The Hunger Games

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Alex

This was really great. Like they took the kids from Battle Royale and the reality tv show from Series 7 and wrapped it into a dystopian futuristic political allegory film from the 70's. It's hard for me to say no to that.

I have not yet read the books but Gary Ross has made a fine film that, despite the running time and the midnight screening, seemed to fly by and left me wanting more.

What jumps out first is the independent filmmaking style. I guess that just comes down to hand held cameras, but it's not usually distracting except when some particularly violent action sequences kick in, probably to obscure some of the more gruesome stuff to maintain a PG-13 rating in the states. Make no mistake, there is some gore in this film, kids get wasted and it can be pretty brutal (within the ratings parameters of course, nothing like Battle Roayle).

The next thing that stands out is the production design. It's kind of hard to ignore the high fashion in the capitol. But beyond that, the buildings, the use of technology and the look of the surrounding districts are all done well.

And then we get to the fantastic cast of both adults and kids. Everyone looks like they are having a blast doing this. Josh Hutcherson and Jennifer Lawrence are great and I was really pleased to see Isabelle Fuhrman from Orphan show up playing another evil child. She's great. And Alexander Ludwig finally gets in on a children's fantasy book adaptation film franchise that might actually go somewhere this time.

This one works for me. While it certainly only touches on some bigger ideas that I really wanted to see developed, and most likely they will be in future films, it still manages to have a satisfying ending as a stand alone film, thank god. Can't wait for Catching Fire!