Artistry: High
The Hunger Games is a captivating film. The heart of the film is Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), who is a toughened, poor, yet courageous participant in the Hunger Games - an annual battle to the death between twenty-four children. It's rare for a film to have such a battle-hardened and yet feminine heroine, but Katniss Everdeen proves to be a character that you support and love. Her co-characters are fascinating in their own right, from a grizzled mentor (Woody Harrelson) to Katniss' eventual love-interest (Josh Hutcherson).
Where the characters succeed, the design and costumes of this futuristic world do so as well. Being grotesque, beautiful, and sad all at once, one cannot help but be immersed in this new world. That being said, the film's artistry is not perfect. The film drags at times, especially during the Games themselves. Moreover, the action sequences are the weakest element. The camera shakes incessantly, making it is difficult to discern what is happening.
Morality: Decent
The film is essentially a survival story and a romance. Katniss Everdeen has had to be a survivor from her impoverished youth, and now she must survive the greatest challenge of all. Yet as the film progresses, it unexpectedly and yet charmingly becomes a romance between her and another boy in the Games. It is a teenage romance, but quite moving nonetheless.
The film's weakness, though, is that it never grapples with the larger issues that the Games suggest. The film shies away from focusing on the grotesque nature of the Games themselves, and turns the Games into a battle between good kids and bad kids. This is a false note. Moreover, the film portrays the ruling class that sponsors the Games as sympathetic, which is odd since they are coldly killing children for their own entertainment and power. While the film's fundamental story is fine, it seems that it could have gone further still.
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