Hunger Games movie satisfies book fans’ craving
By Kelly Goss, HUB Editor-in-Chief–
Step aside, Twilight; a new book series is taking over the box office this spring. More than 500 Davis residents lined up along F Street and 1st Street on the night of March 22 in anticipation of the “Hunger Games” movie premiere.
The movie goes down in history as the third most successful opening and grossed $155 million across the nation for its midnight showing, according to reports from 100.5 FM radio station.
Director Gary Ross brings Suzanne Collins’ first novel in the “Hunger Games” trilogy to life with a cleverly assigned cast and realistic cinemotography. Lovers of the novel, as well as those who have never read Collins’ books, will be surely pleased by this action-packed, heartfelt movie about rooting for the underdog and sticking up for what one believes in.
The setting takes place in apocalyptic North America, where the nation of Panem is divided into 13 districts and led by the Capitol. The 13th district rebelled against the capital and was destroyed.
As a reminder of the rebellion, the Capitol hosts the annual Hunger Games competition, where one boy and one girl from each of the 12 districts is chosen to fight to the death in an arena viewed on live television. The last child standing is the victor and his or her district receives food and supplies.
Twenty-year-old star Jennifer Lawrence plays the role of main character Katniss Everdeen, a 16-year-old girl from District 12 who takes the place of her younger sister Primrose to fight in the 74th annual Hunger Games. District 12 boy Peeta Mellark, played by Josh Hutcherson (“Bridge to Terabithia”), fights alongside Katniss.
The two form a romantic partnership throughout the games, and the chemistry between Lawrence and Hutcherson is natural and flawless. Liam Hemsworth plays Gale Hawthorne, Katniss’s hunting partner from District 12, who is also in love with Katniss. Katniss is left in somewhat of a love triangle between Gale and Peeta that is not too overdone but adds the right amount of twist into the plot.
Both Lawrence and Hutcherson exhibit the perfect combination of romance, strength and cleverness to keep audiences rooting for them until the very end of the games.
Characters Cinna, played by rock star Lenny Kravitz, and District 11 competitor Rue, played by young actress Amandla Stenberg, also steal the spotlight during the movie. While both characters play a smaller role in the plot (Cinna is Katniss’ stylist for the games and Rue is focused on for a short period of time) the two actors are the most likeable characters in the entire movie.
Kravitz brings the right amount of warmth and a good-natured personality to balance the evil Capitol characters who threaten to destroy Katniss and Peeta. Stenberg, along with Lawrence, provide the most emotional scene in the movie that will have audiences engaged and on the edge of their seats.
Fans of the novel will praise Ross for his commitment to keeping the movie as accurate as possible to Collins’ best-selling book. The detailed sets, colorful Capitol costumes and diverse personalities of the characters create the perfect world for Collins’ “Hunger Games.”
Ross does add more scenes from the Capitol and with Hemsworth that were not in the novel. However, these scenes complete the story and do not take away accuracy from the novel’s plot. Viewers are able to see the strategies of the Gamemakers who control the arena and the reaction of Gale as he sees Peeta and Katniss’s relationship blossom.
Although violent, the movie’s PG-13 rating is appropriate. Ross balances staying true to the novel while portraying the deaths of the children in a less graphic manner.
