The Hunger Games

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Well, I went to a movie (John Carter) at 4:00 PM and then turned around and went to "The Hunger Games" at 12:30 AM. Eric and Collin were leaving in the AM for Nashville to see Jenna in "Hairspray" at Belmont University before they headed back to Cincy, so this was our last "Hurrah" before he left.

Amy has read the whole "Hunger Games" series and Jaron has read the first book so they knew what they were getting into.  I knew very little (just what the commercials showed.)

The series (The Hunger Games/Catching Fire/Mockingjay) was written by Suzanne Collins.  Miss Collins is a children's book writer with ost of her works publised by Scholastic Books.  She also has written for kid's TV shown on Nickelodean and The WB.  But "The Hunger Games" is quite a departure from "Clifford's Puppy Days."

THG is considered "adolscent literature" (I actually had a class called Adolscent Literature in college) in that it is targeted mostly towards middle school students but can be enjoyed by high school and college students.  Collin's first adolscent series was "The Underland Chronicles," a kind of Alice in Wonderland with a boy who falls down a manhole in NYC.  It was on the NYTimes best seller list, but no one predicted the international success of THG (7.2 millin copies sold worldwide.)

The story is a future earth where after a catostrophic world war has ended in a kind of "peace" and a dividing of society into 12 districts. District 1 being the most affluent down to District 12 being the poorest.  In memory of the war, eavery year each district must pay a "tribute" because of their rebellion, that is, they give one boy and one girl aged 12-18 to fight to the death on live television.

This is not a new theme. Fight-to-the death stories go back to the days of gladiators.  This story most closely compares to Stephen King's (Richard Bachman...don't ask) book, "The Running Man" where a futuristic oppressive and manipulative society pits criminals against eachother on live TV.  What sets this story apart is that it is kids vs. kids, which has caused the series to have it's detractors.

I didn't have the back-story or subplots in my brain from the books so Amy would periodically fill me in on the deeper meanings of what was happening while we were watching the movie (something I constantly do to her.)

The movie primarily relies on Jennifer Lawrence's face.  She was in every scene and often with a close-up of her face (Katniss looking worried/Katniss looking frightened/Katniss crying/Katniss looking in wonder/Katniss looking angry/etc) I'm not complaining, it works.  The movie had a budget of 80 million dollars compared to to John Carter that had a 250 million dollars.  THG will probably make around 140 million this weekend while John Carter has made under 60 million in the past two weeks.

The film has a lot of tension and it's done with long shot-close ups (a camera placed far away, but then zoomed-in to a close-up that gives a shaky-framed look.)  There is some acting, but not a lot of lines.  Woddy Harrelson is good. Stanley Tucci is, well, Stanley Tucci.  The colors are awesome.  The violence is stylized and not overly offensive while still portraying the horror of what is happening.

Amy tells me it is true to the book and I eavesdropped on many conversations in the lobby where book-junkies were debating what they had just seen (which I think is a good thing.)

I wish I would have read the book first, however, I give it my "Thumbs-Up."

chris

To learn more about THG Series:
Suzanne Collins Books
The Hunger Games Book
The Hunger Games Movie