By Rosie Sparrow
The film is based on the best-selling novel “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins, who got the idea whilst channel flicking between coverage on the Iraq war and reality TV shows. Upon the books being published in 2008 the support for the series continued to grow. The whole fandom has been eagerly waiting for this film and I can safely say they won’t be disappointed.
I read the books back in November and the story captivated me. It follows a 16-year-old Panem citizen called Katniss Everdeen. Every year as punishment for the rebellion one male and female between 12 and 18, are offered up from each District to take part in The Hunger Games. It’s a fight to the death and the lone victor is rewarded with riches. However, Katniss’ world is turned upside down when her little sister, Prim, is chosen. Before she knows it she has taken her place and is trained for the most anticipated event of the year.
The casting was fantastic, I couldn’t fault any of the characters. When a film is based on a book it’s vital that you get the characters tight otherwise you lose the audience straight away. Jennifer Lawrence made an impression on the movie world in “Winters Bone” and was the perfect choice for Katniss. Josh Hutcherson also did an amazing job as Peeta (the male tribute).It’s hard to imagine anyone else playing the role… Especially as well as he played it. The whole cast just made you believe that the roles were made for them. Elizabeth Banks did an incredible job as Effie, the tributes escort, with some classic lines providing some comic relief which is much needed. Another humorous character is Ceasar Flickerman (Stanley Tucci) the host of the whole coverage of the games. He is a very surreal character and Tucci just pulled it off and made it all seem so real.
The novels are in Katniss’ point of view so my biggest concern was how they were going to incorporate everything into the film in the same way. I thought that it was very creative and fitting, in there arena whenever they were something that would have been explained through her thoughts it flicked to the commentary with Ceasar and Claudius. It made it seem as though you were watching the actual programme. It even cut to the control room at times too which I felt was a nice touch, you were introduced to the behind the scenes. The camera work at times looked as though Katniss was showing you around her District on a handheld camera, to show you what it’s really like there. It also gave the audience an insight to what she would see and hear from her own point of view like the book had done. It was little effects like that which made it such a joy to watch.
Of course being based on a book it’s never going to be 100% faithful; however it did do a very good job in trying to stick as closely to the book as possible. With everything they took out they had good reason to when you think about it and the things they added in to accommodate for that. This means that there are scenes in the film which are completely new to the readers of the series which is a nice surprise and links in very well. Gary Ross did a stellar job on the movie. A lot of the fans will be blown away by it all and so will the people that have never read the books. Everyone will be left wanting more. So far the film has brought in a record breaking $200 million for a film that’s not a sequel. The entire cast and crew have done us all proud and I know the world will be watching it and waiting for the next one. However, until then, may the odds be ever in your favour.
