So if you haven't already heard by now a film has come out and it has taken the world by storm. In it's opening weekend in America it took $155 million, that became the biggest tally for a film that isn't a sequel and comes in as the 3rd best opening weekend for a film ever. (Behind the final Harry Potter film and The Dark Knight.)
Quick summary: In a not-too-distant future, North America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts, the televised games are broadcast throughout Panem. The 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss' young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining district's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart Peeta, will be pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have trained for this their whole lives.
It's been said that writer of The Hunger Games trilogy Suzanne Collins was once mindlessly flicking between TV programes. One channel was showing people competing in a reality TV show and on the other there was footage of the invasion of the Iraq war, the shows began to blur into one and the basis of the book was formed. So this sparked her to write a book. Seems weird.
Any who, the film does the book justice. It submerges the audience in the world of Panem right from the get go. We see District 12 is clearly pretty shit and it looks like every one has a hard time of getting by in life (boo hoo). The Capitol is clearly not having any sort of economic crisis that the other districts are having and all is good for them.
But this film isn't really about the economics of the world of Panem (although that would make a rather interesting BBC 4 documentary, because there isn't much else worth showing on BBC 4). It's all about the GAMES! Our heroin Katniss is prepared for the games in that she is taught fighting techniques, camouflage skills and for some reason she is given a leg wax?!?!?! (Didn't see the point in that when she was expected to die.... Could have at least used those leg waxing strips on some girl who might have gone to a cluuuuuurb and benefited from them.) So then she plods her way around some forrest and does some serious killing. THAT GIRL GOT SOME SERIOUS BOW HUNTING SKILLS! I'M TALKING LEGOLAS SHIT!
We see on the other Districts and their horrified reactions to what is going on in the games and on the flip-side we see The Capitol and the people watching there and how entertained they are by the whole event. It made made me feel quite sick, but if I was in there shoes I would probably be getting drunk and watching, thanking the lord Jesus Christ that it wasn't fucking me in there. This is a nice twist because in the book we only get what's going from Katniss point of view. Given an outsiders view gives the film a bit more depth. There are other parts of the film that have been added to make it more than just a point of view story, but you will have to go watch it or read the book to find out what they are.
When the film was released there was some big huuu-haaa about releasing a film about kids killing kids, especially in America what with the Columbine massacre and various other high school tragedies in the recent years. Now this is where I have a problem. I watched various interviews and read articles from American psychologists saying that this was a film which parents shouldn't go let there kids see. Why you might ask? Well these so called psychologists were saying that some children might become inflicted and would carry out 'copy-Kat' (see what I did there!) scenarios. SERIOUSLY? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!? If you think your child might copy what happens on screen of a big budget blockbuster then you should just lock you kid in a dark room or take it to a councillor and get him/her checked over. It all boils down to the same old argument "Is popular-culture killing our children?" But that is one hell of a question I am not going to answer now because I don't have the answer and even if I did wouldn't tell you. Apparently to get the film rating down to a 12-A in the United Kingdom, the film had to edit out some of the blood and things like that. But from what I saw they didn't really bother. There was quite a lot of blood splattering about the place. I if you watch the scene where this kid gets his neck snapped and you don't squirm at it, your are made of steel and probably don't have a soul.
In the end I really liked this film, Jennifer Lawrence did a good job (but she did a better job in Winter's Bone) and cameos from Stanley Tucci, Wes Bentley and Woody Harrelson make up a great cast. But hats off to Donald Sutherland for a creepily good performance of President Snow, he sent chills up my spine.
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