COLUMN: ‘Hunger Games’ craze worth hype
I was worried when the “Hunger Games” movie craze first began. I am not a fan of controlled camera shaking. Call it a trick. Call it art. Call it realistic. I don’t care. I don’t like it. I want to know exactly what I am watching, and I don’t want get headache from doing so. With that said, I still absolutely loved the “Hunger Games.”
The “Hunger Games,” which is based on a book series of the same title, is set in the future, where the governing body, called the “Capitol,” takes one boy and one girl from 12 different districts to fight to the death. It is “1984” meets “Gladiator” with children.
For those of you who have not read the books, this is the Capitol’s attempt to maintain control over all the districts after a rebellion. There can only be one winner of the games. Children literally need to kill or be killed.
Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) is the heroine of the “Hunger Games.” She volunteers in place of her 12-year-old sister as tribute. From there, Katniss is briefly trained to survive with the other district 12 tribute, Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson). She already is skilled with archery and knows how to hunt. She is smart and knows when to move on her feet. When the Hunger Games begin, her praised skills are put to the test.
Citizens of the various districts can watch the games broadcast on TV and hear the cannons strike every time someone dies. Because it is a form of entertainment for the President and those at the Capitol, any way to win them over is helpful for survival. Katniss plays with this concept and forms star-crossed lovers with Peeta. This wins the both of them sponsors and gives them an upper hand throughout the movie.
From the very beginning I was nervous. For starters, there were rumors that pre-teenagers were rooting for different characters. Basically, I thought it was going to be Team Jacob and Team Edward all over again. I was nervous for the storyline, because I was about to watch death. Even though I read the book and knew exactly what was going to happen, I couldn’t shake my fears.
Surprisingly, I loved being anxious and excited. Movies are art. They should make you feel, something. The “Hunger Games” was two and half hours long, and usually I am not a fan of long movies. As aesthetically pleasing as “Avatar” was, I got bored. However, “Hunger Games” didn’t feel long and I was never bored. In fact, the entire movie, I was hunched over with my elbows on my knees and my hands cupping my face.
Katniss, played by the beautiful Lawrence, was perfect. I do not have anything negative to say about her character, her acting, the way she talked or even her outfits. I am glad director Gary Ross chose to go with an actress that isn’t very well known. The only other film I have seen her in is when her body was painted blue for her character Mystique in the latest X-Men. Now her career will take off. She delivered brilliantly. Lawrence portrayed Katniss exactly how I envisioned her in the book. In fact, all of the characters were meticulously, well picked.
The only person I pictured differently was Cato, who was played by Alexander Ludwig. I pictured someone more like Emmett from “Twilight,” someone totally intimidating instead of this blond pretty boy with a bad attitude. Another thing I would have tweaked a little is the fact that the book is narrated by Katniss. Her thoughts run strong throughout the entire novel but the movie fails to express any of her inner desires.
“Hunger Games” does a lot of showing, not telling. When Rue, a 12-year-old girl from District 11 dies, Katniss is devastated and Lawrence could not have done a better job.
I had to hold back tears a couple of times. I thought I would have to hold back my anger toward this totalitarian society idea that I have seen so many times. Instead, “Hunger Games” was a tearjerker. There were some moments of comic relief, thank goodness.
With few negatives, “Hunger Games” is superb. I recommend it for anyone, whether you have read the book or not. It will make you laugh, cringe, squeal, sweat, cry and sigh at the end of it all. Can the next two films come out now, please? Like right now?
– anike.pullens@aggiemail.usu.edu