Hunger Games

Last night I had the pleasure of seeing the midnight premiere of the Hunger Games. If you are looking for a good fast paced action adventure movie then this is something you wont want to miss. Actually, with as many people who are already seeing it it's not something you'll want to miss period.

The Hunger Games is set in a dystopian future where all that is left of North America is a handful of districts, 12 in all each responsible for manufacturing or cultivating various necessities (Coal, fishing, technology, etc.) that are controlled by the capitol. As usually happens in these things the Capitol takes all their goods and redistributes them as rashions back to the people but keeping the best and most for themselves. After an uprising and war which the Capitol won a treaty was signed which stated that every year each of the 12 districts would have to select 2 tributes, a boy and a girl  between the ages of 12 and 18, to fight in the Hunger Games to the death. The last tribute standing wins extra rations for their district in the upcoming year.

The Story begins at the culling for the 74th Hunger Games. The protagonist, Katniss Everdeen, sees her little sister get called to the Hunger Games and knowing she wouldn't make it steps up and takes her place. Katniss does have special skills however, her father before dying taught her how to hunt, how to forage, and how to stay alive.

For those of you who haven't read the book series this will be a great action movie that will have you rooting for the underdog up to the last minute. For those of you who  have read the series I must say this is one of the truest book to film adaptations I have seen in quite a while. They may have missed a few fine detail things, the most predominant of which would be how Katniss receives her Mockingjay pin but nothing that is crucial to the story has been left out.

A quick word of warning before I proceed if you are not a fan of the way the Bourne Ultimatum was shot, ie. having up close jerky camera movements during high action then beware because this movie has a lot of that. I didn't think it was that bad but one of the people I went with got motion sickness from it about halfway though. They do this, however, to intensify the chaos that the characters are experiencing and to cut down on the violence a little because these kids get brutal on one another.

Now, as I have talked to people about this movie one of the biggest questions is: What is the purpose of this film? Is it just to show kids killing kids? Is there any moral? Any redeeming values? Yes. For one the overall theme of the series is an exploration on how war effects children and the repercussions of the actions of our past generations. The kids going out don't really understand why they are being forced to kill each other aside from "It's the way it always has been". Also, it the character of Katniss, we find a strong female lead who can defend herself and others but is also kind and values the lives of her enemies. This movie may be about violence but it doesn't condone it. Other values in this series are class warfare, forgiveness and self reliance but there will be two more movies to talk about that.

On a personal note, as I mentioned earlier, I saw this show at midnight and had a blast. I have been to a few other midnight releases this year and was getting discouraged that no one was having fun at the movies anymore. There was a time not so long ago where if you went to a midnight premiere, the crowd would be loud and fun and clap at the awesome parts. The atmosphere would be different there than on any other night. I hadn't been feeling that electricity lately. I went to see Star Wars and a few others that I thought would have good buzz about them but I was let feeling disappointed. This premiere however I got that feeling again. The audience was so into the movie you could hear gasps and laughs from the audience as good parts of the story would happen. Anyway that's one of the things I love about the movies and was happy to see it hasn't died completely yet.