Going for a hat trick with movies based on books this month!
If you don't know about this series, I have a sad for you.
This first installment attempted to stick to the ever-popular trilogy's beginning.
- "In order to control future rebellions remembering the past rebellion, the Powers That Be of the dystopian society of Panem force two youngsters from each of the twelve districts to participate in The Hunger Games. The rules are very simple: the twenty-four players must kill each other and survive in the wilderness until only one wins by surviving. The games are broadcast through the Capital and the twelve districts to entertain and intimidate the population. In District 12, the teenager Katniss Everdeen is a great hunter and archer. When her younger sister Primrose Everdeen is selected as one of the representatives of their district, Katniss volunteers to take her place in the games. Together with Peeta Mellark, they head by train to the Capital to be trained for the brutal game." - Written by Claudio Carvalho
So basically, the movie opens by setting the scene of a dystopian America,
a world segmented into economic classes and regional production, with a peppering of ethnicities.
Katniss Everdeen lives with her mother and younger sister, Primm, in District 12,
a ridiculously impoverished coal mining region, most likely in the northern states.
Barely getting by on rations, Katniss has developed useful hunting and trapping skills,
bringing meat and selling pelts to aid her family and neighbors with her friend Gale,
a really, really, ridiculously good looking guy with similar goals as Katniss.
Are they in love? Doesn't matter.
Katniss would never toy with the idea of love, marriage, and children.
She'd never bring new lives into the constant struggle of District 12,
and the terror of the Hunger Games threatening their lives every year from age 12-18.
Basically, fuck all of that noise, she's just trying to live.
This year's Hunger Games come around, and everyone must gather in the town square
to see which boy and girl will be chosen from the raffle-bowl of names.
Peeta, a boy who works in the bakery, filled with compassion and actually
living decently without having to illegally hunt and trade,
is chosen as the male tribute, quelling up memories in Katniss of his kindness.
And then, to everyone's dismay, young Primm is chosen,
and of course protective Katniss steps up to take her place, preventing Primm's
almost guaranteed death with her own sacrifice.
They are soon rushed off to the Capitol on a badass train
and that's where SHIT. GETS. CRAY.
The Capitol is basically the love-child of what everyone sees as
cliched San Francisco and Los Angeles together.
Flamboyant as fuck, with entertainment-starved spoiled rich people.
Katniss meets up with a crew of freakshows,
who quickly get broken up by Cinna, also known as Lenny Kravitz
in his final, sessual form. Mmmhmmmm.
Cinna gets her all prettied up in a hardcore flaming gown,
teaming her up with Peeta to look epic for the audience.
Everyone loves them since Peeta is so charismatic,
and news of Katniss' volunteering has spread.
Fast forward through lots of ruminating on the lavish,
wasteful Capitol-ites, and let's get to the killing!
Katniss gets bank-letter-tubed up to the game arena,
facing an epic cornucopia of weapons and her natural environment,
the woods. Awwww yisss.
The horn blows, and carnage goes down at the cornucopia,
everyone killing each other over precious tools, resources, and weapons.
Blood, blood everywhere, and stupid kids dying for lack of attention.
Katniss is horrified and somewhat relieved,
since she and Peeta have resolved to avoid murder if at all possible.
They don't want to "play" these games as pawns to the Capitol,
the bureaucrats running the world like they think they're gods.
Lots of horrible shit happens in this computer manufactured arena,
controlled by a Game Maker who keeps things exciting for viewers.
At one point, things aren't all SawIV, so fireballs are brought in to flush
everyone towards each other, including Katniss and Rue,
a barely-eligible dark girl from District 11 of agriculture,
who reminds Katniss a little too much of Primm.
This eventually ends badly, because this is the Hunger Games,
and everyone but one must die.
Primm is killed in cold blood, and Katniss loses her shit for while.
It's sad.
It's sad in the book, it's sad in the movie, it's just a lot of sad, okay?!
Eventually she realizes she should try not to die, and goes back into wilderness survival mode,
hoping to still ride out the games without killing anyone.
She sits in her trees, quietly observing alliances form and fall apart,
at one point finding Peeta after a truce goes south for him.
His leg is pretty much destroyed as he was left for dead,
and Katniss sneaks him off the a small cave to keep him safe.
She knows he won't live without medicine, and calls out to the cameras
that she needs help, which is answered by "sponsors," who fund air-dropped goodies.
In this package is a message imploring for some romance between them,
since forced survivalist murder just isn't a good enough show.
She gives Peeta a sweet little smooch, but doesn't requite his real feelings.
Peeta has always crushed on her, and this crisis has drawn him closer.
Katniss is indifferent because sometimes girls aren't all about Princes and marriage.
Things finally come to a head, with some ugly one-on-ones,
quickly dwindling the 24 tributes down to three -
Peeta, Katniss, and a badass from District 2, a gold mining region
that also professionally trains their children to be tributes.
Surely he'll kill the vulnerable pacifists, right? RIGHT?
Nope.
A pack of Stephen King inspired werewolves flush Katniss and Peeta
out to the cornucopia with career guy, where they duke it out and he becomes
a werewolf snack, leaving Katniss and Peeta to square off.
Hating this establishment, and the oppressiveness of the Capitol and games,
Katniss and Peeta refuse to kill each other, resorting to mutual suicide.
This of course pisses everyone off, since the richies can't force them to play,
so they concede to two victors, albeit begrudgingly.
Katniss and Peeta are pulled from the arena, brought to the Capitol
to tell the world how they decided not to kill each other.
Not wanting to be assassinated, their mentor and Cinna help them concoct
a sellable story that they are in love, and couldn't bear to see each other dead.
Everyone loves this story, eating it up like the reality TV it is,
and Katniss returns home with Peeta, survivors of oppression - today.
Their rebellious behavior was not left unseen, and a seed of dissent has been planted...
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