Lionsgate acquired the rights to The Hunger Games as early as 2009, and backed the film with a hefty budget and lots of marketing. Lionsgate needed a hit, as they had not turned a profit for several years. They hired original author Collins to pen the screenplay, along with director Gary Ross and screenwriter Billy Ray, and she worked to keep the adaptation as close to the source material as possible.
The film tells the story of Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), a teenage girl taking care of her younger sister Primrose (Willow Shields) and distraught mother (Paula Malcomson) in the troubled District 12 of Panem. She spends her days trying to gather as much food as possible for her family, along with friend Gale (Liam Hemsworth). She is exceptionally talented with a bow-and-arrow, and is a skilled hunter.
In Panem, a terrible war caused a dystopian government to take over from the Capital. In order to quell any sense of rebellion, each year two children (one male, one female) between the ages of 12 and 18 are chosen to compete in the Hunger Games, a brutal fight to the death in which there is only one survivor. Primrose is chosen at random, and in an effort to save her sister, Katniss volunteers to compete. Katniss, along with male tribute Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), go on a journey to the Capital to train for the Games. There, they are aided by former victor Haymitch (Woody Harrelson), the eccentric Effie (Elizabeth Banks), and stylist Cinna (Lenny Kravitz). Eventually, Peeta and Katniss enter the Hunger Games, and must fight for survival amongst trained killers.
As the novel is told from the first person, it is limited in its discussion of other characters. As such, Collins took advantage of the ability to expand on other characters. She greatly added to Seneca Crane (Wes Bentley), the gamemaker who kept control of the tournament; his command center was also built. In the film, Crane also several conversations with President Coriolanus Snow (Donald Sutherland) in the gardens, which do not exist in the book. Collins created these scenes to elaborate the differences between the Capital and the outlying Districts. In addition, as President Snow's character becomes the primary antagonist in later stories, it gave audiences a better opportunity to meet him.
The casting of The Hunger Games is marvelous, and all the actors sink their teeth into these meaty roles. Jennifer Lawrence in particular delivers a heck of a performance, breaking into the mainstream and making the world fall in love with her. Josh Hutcherson gives a biting edge to Peeta, and he and Hemworth's Gale are likable male leads. The supporting characters almost steal the show; Banks as Effie is very fun to watch, as is Stanley Tucci's flamboyant commentator Caesar Flickerman.
Filming of The Hunger Games took several months, and Gary Ross chose to implement a shaky-cam technique to heighten the authenticity. This hinders the movie, and it is very nauseating to watch the first time. While he does a good job at introducing the story, the first hour of the film (before the actual Games) is not filmed particularly well. However, the competition works with the shaky-cam method, and he does a nice job at capturing the horror of the event. A fun fact about the movie is that the second unit director, who handles some of the more easily filmable scenes to shorten production time, is Steven Soderbergh, who won an Oscar for Traffic in 2000. He notably produced the District 11 riot scenes.
Despite questionable cinematography, the production design of The Hunger Games is beautiful. The Capital is grand to look at, as is the costuming and make-up (particularly Effie's). The visual effects are awesome, and the action is very entertaining.
The Hunger Games opened to rave reviews and explosive box office receipts, holding at #1 for four weeks. It had the highest opening day and highest opening weekend for a non-sequel motion picture. Landing in at $691 million over a production budget of $78 million, it was a huge success for Lionsgate. The movie eventually became the ninth-highest grossing film of 2012, an outstanding feat for a film released during the dead month of March. It also made a mild impact during the Awards race, most notably garnering Lawrence a Best Actress for an Action Film prize from the Broadcast Film Critic's Association.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire opens in theaters everywhere this weekend, and it is likely to make a huge splash in the box office for the next several weeks. The original movie proved that people will see a movie that looks good, no matter when it is released. As the series and it's stars have only grown in popularity since The Hunger Games, Catching Fire may end up being one the most successful films of the year.
Catching Fire, may the odds be ever in your favor.
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