In any culture, how much is too much? Is there a point where entertainment becomes more than a device to pass the time and trends toward a destructive reflection of the times?
In "The Hunger Games," the answer to both these questions is a resounding "yes." The story takes place in a dystopian North America where 24 youth from 12 districts - a boy and girl from each - are rounded up and taken as tributes to compete in a battle to the death, hosted by the Capitol.
With such weak competition at the multiplex - nine of the 10 top earners at the box office were rated "rotten" by the review-aggregating site Rotten Tomatoes - I think "The Hunger Games" picked a very opportune time to be released. This is probably the best film that you can go see right now, but I'm not convinced it's a film you necessarily have to see.
The film follows Katniss Everdeen, played well by Jennifer Lawrence, who becomes the tribute for her district after volunteering in place of her sister, who was initially chosen.
The story behind the games is that at some point in the past, we're told this is the 74th annual games, the different districts rose up in a violent rebellion against the Capitol. Eventually, the Capitol was victorious and instituted the Hunger Games to remind the districts of its power, though they allow one victor to remain in order to give the districts hope.
A large point being made by this film is the idea of entertainment. It is indeed shocking that this culture has become complacent with the idea of children between the ages of 12 and 18 fighting each other to the death.
The violence of these scenes is effective as seeing young adults ruthlessly slaughtered is quite shocking, though perhaps the film could have pushed the envelope one step further. Nevertheless, the idea that this is how far the culture has to go in order to be entertained is very clear and the point is well taken.
This idea is explored at length in the film's first half, but completely disappears by act two. While in the beginning of the film we are given a lot of context for the games and why they are so popular, all we see in the second half are the games themselves. Any side characters almost disappear, along with any idea of a metanarrative.
This is a very interesting narrative decision, because I believe it threatens to undermine the ideas the film presents in the first half. If the idea being conveyed is that entertainment has risen to the point where we are willing to watch children viciously killing each other, then why are we, as the audience, only given a reason to watch the games subjectively?
We are clearly rooting for Katniss the entire time, we feel no remorse for any combatant who dies and even feel excitement because it increases her chance of winning.
As the audience, we are put in the same position as the audiences watching the games. This would be a very interesting idea, if the film pushed it at all, but sadly it doesn't. "The Hunger Games" becomes so focused on the action of the games that it forgets all of the groundwork laid in the film's first half other than in very quick spurts. Maybe these ideas will explored more in the next two films, but for now, I believe the film was more self-aware.
Another flaw in the film is its use of space. All too often, director Gary Ross uses very fast cuts to extreme close-ups of the characters, rarely giving the audience a sense of where we are. This is very evident in the action sequences, where events happen so quickly that it's hard to tell what is going on.
I think other than the editing, the film also suffers from its length. There are parts where the story really drags and two and a half hours becomes grinding after a while.
All that being said, the film does present some interesting ideas in its first half, and the games are still very thrilling - whether or not they fit into the ideology of the film.
The film also gets two good supporting performances from Woody Harrelson as Katniss' mentor Haymitch and Stanley Tucci as a very extravagant talk show host who interviews the competitors and announces the games.
"The Hunger Games" is the first blockbuster film of 2012 and it is a good one, though not a great one. Hopefully with two more films to come, the series will only get better.
"The Hunger Games" receives a 6.5/10.
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