Michael Todd
Staff Writer
Beginning with the midnight premiere this past Thursday, movie goers have been battling over tickets to view the much-anticipated first film in The Hunger Games trilogy franchise.
“The Hunger Games” tells the story of a future dystopian society called Panem. Panem’s 12 districts, in atonement for revolting against the glamorous and corrupt Capitol decades earlier, must annually offer up one young male and female to fight to the death for a nationally televised reality show.
Both the novel and film center on Katniss Everdeen, portrayed by Jennifer Lawrence, a citizen of the poorest district who supports her mother and sister by illegal hunting outside of Panem’s boundaries.
The first hour of the film progresses in a slow-but-engaging build up of overall well-done cinematic moments, including the heart-stopping Reaping scene in which Katniss volunteers to take her younger sister’s place when she is selected as a tribute for the Games.
“The Reaping was definitely a highlight of the film,” said biology major Will Harriman. “All the actors did such a wonderful job, it was just amazing to see the characters come to life.”
VCU student complaints surrounding the film have been minor. Many students agreed Thursday night the film’s PG-13 rating may have prevented it from reaching its full potential.
“If they had given the movie a rating of R, I feel like (the film) would have been truer (to the novel),” said Megan Meszaros, one of a group of theater majors who attended the midnight premiere in full tribute costume, right down to the gash above her eyebrow.
“That is not to say that it did not meet my expectations,” “Truthfully I was terrified that they would cater things to the younger readers … But they did a marvelous job.”
While remaining faithful to the novel, the violence and trauma of the film was not fully realized, according to viewers such as Meszaros. For instance, the deaths of Rue, a child tribute befriended by Katniss, and Cato, a tribute trained by his district for the glory of fighting in the games, should have been bloodier and more gruesome. The truth of the matter is that The Hunger Games are supposed to be a gruesome fight to the death between children; this can’t be properly achieved with a PG-13 rating.
Another common criticism of the film was a lack of development of the characters. While it has been practically unanimously agreed upon that the cast selection was nearly flawless, some students complained that the characters were not able to grow over the course of the film. Whether or not this is a fault of the actors or a product of the nature of the film, is hard to say.
“For the most part, (the characters) stayed pretty one level throughout the whole ordeal,” Meszaros said.
“Some may say that Jennifer Lawrence was deadpan,” Harriman said, “but that is unfortunately the character of Katniss.”
On the plus side, the film translated as considerably less melodramatic than the novel due to the absence of Katniss’ inner dialogue and constant internal struggle over who to trust and what actions to take. For better or worse, this allowed for a higher emphasis on the actual events of the Games.
The most appreciated attributes of the film were the artfully crafted scenes that foreshadow events of the future films, “Catching Fire” and “Mockingjay.” The inclusion of the scenes such as the citizens of District 11 revolting after Rue’s death seem to promise a firm foundation for the remainder of the trilogy, as well as an increased level of continuity between each film.
To the excitement and surprise of the fandom, the movie adaptation of the first novel in The Hunger Games trilogy was an immense success. As for “Catching Fire,” the second film in the trilogy, which is set to premiere in fall of 2013, “May the odds be ever in your favor.” CT