The Hunger Games

This was something I meant to write weeks ago, which didn't happen of course, because of my hectic life. But The Hunger Games is the phenomenon de jour, much like Twilight, but thankfully eclipsing that poorly-written, poorly-acted slosh.

I faced the book itself with a great deal of trepidation, as it came highly recommended by one of the most obnoxious people I know and it had been splashed across Facebook for weeks. I miss the days when I was less busy and was able to pick up a book and read it and then feel smug because it became  phenomena after my discovery. Gone are those days.

Much to my chagrin, I loved the books. I adored them. I finished the first two in a day apiece, though the third took a little longer. The Hunger Games is Orwell's Big Brother of 1984 meets the overwhelming self-indulgence of Huxley's Brave New World, twisted with the dark psychology of Lord of the Flies. All of my favorite, well-worded classics rolled into one twisted, but striking trilogy.

As my friend Jamie said, "You have to wonder about an author who dreams up children murdering each other."

And on to the movie:

As with all movies-made-from-books, my wariness was astronomical. The only movie I have encountered that is most of the way as good as the movie would be White Oleander. That and any movie boasting a male starlet who has the poor taste to be kept by Miley Cyrus (Liam Helmsworth) and an unknown like Jennifer Lawrence, mixed in with the odd scramble of Stanley Tucci, Woody Harrelson, Donald Sutherland, Elizabeth Banks and Lenny Kravitz is something to be moderately cautious of.

At least it didn't have Kristen Stewart in it. Watching her mono-face another entire movie would be...well, I'd have to do something drastic.

Luckily, I was pleasantly surprised. Most of the movie was excellent, well-performed and well-timed. It stayed true to the storyline, with only one or two moderate tweaks and turned the internal dialogue that helped Katniss Everdeen explain her world in the book into an eye in the background of the Games themselves. It gave it an unexpected twist that happily added to the movie rather than distracting from it.

The actors all had excellent timing and only a few flailed with their acting -- no more than could be expected though.

My only complaint -- and unfortunately this is a major one -- is that they took the Blair Witch-reality TV take to some of the filming. Jerky, blurry, shaky. On the big screen, for someone prone to motion-sickness it was so not fun. I mean, I understand the purpose: it was to show the overwhelming emotion/action of the scenes in a way that regular filming may not have, but I feel that there could have been a better way to do it.

It is truly a movie for the big screens though.

It makes you feel like you are one of those fops from the Capitol, watching the drama of the Games unfold before you.

Three and a half out of five stars.