The Hunger Games grows up...

Out of the shadow of an enjoyable, but half baked first film, steps a much more mature offering in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.  The second film in the series joins Katniss and Peeta following their victory in the 74th Hunger Games of the first film.  This film explores the social and political impact of their joint victory within the land of Panem.

We get to further explore the devious contempt of Donald Sutherland's character, Snow.  Something sorely lacking from the first instalment.  We also get a great performance from Phillip Seymour Hoffman.  His character adds gravitas to proceedings.  The 'things that go unsaid' nature of his story arc adds a very thoughtful element.
The first film was very much about survival.  You could also liken early adolescence to survival too.  Your life is rapidly changing.  You are plucked from the safety and security of primary school, thrust into the harsh dog eat dog world of secondary school.  Much in the same way as the Reaping sees Pledges taken from their homes and put into The Hunger Games.
Moving onto Hunger Games: Catching Fire, and the journey continues in much the same way.  During your early years, from the safety and security of your family home, you have but to think about yourself.  That is not to say that we are all selfish, just that we have yet to be fettered with the responsibilities that are a natural part of adulthood.  Now as The Hunger Games moves into it's second instalment, we start to see these more responsible, adult elements start to appear.
This starts with the scene between President Snow and Katniss.  Snow immediately acknowledges the deception of Katniss' relationship with Peeta, and asks that it continue.  Snow insists that Katniss do whatever it takes to convince him that it is real, otherwise Katniss’ family will be at the mercy of Snow.  So not only are we dealing with the concept of deception, but also the idea that Katniss is having to do something that she does not enjoy in order to keep others safe.  A very grown up concept, and signs that we are moving out of the comfort of childhood and into adolescence and young adulthood.
Then we are introduced to the Mockingjay symbol for the first time as a symbol of rebellion and propaganda, spray painted on the tunnel wall during the train journey to District 11.  An introduction to the politically charged element of this second film.  Having arrived in District 11 on their victory tour, Katniss and Peeta are expected to give a speech.  Effie has prepared these already and hands them cards that they need only read from.  After only a few words Peeta abandons the cards and speaks from the heart.  With the image of fallen tribute, ally, and friend Rue looking down upon her, Katniss is compelled to follow suit.  

     “Everything beautiful brings her to mind.  I see her in the yellow flowers that grow in the meadow beside my house.  I see her in the mockingjays that sing in the trees."

After these heartfelt words from Katniss, an elderly gentleman in the crowd raises a silent, three fingered salute, a symbol of the growing rebellion.  Members of the Capitol's police force are quickly on hand to put a stop to it by shooting the elderly man.
A distraught Katniss gets a very real lesson on how her thoughts, words and actions have very real consequences on everyone around her.  Like I'm sure all parents will agree however, there are still some things that are kept from Katniss.  In much the same way parents protect their children from some of the harsher realities of life for as long as possible.  This becomes apparent in the final scenes when we find out that a plot to start a rebellion was happening all around her during the 75th Hunger Games.

As the first film introduced us to the concept of The Hunger Games.  It focused mainly on the mechanics of the games survivalist nature.  In this way it was likened to films such as Battle Royale, meaning that those unfamiliar with the books were coming to watch the film with expectations that were skewed from the start.  Being compared to such an adult themed and violent film made the first Hunger Games seem perhaps more childlike than it actually was.  Throughout the second film we get glimpses of rebellion.  People talking about hope.  Unrest in all the districts, and silent salutes in respect to the two main characters that add much more.  This comes to a dramatic climax at the end when we are brought to the precipice of a full scale uprising.  When we also find out that District 12 has been flattened and Snow has followed through with his earlier threat, Katniss' steely look tells us that we have crossed a threshold and there is no going back.  A fine ending that left me wanting immediately to see the final instalment of this franchise.

As the final credits began to roll, I turned to a friend who I was watching the film with and jokingly bet that the final film would be split into two parts.  An annoying trend with such franchises.  It appears the trend will continue with The Hunger Games, where we can expect to see 'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1' on our screens just before Christmas next year.  My only hope is that it isn't a case of all the action being shoe-horned into part 2.

Do I jump on the bandwagon?...

I want to start by making a confession.  I'm a fan of the Twilight franchise, and by this point I have yet to read any of the books.  My only experience is the films.  This is the complete opposite to the norm for me.  I went to great lengths to make sure I'd read the Harry Potter books before I saw the corresponding films  The books always have more to offer in my opinion.  Everyone can take away something unique for themselves.  Their imagination makes it that way.

So the question is, do I want to go down the same road with The Hunger Games?

Until the release of the film, I knew nothing about the series.  The same can be said until I recently went to see the first instalment of the franchise.  Since then I've done a little homework into the series of books behind the film(s).  Suzanne Collins has achieved great success in tapping into the lucrative market of adolescent/late teen/young adults, with excesses of time and money.  You have all the big hitting themes in there, poverty, famine, social uprising, politics, even love found and love lost.  Although I've reached that age where I see all of these things happening outside my door, in the world.  I suppose I need to read the books themselves to really pass judgement, but what's making me wonder if I have time to devote to them, is the film.  Here's why...

We start with the main premise of the film, The Hunger Games themselves. Boys and girls aged between 12 and 18 fighting to the death.  Immediately you start to draw comparisons with Battle Royale (itself a film adapted from a novel, involving children fighting each other to the death).  Although it was less restricted by it's target audience (Battle Royale was certificated 18, and banned for a long period of time following it's release), with Battle Royale you felt the stark terror and sheer confusion of the children's situation.  This was a bunch of school children that had been taken against there will and forced to fight to the death!  The Hunger Games, well that whole concept just felt soft around the edges.  The one time you felt the terror, panic, and hopelessness of Katniss' situation was when she entered the tube just before the start of the games.  This was helped in part by the great sound editing, making you feel as though you were in there with her as the doors slid shut and all exterior sounds we muted out.  Beyond that, I just wasn't made to feel the injustice of the situation they were faced with.

This same numbness was, to me, present throughout the other elements of the film too.  Don't get me wrong, I got the themes that the film is trying to broach.  The poverty of the districts in comparison to the money and advances of the Capitol.  The 'big brother' government.  Even the love story thrown in for good measure.  If we take the love story element in direct comparison with the other great teen franchise, Twilight, there you have the edgy backdrop of vampires and werewolves.  Great catalysts for romance, lust and love.  And whilst The Hunger Games comes at it from the 'we need to ham it up for the sake of our survival, but am I really falling in love with you?' angle, again, I'm just not feeling it.  It's all thinking and reasoning.  I'm not feeling it.  As it is with the other themes mentioned above.

Part of the problem for me, is my final gripe, the incoherent back story to flesh the whole thing out.  Now I must admit that as a sci-fi fan, a loose back story is something that I should be accustomed to.  In a lot of cases I let a great wealth of things slide in this department.  Sometimes though, it just niggles me.  Gets under my skin, and I have to start picking at the holes.  This was one of those such occasions.

What happened during the uprising?  Did the districts exist before this point, or were they created afterwards?  What circumstances lead to people living in the Capitol, or is it purely a birthright?  The lack of answers to these questions, for me, meant that all the other ideas and concepts struggled to gain traction.

That brings me back to my original question.  Do I go down the same road with The Hunger Games as I have with Twilight.  Continuing to watch the films without reading the books?  Or would reading the books make me more forgiving of my perceive shortcomings within the films?