Film Review of my choice
The Hunger Games
I have chosen to review the film “The Hunger Games”. I chose
this film because it had received great reviews and everybody that I knew who
had seen it recommended that I watched it. I wanted to see if the film lived up
to the expectations that had been created by other people’s opinions I had
heard. The film is an action/thriller film. I feel that it fits into both
genres because it has almost constant action and fighting but it has complex
themes as well that allow it to fit into the thriller genre. The film requires
you to think as you have to work out who you can trust from the perspective of
the main character Katniss.
Firstly i will briefly summarise the film, the film takes
place in some kind of post apocalyptic America where the country is divided into
many different districts and a capital. Every year “the hunger games” are
carried out. During these games each of the twelve districts has to send a boy
and a girl between the ages of 12 and 18 the capital where they will fight each
other to the death in a specially designed arena. These games are justified as
a punishment for when the twelve districts had rebelled, although the viewer is
unsure if this justification is true as the games we witness are the 74th
annual hunger games, surely they cannot need to be punished for 74 years. The
24 selected sacrifices will fight and outsmart each other until only one
remains, the last one alive will be declared the winner. During the film we
follow Katniss and a boy named Peeta Mellark from district 12. Katniss is
somewhat of an outsider at the start, she does not get on with many people and
we as the viewers are unsure how we are supposed to feel about her but as the
film goes on it becomes evident that we are meant to support her and hope for
her to win as she opens up and we see a side of her that was not evident at the
start. Katniss tries not to kill during the games, in the whole duration she
only kills one boy and one girl. The boy’s death is a reflex action rather than
an act of violence, and the death of the girl comes more as a consequence of
Katniss actions rather than cold blooded murder. Katniss is helped throughout
the games by other contestants, this shows how just because they are fighting
for their lives doesn’t mean that they all are able to kill. As the film goes
on a change of rules are announced stating that 2 winners will be allowed if
they both originate from the same district, this is obviously meant to be aimed
at Katniss and Peeta. They work together until only the two of them and one
other character remain, the character then falls and is devoured by some kind
of dog creatures leaving only Katniss and Peeta remaining meaning that the two
of them must have won the games, yet the plot twists and an announcement echoes
around the arena stating that the rules have changed, only one winner will be
permitted, meaning that one of the two will have to kill the other. Peeta
offers himself but Katniss refuses to kill him and pulls out some poison
berries that we saw earlier in the film, her and Peeta plan to take them at the
exact same time so that there will be no winner, this panics the games
organisers and the people in the capital as there will be outrage if no winner
is declared. Seconds before the two place the berries in their mouths a
panicked voice sounds in the stadium stating that the two of them will be
allowed to win. This ends the twos time in the arena. The two are interviewed
afterwards and all seems well until Katniss is warned by an ex-winner that the
leaders of the capital do not take embarrassment well, and her stunt with the
berries caused them great embarrassment. This creates a sense of tension and
danger that is continued as the organiser of the games is seen to have been
locked in a room with nothing in it other than a bowl in the middle containing
the poison berries which Katniss and Peeta were going to eat. The final shot of
the film shows a grey haired man with an angry expression on his face turning
and walking away up some grand stairs. Throughout the film it has not been
announced who this man is yet he seems to be in charge as he has been ordering
the head of the games and anyone who he speaks too around, showing that he is a
very powerful character. I feel this ending creates a lot of tension and
anticipation for the next film as the ex-winners warning about embarrassment
and the angry expression on this important man’s face come together to give the
impression that Katniss’ troubles may not be over.
Much of the film is filmed in tight close ups, this allows
us to get into the role of the main character Katniss. I feel it is very
effective for this kind of film as it allows us to see her emotions more
clearly and it also allows us at times to see and emphasise with her blind
panic as she is being chased or show at. I do feel though that because this
kind of close up filming is used so much throughout the film that we never
really interact with other characters. Meaning that they are always somewhat on
the outskirts. I know we are supposed to only mainly be following the journey
of Katniss but it would be better if we could find out something about the
other characters rather than just seeing them arrive and then die.
The film displays complex relations between the characters
that are only able to be created because of the circumstances they are put in
during the games. For example even though all the teenagers are supposed to
kill each other a boy saves Katniss and kills the girl trying to hurt her as an
act of thanks for defending another girl from his district. The relationship between
Katniss and Peeta is also complex because we know from the start that Peeta has
feelings for Katniss but we are unsure about hers towards him. Before the games
begin Katniss is told too act as if she loves Peeta so that the two of them will
gain sponsors, this thought lingers on our mind as their relationship develops
during the games. Katniss Kisses Peeta and it seems as if she is really starting
to care for him but we never find out if these are just too act along with what
she was told or if she genuinely has acquired feelings for him. I find this
effective as it keeps you interested in the film on an emotional level rather
than just being interested because of the violence and fast tempo action, I
hope that if a sequel is created this will be explored further.
In conclusion I feel that The Hunger Games was a very good
film. I felt that it put across a complex story very effectively and
powerfully. The film was only rated as a 12 which restricted many of the things
that could be put in, for a film based hugely around killing and death it must
have been hard to make all the killing age appropriate yet still have the
desired effect of putting across Katniss’ trauma. I feel this was good as it
allowed the film too be viewed by all audiences, the young but also the old as
the film still conveys complex themes. If I had to fault the film at all I
would comment on how it doesn’t look into any of the characters other than
Katniss, I know she is the main character but it makes it hard to connect with
any of the others. This is especially appropriate for the character of Peeta
who it would have been good to know more about. But overall I found it a very
good film and I would rate it 7 or 8 / 10.
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