With the less than stellar box office haul of John Carter, there's a lot riding on The Hunger Games to become the first official blockbuster of 2012.
And the film had a lot of things going for it that indicated it could be a success. The book version of The Hunger Games and the trilogy it belonged to already have a large following. There was a lot of interest among the massive target demographic of teenagers, as well as those who are pretending to know what The Hunger Games is all about (hey, they add to the sales). And there's the significant population who are sick of the Twilight series or would like to prove that The Hunger Games is so much more than supernatural teenage love. Oh, and the other significant portion of the population who thought that The Hunger Games are just like Twilight (hey, they add to the sales, too.).
I never watch on the opening weekend of films that have gained a lot of
buzz. I would have liked to make a more timely post on the film adaptation of Suzanne Collins'
young adult novel of the same name, but I hate crowds that translate to
having a hard time finding decent seats or potentially having to endure
viewers who think they are whispering but are spectacularly failing at
being discreet.
By the time Marvin and I watched the film, The Hunger Games have officially become Lionsgate's highest grossing production to date, with an opening weekend gross surpassed only by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 and The Dark Knight.
So yes, The Hunger Games is officially a blockbuster film and is well on its way to becoming a part of a film franchise.
There is a tradition in Panem, which is celebrated by those who live in the Capitol and dreaded by those who live in the surrounding 12 districts. Every year, they hold a special kind of lottery system where one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 to 18 are randomly picked to represent their district as tributes to the annual Hunger Games, a televised event to remind the citizens of Panem of the price of a failed rebellion in years past. The 24 tributes from the 12 districts must fight each other to the death, until a lone victor is pronounced. In District 12, Katniss Everdeen volunteers as a tribute in place of her sister Primrose, and joins male tribute Peeta Mellark on the journey to the Capitol, where training, make-overs, interviews and the arena where 23 are fated to die await for them.
Admittedly, I was only mildly interested in the film when news of it first came out. It wasn't until I finally read The Hunger Games trilogy a couple of weeks ago that I found myself excited to watch what director Gary Ross could do in the film adaptation.
There are many things to like about the film version of The Hunger Games. First, the cast is exceptional, which was already a given when they cast Donald Sutherland as President Snow, Elizabeth Banks as Effie White, Woody Harrelson as Haymitch Abernathy, and Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman. And Lenny Kravitz wasn't an unlikely casting choice as people thought him to be, creating an on screen Cinna that was pretty close to how I imagined him in my head from reading the books. And I've always liked the idea that the tributes are mostly portrayed by real life stunt professionals.
Of course, much of the film was dependent on how Jennifer Lawrence portrayed the role of Katniss. She proved to be more than adept at portraying the stubborn, taciturn, temperamental and defiant protagonist, while still showing her vulnerability and uncertainty to great effect. One of Katniss's major challenges during the necessary media blitz for the games was becoming likeable, and Jennifer Lawrence was able to successfully convince audiences that, as beautiful as the character was, charm was a hard commodity to come by when you're as world weary as Katniss was. And Josh Hutcherson was a revelation as Peeta. I became a fan the moment that he charmed the crowd by smiling and waving when they first arrived at the Capitol. That was the moment I realized why he was cast as Peeta, despite people thinking that he was more of a physical match to Gail. Liam Hemsworth had much less screen time as Gail Hawthorne, but additional scenes that showed the character sitting out on watching the beginning of the Hunger Games, and having to endure watching the scenes between Katniss and Peeta were a good start to make me believe that he can effectively convey the building anger that would define Gail's nature in the later installments of Catching Fire and Mockingjay.
What I looked forward to the most was how they would execute the adaptation. I don't think it would ever be possible to do a completely faithful adaptation on any book, especially since The Hunger Games posed a storytelling challenge for filmmakers. The entire book trilogy was told in the first person narrative by Katniss, which would mean that unless they had the character speaking out her thoughts all the time, there was no way for the audiences to know what she was thinking. For the most part, this hurdle was overcome by Jennifer Lawrence's performance. I'm not sure if it's because I read the books, which made it easy to decipher the changes in her facial expression, but I think it was just a validation on why she's an Oscar nominated actress.
There were changes, of course, during the adaptation process. In certain cases, there's an obvious effort to tone down the mature elements of the book. Certain characters were omitted, such as the original owner of the mockingjay pin Madge and the redheaded Avox girl Lavinia who both have histories with Katniss. Additional scenes were added, such as the conversations with President Snow and Head Gamemaker Seneca Crane to give the audiences a more definitive understanding of President Snow's way of ruling. Of the changes in the adaptation, the biggest would have to be the rebellion in District 11. In the film version, Katniss gives the District 12 sign of respect to the cameras, prompting the citizens of District 11 to return the sign and start a rebellion. While the rebellion is imminent in the book version, it does not occur until Catching Fire and actually starts in District 8. I felt that the original scene of sending bread to Katniss as thanks for her tribute to Rue was a more poignant and touching gesture. Though I do agree that the gesture would be lost to those who didn't read the book, since they wouldn't have Katniss's inner monologue to explain how difficult it would have been for the citizens of District 11 to procure a single loaf of bread.
Despite the additions and omissions, The Hunger Games film is still able to successfully evoke the powerful themes and emotions of the book version.
In fact, it was so effective in doing so that there are those who felt the negative end of a very polarizing spectrum of reactions. There are those who expressed anger at having to watch a film that showed the glorification of children killing children, while others felt that Lionsgate pulled off a misleading marketing coup. Obviously, these people were the ones who didn't know what the book was about before watching the film. It's just a shame that these are the same people who will choose not to watch Catching Fire and Mockingjay, where greater hardships will be endured, thus resulting in greater lessons to be learned.
At the end of the day, there is a common thought shared by those who liked and didn't like The Hunger Games film. This thought is what ultimately made The Hunger Games an effective film.
You have to admit, whether you have become a fan or not, that you left the cinema thinking that there was no way you would allow your children to live in a world like Panem.
And that thought is exactly why The Hunger Games will never be just a mere popcorn flick.
Happy viewing!!Labels: Action, Adaptation, Drama, Dystopian, Film, Must-Watch, The Hunger Games
