The Hunger Games (2012)

My feelings towards this film were rather mixed before I got to see it; fear that it might just be the next Twilight as it's based on a 'young adult' series of books, hope when I started to hear good reviews from places I trusted but then concerned that I might now have too high expectations of it. The film doesn't exactly do the best job of pulling you in at first either, I'd heard warnings about the shaky-cam sections at the start and if that kind of thing affects you then you might find yourself wanting to leave or vomit in the first 20 minutes. I didn't really notice it after this point, as more starts to happen I guess it seems more appropriate but having plain establishing shots wobble all over the place just seems kind of pointless - unless it's trying to say "this district is so poor that no one can hold a camera straight". On top of this, if you've heard much about the film beforehand then there's not really anything you don't already know in this section. One aspect I did like though was that if you did happen to know nothing about who is selected for the games, then it does a good job of misleading you about which male will be chosen as up until their name is called they have never even appeared on screen.

To begin with I found myself a little sceptical of the whole concept and felt like maybe it would have been easier to swallow if the games were set up by a conquering alien race or something. However as it went on I found myself coming around to the idea and not just because humans have taken pleasure out of death matches in the distant past. It's not really been picked up on in other reviews so I don't know if it's considered a spoiler or if it's just quite obvious but to me the film seems to be more of an attack on what we are prepared to watch as entertainment, even if it is a little clumsy and heavy handed about it at points. As someone who hasn't read any of the books, like I mentioned in this post, it seems logical that film (or TV) would be the natural medium for the story. Fans of the book might disagree but I felt that there were numerous aspects that worked well because they were filmed and not written.

A big part of the games is about how important it is for players to be liked by the audience and not just a great fighter. This leads to characters playing up to the cameras and trying to make a good impression, even if it's not their true feelings. I appreciated the ambiguity over what characters true feelings were and how much was just for the cameras, with some of it probably being a mix of the two. The fact that you then have actors pretending to act on top of their basic role, it feels like it gives an extra nuance that might not have been in the books. You could say that some of it was not great acting but was it intentional to give that 'reality show acting' feel?

Looking at it this way actually seems to help out with other problems that critics have found with the film. Some have suggested that it could have been more violent but I think that fits in well with the idea that almost anything can be shown on television as long as it's not graphic or bloody. And if it seems like there is not enough character building before the games begin, those watching the TV show would be in roughly the same situation too with only their interviews to tell them about the person. There hasn't been anything to really make them care from the outset, no relationships formed between players, which makes the later deaths hit harder and allows the early casualties to be brushed over.

The film creates obvious villains within the games, who you are almost guaranteed to hate by the end but really you are being manipulated in the same a reality show would with selective footage. The kids actions are really down to the society they have been brought up in, rather than trying to brand them as animals or savages as the tabloid press is so quick to do. It's only right at the end of the film that we get a glimpse of their humanity and how almost everyone has been affected by what they've essentially been forced to do. In a strange way I was glad to see that the main character didn't get away with completely clean hands either. It initially seemed to suggest that she might get through the entire film without directly killing anyone but when she finally does it feels totally instinctual in order to protect herself - literally shoot first and ask questions later.

I could well be giving the film far too much credit as the finale of it felt a bit ridiculous. Unless of course they were then trying to make some kind of point about computer games instead of television as that's what the whole segment felt like. Overall though it kept me entertained and in general just made me think about it more than I would ever have expected to. I was slightly saddened to hear that the next film will not feature the same director, which makes me unsure whether the sequels will work as well as this one, or at least carry on the same feel. That said, the list of potential directors is looking very good and I'd be particularly interested in seeing what Alfonso Cuarón would do with it, given that his take on the Prisoner of Azkaban was my favourite film in the Harry Potter series.