In “The Hunger Games”, a dystopian society — punishing its citizens for an uprising generations ago — pits teen against teen in an annual, “Survivor”-type battle to the death. The kids are entered in a lottery, “drafted” (24 of them, to be exact; only one will come out alive), coached and trained, and then released into the “arena”. (In this case, a densely-wooded area populated by mutant wasps, fang-bearing, man-eating whatchamacallems … and worse.)
.
Jennifer Lawrence stars as Katniss Everdeen, who volunteers for the Games to spare her younger sister, who is selected but too scared to go. Amid all the training and strategizing, Katniss is also wined and dined and then paraded before the masses in a fancy, horse-drawn chariot as toothsome talking heads (the whole thing is televised) trade tasty bon mots about the pageantry and spectacle of it all. It’s only when the kids are finally decked out in their flight suit-style battle
togs and sicced on each other for real that the pageantry comes to a screeching halt and the battle of wits begins.
.
Lawrence is just as spunky and brave as she was in her breakout hit “Winter’s Bone”, and proves to be pretty handy with a bow-and-arrow, too. The camera loves her; even when her face is in utter repose — which, because she has learned not to wear her heart on her sleeve, is a good part of the time — you can’t take your eyes off her. This is her movie, every surreal moment of it, and — make no mistake — she is more than up to the challenge. Josh Hutcherson is fine as her chief competitor/ally/love interest Peeta, Alexander Ludwig tackles the role of the villain, the cold-blooded
Cato, with fearsome crediblity, and screen vets Stanley Tucci, Elizabeth Banks, and Wes Bentley — barely recognizable, every one of them — do enjoyably over-the-top work as a gaggle of (heavily made-up) adults. (The far more recognizable Donald Sutherland, Woody Harrelson and Lenny Kravitz deserve kudos, too.)
.
How good is this movie? The first half is nearly all set-up, and yet, with its abundance of futuristic, “Alice in Wonderland”-style costumes and its extraordinarily detailed peek at all the backstage goings-on, my interest never flagged for a moment.
.
Fans of the Stephanie Meyer novel may scoff at a plot point here and there, but for those who didn’t read the book (like me) “The Hunger Games” — directed by Gary Ross, with cinematography by Tom Stern — is one of the most suspenseful, and visually exciting, movies of the year.
.
FILM REVIEW by Stuart R. Brynien
