The Hunger Games (2012)

Director: Gary Ross

Genre: Action, Sci-Fi

Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Stanley Tucci

Plot: In a dystopian future, a boy and a girl from each 12 subjugated districts must compete in an annual tournament and only one victorious may walk out alive.

When I first heard of ‘The Hunger Games’ the obvious question popped up in my mind—is it a ‘Battle Royale’ rip-off? I haven’t read any of the books but seen both the movies and can say there are similarities. However, underlying theme and treatment of both is quite different. To begin with, Hunger Games is PG unlike Battle Royale.

Battle Royale is a sheer slasher and it captures the gory details of violence and fear that violence instills—especially in someone as young as fifteen—far better than Hunger Games, whereas, Hunger Games is superior when it comes to character development, screenplay, and especially grandeur.

As compared to an in-your-face BR, HG is a more thorough and complete movie that grows on you. The idea of using flashback scenes—loaf of bread, coal mine blast—in HR proves to be a winner and gives the viewer (even without reading the book) enough insights into actual story development.

Now, this doesn’t mean HG is better than BR or vice-versa. BR was perfect as it was and requires no one to even bother about the novel, but HG does need a backstory. In fact, in terms of direction and overall acting BR is slightly ahead of HG. Even after so many years the expressions, shrieks and trauma of fifteen year olds from BR are still vivid with me.

Seeing Jennifer Lawrence first in ‘Winter’s Bone’, I did predict an Oscar nomination for her. And since Winter’s Bone her stature in films has been growing all the time. Here again, she delivers a power-packed performance.  

Found some interesting BR vs. HG discussions here:

http://www.thegalaxyexpress.net/2010/03/hunger-games-vs-battle-royale.html

A good watch.

7.5/10