Happy Hunger Games boys and girls,
TyT here for another installment of my weekly Film of the Week blog entry, brought to you by Those Dudes Podcast. I know I'm coming to you all a little late this week, but I've been busy so get off my back. I do come to you, however, bringing the gift of my infinite filmic knowledge, which I will apply to this years biggest film...THE HUNGER GAMES!
Let me just start by saying how awesome the entire film was. The sets and designs were stunning, the script written almost flawlessly, all the actors were cast perfectly and their acting was sublime. I can't stress enough how well the whole film was made. In a day and age when so many movies cater to throwing money at a problem and not caring if it works or not, The Hunger Games comes in and really applies the material from the adapted novel of the same name in all the right ways.
Going into the film, I knew enough about it to know how they were supposed to handle the story. For those who don't know, The Hunger Games is a yearly competition where teenagers, 12-18 years old, from twelve districts in a futuristic world are selected randomly to fight one another until only one is left alive. That's right, teens killing teens as mandated by The Man. This isn't a totally original theme as there have been several films and historically similar situations. The one that rang bells on my end was a 2000 Japanese film called Battle Royale. That revolves around a high school class all being put on an island and forced to kill one another or being remote detonated to an exploding death. I was expecting a lot of that from The Hunger Games, but found that it had it's own original sort of mythos and plot turns to make it stand out. At it's core (I know I say that every time), the film is about a group of 24 kids who are forced to survive not just against each other, but against a dynotopic society where a bitter president who has read way too much into Machievelli's The Prince, to the point where he wants to keep his kingdom in check by forcing their offspring to be gladiators. The film works best then, when these kids are forced to advertise themselves on TV shows and at lavished banquets to gain sponsers and put on a good show before eventually murdering one another in brutal fashion.
Perhaps the film's strongest assets at work are the actors, who skate around the script like a Disney on ice show. They're all professional in their own ways and it helps anchor the experience in such a way as to properly distribute the emotions the audience carries for each one. You may not really care for Elizabeth Banks' character because she's a painted faced cog in a harsh system, but you never really get around to hating her. The same thing goes for Woody Harrelson and Lenny Kravitz who play Haymitch and Cinna. Both are part of the Hunger Games system, but both command their character's detest for the sport that makes them redeemable. The best acting, however, comes from Katniss herself, Jennifer Lawrence. Many people still don't know who Lawrence is yet and all I can say is, "why?" She killed it in Winter's Bone a few years back and last year in X-Men First Class, so it was no surprise when she signed up for The Hunger Games. As I expected, she has a fearless, at times daunting gaze that drives home the quiet mindset of Katniss. She isn't a heroine who whines and cries over vampires or shirtless werewolves because she can't make a choice (BELLA!), she makes a choice in the beginning of the film to save her little sister and the rest of the film revolves around her honoring that choice (with the risk of losing her life). Definitely one of the stronger young female role models in fiction over the last few decades and Lawrence carries the weight of Katniss like a champ.
All and all, the film was filled with sublime acting, stunning sets and killer action towards the third act. Everything else was like an insight into the human condition and how to cope. The reality of these characters are serious and dire, as apposed to something like Twilight. It's a darker, more realistic seriousness than any Harry Potter, but in the spirit of that franchise, Gary Ross and his crew have made it compelling and honest. This is a turning point for the industry. Good writing honored with good, hard work yields monster results in the box office. As the 3rd highest grossing opening of all time ($153 million in 3 days), The Hunger Games will return with a sequel for sure. We can only hope it is as engaging and beautiful as the first.
TyT's Vertict: EPIC AWESOMENESS (256 stars)
Find TyT on Twitter @bakstar_inc or through Those Dudes @ThoseDudesShow and check out Those Dudes Podcast at www.ThoseDudesShow.com!
No comments:
Post a Comment