The Hunger Games - (March 23rd, 2012): PG-13
Distributor: Lionsgate Entertainment
Opening Weekend Box Office: #1 with $155,000,000
Domestic Box Office Gross to-date: $155,000,000
Gross Revenue: $214,250,000
Production Budget: $78 million
Director: Gary Ross
From a movie marketer perspective, when studios decide to adapt a highly popular literary series, half of your work is already done for you; face it, all you had to do was tell Harry Potter and Twilight fans that a movie was coming, release a few tidbits of information, and handle damage control in case fans saw something they didn’t like…other than that, you were virtually guaranteed a nine figure box office run. For The Hunger Games, Lionsgate seemed to follow a similar formula (unlike John Carter, people knew that this movie was based on a book), adding in a few character posters and a Facebook application that created District Identification cards, and fan response was through the roof; but that doesn’t mean that every filmmaking decision wasn’t scrutinized. The internet debate over whether Jennifer Lawrence could validly portray Katniss Everdeen was heated to say the least, but discussion boards exploded when newcomers like Josh Hutcherson (The Kids Are All Right) and Liam Hemsworth (younger brother of Thor’s Chris Hemsworth) were announced to play the romantic leads, or other big names (Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson, Lenny Kravitz, Stanley Tucci, and Donald Sutherland) were attached to the well-established characters. In essence, it was brilliant marketing strategy to screen the film for author Suzanne Collins and let her approval go viral, and going out of your way to distance yourself from the Twilight films ensured that the male demographic wouldn’t write-off the film as another sappy chick flick. With IMAX showings, midnight screenings, and fans organizing Hunger Games viewing parties, to say that this film had high expectations to meet could be classified as the understatement of the year; the film’s tagline read: “The World Will Be Watching”…how appropriate.
The Hunger Games universe takes place at an unspecified future date, where the ruins of North America are now known as Panem and are divided into thirteen poverty-stricken districts. As punishment for a past rebellion, in which District 13 was destroyed, and as a constant reminder of the dangers of questioning authority, the wealthy Capitol mandates that one male and one female between the ages of 12 and 18 from each district must participate in the Hunger Games, a televised death match where only one “tribute” can survive. Within District 12, sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) hunts game with her best friend, Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth), in order to ensure that her family does not succumb to starvation; though she gets along peaceably enough, when her younger sister, Primrose (Willow Shields), is selected for the games, Katniss selflessly volunteers herself as the female tribute. Alongside District 12’s male tribute, Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), Katniss travels to the wealthy Capitol in preparation for the games, working with her stylist, Cinna (Lenny Kravitz), her capitol escort, Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks), and her advisor/former Hunger Games victor, Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson), to increase her odds of survival. Quickly catching the attention of Capitol citizens like media personality Caesar Flickerman (Stanley Tucci), Head GameMaker Seneca Crane (Wes Bentley), and the villainous President Snow (Donald Sutherland), Katniss works to gain popular support and hone her natural archery abilities in order to battle the 23 other tributes. Unsure of whom she can trust, even as Peeta reveals his secret love for her, Katniss must use all her skills to fight for her life and fight against the society that shows such careless disregard for human welfare.
As is true of most book-to-screen adaptations, the best part of The Hunger Games is seeing a world established in literature brought to life, and that translation is strengthened through creative production design, strong acting, and skillful direction. Whether it is the poverty-stricken and subjugated districts, the materialistic and utterly shallow Capitol, or the perilous and sinisterly serene battle arena, the visual style of the film is brilliant. In terms of the acting, each of the actors does their share to add a distinct style to the characters (Lenny Kravitz and Woody Harrelson being the standouts), but as it should be, the main focus is on Jennifer Lawrence; the young actress takes that responsibility in stride, expertly portraying Katniss’ resolve, despair, and mistrust of the seemingly hopeless situation which she faces…talk about being born to play the heroine. In speaking of the direction, Gary Ross ably tackles the mature themes of the book and flawlessly executed certain scenes that fans were undoubtedly prepared to tear apart: the brutality and necessity of the pre-game training, not to mention the fear and tension surrounding the countdown to the games’ beginning, matches and even enhances the book’s description. However, as good as it may be, The Hunger Games is not a perfect translation, but rather than being an outright flaw, this criticism was almost a necessity, otherwise the film would have to have been four hours long.
In the original book, the horror and inhumanity of The Hunger Games is told in the form of a first-person narrative, with Katniss perceiving and reacting to everything with some type of internal struggle…a story-telling style that is virtually impossible to execute onscreen. The film is told from the third-person viewpoint, so no matter how strong an actress Lawrence may be, we will never be 100% certain concerning what she is thinking, and as such, certain deeper elements (such as character motivations) are lost in the translation. For instance, we never get a true feeling of the poverty hardships that District 12 faces or of the tyrannical rule of the Capitol; we never fully appreciate Katniss’ revulsion at the wealth and waste of the Capitol citizens, nor her empathy towards another tribute that reminds her of her sister; and perhaps most importantly, we never get a true sense of the psychological nightmare that the death match represents. In the books, you feel Katniss’ terror as she is struggling to survive, and her internal conflict concerning Peeta (who claims he loves her but will probably end up trying to kill her), but in the movie, you never truly feel like she is in peril: “oh, giant fireballs and monstrous wolves are chasing her?...meh, she’s got her bow and arrow, she’ll be fine.” As one of my trusted friends and fellow literary fanatics put it, this disconnect makes the film a perfect supplement to the movie; losing some of the deeper elements is almost a necessary evil in any film adaptation, and though the book offers plenty of violence to stay true to the intended spirit of the story, if you want the full story, you are going to HAVE to read the book. So, with nothing overtly worthy of criticism, suffice it to say that for both fans and non-fans, The Hunger Games remains an insanely strong movie.
Leading up to its release, analysts everywhere were predicting that The Hunger Games would upstage Twilight as the literary translation juggernaut, and projections were as high as $125 million, but even those numbers ended-up underestimating 2012’s first true blockbuster. Scoring $19.74 in midnight showings alone (the highest for a non-sequel), the wildly popular dystopian tale ended up with the fifth-best opening day ever (with $68.25 million), and a weekend total of $155 million. I may be Captain Obvious in telling you that such a beefy opening was big enough for first place, but that number was enough to earn the honor of being the third-highest opening weekend ever, behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and The Dark Knight…choke on that all you Twi-hards! Add-in international totals and this literary adaptation pulled in $214 million against a $78 million production budget in one weekend; no wonder Lionsgate’s stock went through the roof. Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Liam Hemsworth have signed-on for the entire franchise, so we’ll see them together again in 2013’s Catching Fire, but all are soon going to be household names, and within Hollywood, Lawrence will steal her character’s nickname, becoming the true “Girl on Fire.” Whether you’ve read the book or not, both males and females, both the young and the old…simply put, everyone will love The Hunger Games, and you owe it to yourself to see this piece of cinematic history.
Overall Recommendation: Very High
