Review of The Hunger Games (2012) by Andrew C — 06 Dec 2018

When the phrase "Battle Royale" is said to somebody, they usually think of a video game, or some might think of a sports tournament. Suzanne Collins brought this thought to a new perspective in a dystopian novel. It takes place in futuristic North America and has twelve districts.These districts each have a different role to play in the country, like mining for District 12, fishing for District 4, and grain for District 9. All of the districts surround the oppressive capital, who is extremely harsh on the districts and has a specific battle royale type event with participants from each district. This event is a reminder of a rebellion that happened a long time ago and that nobody can overcome the Capitol. Prim Everdeen gets drawn from the list of names to represent District 12, but her sister, Katniss Everdeen, volunteers to take her place. While the book and the film were both spectacular, the book had some scenes that were changed or cut from the film, making many attributes to the movie different.

While it is true that movies must cut out some scenes from the book to take out time, some of the changes in the movie could change the entire perspective of the novel. There are many differences from the book and the movie, one of the biggest ones being how Katniss gets the mockingjay badge from Madge in the book, but she finds it in a rummage sale in the movie. This is an important change because, in the movie, it does not explain why the mockingjay, a bird that is a comical result of the inventions of the Capitol, takes a subtle dig at rebellion among the districts. This covers up some of the character development in the movie, which is one of the most important parts of the plotline. Another scene that was cut completely from the movie was the part about the Avox and the flashback that Katniss had. This is an important change because the scene shows some of the sparks that lit Katniss' fire to win the games.

There are many different scenes that were cut or changed from the book into the movie that would have made the movie better. However, the movie added a few scenes to make it better. The movie added the scene where President Snow tells the head Gamemaker not to give the people too much hope. This is an important change because it brings out the "villain" in him, while in the book, only Katniss' point of view is shown. Another good change made to the movie is that in the book, Rue, a citizen from District 11 that befriends Katniss in the games, merely points out the tracker jacker nest above Katniss, almost as a warning. Katniss later thinks of the idea to drop the nest onto the competitors. However, in the film, Rue suggests the whole idea of dropping the nest. This is a good improvement because it establishes Rue much more quickly, especially with the limited amount of time that Rue has on the screen.

This film was well made, but it was minor to the book by cut and changed scenes. The movie seemed to be less well made than the book, but it was still a spectacular piece of work. The movie had less character development, plot line, and action, but it was an amazing film on the time side. I recommend this movie for teenagers that like some action but not blood.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.