Based on the popular books, of the same name, The Hunger Games is set in a futuristic world where children are forced to battle each other to death, on live television.
Each year a boy and girl from each of the twelve districts are chosen to represent their district at The Hunger Games. When Katniss Everdeen’s (Jennifer Lawrence) younger sister is chosen to represent District 12, Katniss does the unheard of, and volunteers to take her place. It is now up to her to outwit and outplay the others to take out the ultimate prize – that of her life!
It is hard to imagine a horrific premise like this one, making a gripping, let alone enjoyable film. However, it is.
The Hunger Games is the best of the teen dramas going at the moment. It has a strong, well paced storyline (admittedly, towards the end, it did feel a little rushed), with a strong female lead who is allowed to be strong and doesn’t need to be whimsical, pitied, doey eyed or half naked to survive.
Jennifer Lawrence plays the lead character, Katniss Everdeen. Lawrence comfortably leads this film and has a great support cast. The younger cast haven’t been cast just for their looks alone (namely Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth), they can actually act and they are complimented by the older cast members. Stanley Tucci (this man can do no wrong) and Elizabeth Banks both play over the top characters but they don’t lose the run of themselves, as so often happens in other films, ensuring that these characters don’t become mere charicatures.
Rounding out the support cast are Woody Harrelson, Donald Sutherland and an impressive Lenny Kravitz.
If you delve beneath the surface, this film can be seen as a scary commentary on today’s society and our obsession with reality television. At what cost does entertainment come? How far will we let the premises go, merely to be entertained?
The Hunger Games is a trilogy of books. The studio openly admitted they weren’t going to make the second and third unless The Hunger Games does well at the Box Office. Entire cinemas in the United States have been booked out for this film, so it would be a safe bet to say that Catching Fire and Mockinjay (the books that round out the trilogy) will be hitting our screens in the near future and this young cast will be the next big things in Hollywood (and in this case, deservedly so!)
That’s Entertainment!
Sarina 🙂
