The Hunger Games 2012
I am not a fan of reality television shows like Survivor or even American Idol, so a movie about televised teenaged gladiators picked at random to battle to the death does very little for me. In fact I completely reject the entire premise that people would be enthusiastic about sending their kids out to kill one another, and most likely, be killed since only 1 of 24 will win. It reminds me, in no small way, of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, my least favorite of that series, where for no understandable reason, the kids are subjected to a life-threatening competition. Who would send their kids to that kind of school or allow them to compete in that kind of competition? I suppose in some ways it mirrors the overly competitive world of high school sports where one athlete realizes their dreams by destroying the dreams of the others.
But, whatever, I still watched the movie. There is some appeal to movies where people hunt down other people. It has certainly been done many, many times, including the 1970’s TV movie The Challenge where a dispute between nations is settled by putting two men on an island to fight to the death. The very dark part of the movie is that, even though it is fiction, the audience is still put in the role of the blood thirsty crowds that go to see gladiators. Sure our hero is more virtuous, but that’s the way it always is. This is a hard thing to work around and a real problem.
Other than the plot, which is about all there is, the movie keeps you interested. It is kill or be killed for the most part, except that not everyone dies at the hands of another person, since they are just as likely to be killed by exposure, wild animals, lack of medical care, etc. The lead actress is Jennifer Lawrence who brings the same quiet determination to the role that she displayed so well in Winter’s Bone. There is a long introduction and some training that probably could have been skipped, but there is a lot of exposition involved in setting up how the contestants are picked and what the rules of the game are. Once the game starts, it is basically a chase movie as the heroine tries to avoid killing but still must survive. It is well done and Lawrence is very good, but the movie itself just isn’t that redeeming. In some stories like The Most Dangerous Game where the one being hunted can strike back at the hunter, in this case the government is the bad guy, and these kids aren’t going to defeat the government.
Anyway, for what it is, this movie is decent. But I’m too old to like this kind of thing anymore, especially given the voyeuristic game show setting that doesn’t appeal to me even when it is just people singing or dancing. So I will give the movie a C+, though if you don’t mind the premise, it will definitely be more rewarding than that.
Written: 25 Nov 2012
Owned on: Digital