Z/Web

Director: Gary Ross

Having just read the book and been blown away by how good it was, I was really looking forward to the film. Of course I was somewhat apprehensive, too. Movie adaptations can be awful. I particularly feared that they would focus on the action and make short shrift of the earlier parts of the book that set up the story and are so critical to everything that follows.

To my relief, they did that early part very well. In fact, it’s the best part of the movie. It’s quite faithful — only a few niggling changes and omissions — and lasts over an hour of the film’s 2.5 hour length.

Unfortunately, to my surprise, the film fails on the easy stuff: the action. The actual Hunger Games themselves are far too tame. I suppose the producers were working hard to keep this PG-13 so they barely show any blood or death — but that also neuters the film of any tension, horror, and serious emotion.

The earlier parts of the film actually feel more like the kids are in jeopardy than during the combat. We see glimpses of the political powers manipulating the games and it is clear that everyone is just pawns and that is terrifying. But survival in the games is far too easy for our heroine Katniss, who never seems in much jeopardy, and that’s the opposite of what the book feels like. The events in the film are quite similar to those in the book, but way it is presented couldn’t be more different. In the book I could barely breathe I was in such fear for all the characters — it was just brilliantly written — and in the movie everyone had cartoon character deaths.

Now that’s not to say that the film doesn’t work or is terrible. It’s very good. Almost everything is excellent: a decent script, great sets, perfect casting, and the performances of almost all are fantastic. But the second half of the film just doesn’t live up to the book. Admittedly that’s a very high mark, but rabid fans of the book will be slightly disappointed that the film isn’t as profound.

Film adaptations always make changes to the story and this one is no exception. A few of them annoyed me, but were minor enough it didn’t bother me. (The only major plot thread completely omitted is the red-haired Avox girl.) Some of the changes were actual improvements, which surprised me as I didn’t think the book needed much improving. But the book is written first person, which can be a little claustrophobic, and the film shows us a few scenes of what’s going on outside of the main character and that was surprisingly enlightening. I particularly liked the ending for the gamemaster character (someone not mentioned in the book, but he fit right in and was important for conveying the game’s rules) and the way they had Haymitch instigate the critical rule change. Very clever.

On the other side, there are tons of little inconsistencies and oddities in the adaptation that I found annoying. Some are upset when every single scene in a book isn’t in the film, but that’s not me. What bothers me is when important details are omitted leaving other scenes not quite making sense. This film does that in several places and it’s disappointing. I’ll give you one tiny example of what I’m talking about. Note that this isn’t a spoiler since it’s such a minor scene.

In the scene where Katniss has to shoot an arrow in front of the judges to prove her skill, there are two critical flaws from the book version. The book makes it very clear that she has been hiding her skill at archery from the other contestants, which means she hasn’t practiced with the bow and arrows provided, which are very different from the inferior equipment she has used at home. Thus, when she first shoots, she’s poor. Unfortunately this isn’t explained well in the film. There’s a brief mention earlier about hiding skills, but it’s so quick I doubt most viewers caught it, and there’s no mention at all about the bow being different and her not having a chance to practice with it.

Now this is such a small thing as to be utterly trivial, yet that’s exactly why it annoys me. It would have been so easy for this detail to have been included in the film — a simple comment about the bow being different would have sufficed — and yet the film is weaker because the filmmakers omitted it. One of those errors in a film isn’t the end of the world, but there are at least a dozen in this adaptation, and while none are large enough to destroy it, they do weaken it.

One other thing I found very odd: the title of the story is about hunger, and Katniss’ character is supposed to be nearly starving, scraping out a living in her poor district. Yet when presented with all the gourmet food in the Capital, instead of scarfing it down and talking about it all the time like in the book, the characters barely react to it. Food is a critical part of the book, and in the film it’s treated almost as an afterthought. (Even hunting for food during the games is trivialized to a quick montage.)

In the end, while one can be nitpicky about countless details, this film gets so much right it’s still enjoyable and worth seeing. There are numerous scenes that are just spot on — I especially adored the look on Jennifer Lawrence’s face when she’s being “congratulated” for being selected to compete in the Hunger Games: it is just the perfect blend of confusion, dread, and polite smiling. I also loved the hilariously ridiculous costumes of the rich people in the Capital and the manipulation of the arena by the techs.

If you’ve read the book, you’ll probably be pleased overall, though a little disappointed by the tiny changes and weaker impact of the film, and if you’re new to the story you may wonder what all the fuss is about. If that’s the case, go read the book: it is far more powerful, emotional, and deep. The movie’s fun, but by reducing the horror of children as young as twelve forced to fight to the death to an actual game (instead of a horrific mockery of one), it is too sanitized to stimulate political reform the way the book does.