The Hunger Games releases this weekend, and since it will be the first blockbuster of the season barring massive refund requests, I figure it should be previewed based on my limited knowledge. The movie is, like everything in Hollywood, an adaptation of something else; in this case the popular novel of the same name. Based on personal experience, the book is third in popularity behind the Harry Potter series (which is fantastic) and Twilight (which is not fantastic and would be the first thing I would bring to a Fahrenheit 451 book burning). Click through to see why I feel you should see this hopefully quality movie.
The book was released in the fall of 2008 and, from what I know not having read the book yet, is the story of a dystopian civilization (on Earth?) in which the impoverished "districts" must send two children each year to compete in a competition for food called, you guessed it, The Hunger Games. The 24 child brawl to the death occurs in some sort of arena, where it is also televised for all to see. The story of the book focuses on a girl named Katniss who volunteers to be a "tribute" in the games in order to take the place of her younger sister Primrose. If this story does take place in the future on Earth, one thing we know is that normal names have been bred out of the society.
The marketing for the movie has revealed more of the story, and has done so effectively in my mind. It has certainly changed my expectations from dread that this would be Twilight 2.0 to a less hyperkinetic dystopian fighting movie in the vein of Gamer, Death Race, or The Running Man. From the trailer and clips from the movie we learn more about the story and who features into the plot in major ways. The leads of the film are Oscar nominee Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone) and Josh Hutcherson (Journey to the Center of the Earth), and they play Katniss and Peeta, the two tributes from District 12. The cast is rounded out by Donald Sutherland (The Italian Job), Lenny Kravitz (his daughter was in X-Men: First Class), Elizabeth Banks (Man on a Ledge), and Woody Harrelson (White Men Can't Jump!). Sutherland and Banks play two rich people who seem to be integral to The Hunger Games event, Sutherland possibly is the dictator and Banks some sort of TV celebrity, while Kravitz and Harrelson are mentor figures to at least the district 12 tributes. I would say something negative about those casting choices, but Rihanna will be in the movie Battleship (based on the board game) and I want to save my jokes for her.
But if the cast hasn't sold you on how great a movie this will be here are some more thoughts that should. The facial hair, and heads of hair, in this movie look to be ridiculous. Similar to the absurd names that have been bred into society, so to has punk styling taken over the high society. In the first trailer alone we see a man with blue hair, a woman with pink hair, and a man with calligraphy for a beard. A less superficial awesome aspect of the movie isKatniss' weapon of choice, a bow and arrow, which is probably smart as men are generally better at hand to hand combat, so a long range weapon is a good idea. There also will be some sort of love triangle as Katniss appears to bond with her fellow tribute, as well as with Thor's brother Liam Hemsworth who lives in district 12 (clearly this movie didn't think a female lead was enough to market the movie to women, better add some romance). Lastly, but most importantly, this movie's success will likely turn on The Hunger Games itself. The only scenes from the games in any clips are just the protagonists running at the start. That's it. This is an action movie where they haven't actually marketed the action. This means that either a) the action is awful, and children battling each other isn't exciting, or b) the action is fantastic and watching children kill each other will not ruin my day or make me feel bad about myself. I'm hoping for the latter.
The Hunger Games opens this Friday, and as always, I recommend seeing a matinee performance as there are fewer crowds and cheaper tickets.
Matt Brickell is a senior writer and loves a good battle royale.
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