Wednesday, April 18, 2012

The Hunger Games

"The Hunger Games" chronicles a dystopic Capitol which requires its twelve subjugated districts to pay tribute in the form of a teenage boy and girl, forced to participate in the annual "Hunger Games," a fight-to-the-death live televised event. Katniss Everdeen's little sister is chosen in the lottery to participate and Katniss volunteers to take her place. Although persevering through hardship is commonplace for Katniss, she must start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love in order to win the games and return home.




 

  Review

Hunger Games, the film, is adapted from a young adult novel written by American television writer and novelist Suzanne Collins. The movie is about the life of 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in a post-apocalyptic world in the country of Panem and her bid to survive the Hunger Games. The country of Panem is where the countries of North America once existed, but is now ruled and dictated by the Capitol, a highly advanced metropolis.

Annually an event, known as the Hunger Games, is held where one boy and one girl aged 12 to 18 are selected via lottery from each of the 12 districts surrounding the Capitol to compete in a televised battle, which only one person can survive. The motive of the Hunger Games is apparently to put fear into the habitants of the 12 districts from revolting.

Katniss Everdeen is the protagonist, who volunteers herself when her sister gets chosen as a tribute; saving her sister from the cruel fate that awaits her. Katniss is joined by the male tribute Peeta Mellark who is also from her district. Together, Katniss and Peeta make their way to the Capitol where they train under the guidance of former victor Haymitch Abernathy (from their district, known as the 12th district).

So basically it is a film where Katniss and her fellow tributes are forced to fight to the death for their own amusement. Peeta and Katniss establish themselves as “star-crossed” lovers to gain favor from sponsors, who are crucial to their survival in the Hunger Games, providing them with gifts that could be life saving.

Compared to John Carter, the Hunger Games was more enjoyable and there was enough closure at the end, with enough to warrant a sequel following the rest of the trilogy. I haven’t read the book, but I think the movie does a pretty good job depicting the blood and gore, yet never missing the point (to me at least), human can be (are) cruel creatures. Overall, an enjoyable movie that pulled a bit at the heartstrings but still had some humor and heartwarming moments, amidst the violence and despair (and initially shaky camera effect).

You can read more about the spoilers at Wikipedia

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