The Hunger Games

My husband and I had a date night over the weekend and caught The Hunger Games. I've never read the books so I knew nothing about the movie, but I had a scant idea of the premise, which sounds pretty contentious - children being pitted against one another in a fight to death.

I know that the books are hugely popular, especially with the teenage crowd, kind of like a Twilight phenomenon. I actually read the Twilight books, then saw the movie and was subsequently put off by the overly teenage demographics and hype - it just killed it for me and I wasn't interested in it anymore.

Our fellow movie-goers at The Hunger Games were largely giggly teenagers (mostly girls) and I was having date-night regret that we picked a teenage flick on the rare occasion that we managed to go to the movies after putting both kids to bed.

Alright, the movie was surprisingly good, albeit slow at parts. I wouldn't say it was awesome but it was interesting because it painted a really twisted world and brought it to life, which was fascinating to watch because it was so bizarre. It felt like Alice in Wonderland meets The Truman Show meets Roman gladiators in a post-apocalyptic world. 

It was at times difficult to watch because of the violence, but also because the world depicted - the opulent Capitol alongside the repressed, starving Districts - leaves a bitter aftertaste. Credit must be given to author Suzanne Collins who created this alternate fictional world, which in reality, runs so much in paralell to much of the world we live in today.

Unless you haven't been living on this planet, you'll know that Jennifer Lawrence plays the heroine Katniss Everdeen. She's illuminating to watch, and she delivered her performance with steely determination and grace. She first caught my eye in Winter's Bone and all the hype about her is true - she really is a gifted actress. There's something about her that makes her different from the rest of the Hollywood girls today. Maybe it's because she seems somehow more grounded. Or that she hasn't succumbed to being stick-thin with a chest too heavy for her frame.

Other observations:

Lenny Kravitz with gold eye-liner and sans big hair and sunglasses! Oh, so this is what he actually looks like! 

Woody Harrelson is drunk mentor Haymitch Abernathy! I couldn't recognize him at all!

Effie Trinket who, when she made her first entrance in the movie, made me cringe at her outlandish and completely egoistical self-centric behavior, is actually Elizabeth Banks, better known as Jack Donaghy's girlfriend Avery in 30 Rock. Talk about a complete transformation.

The Head Gamemaker Seneca Crane is played by Wes Bentley who was the creepy neighbour guy with the videocam in American Beauty. Also does not look like himself. 

Liam Hemsworth, better known as Mr Miley Cyrus, who despite having very little screen time in this movie, managed to come across as cute and bashful.

Poor, poor casting of Josh Hutcherson as Peeta. There was no chemistry with Katniss and no connection with the audience. I'd much rather watch Katniss with Liam Hemsworth's Gale.

I'm not sure I'll let my kids watch The Hunger Games when they're teenagers. Maybe when they're 50 years old.

Comments

[Kwan]

As I read this I'm thinking to myself - you truly know your Hollywood!