabeth Banks. She is this weird purple-ish skinned human. I’m sure it’s all make-up, but it makes for a futuristic appearance, and it made me wonder what purple boobs would look like. Woody Harrelson also makes for an interesting role model, as his character is a prior winner of the games. He guides Katniss and Peeta on their way as best he can. Who would’ve ever guessed that the young stupid bartender from Cheers would end up giving life saving advice?

Anyway, this was a decent investment of 2 hours and 20 minutes over the holidays. I’ll put it in the top 15% for now. According to others, the book would rate even higher.