The Hunger Games

This cinematic adaptation of the first novel in Suzanne Collins's young adult trilogy is a tension-filled action-adventure, delivering a pulse-pounding message of female empowerment. In a dystopian future, the post-apocalyptic country of Panem (aka North America) is divided into 12 districts. As annual penance for an anti-government uprising, each district holds a “reaping” in which a teenage girl and boy are selected to participate in a televised, high-tech sacrificial slaughter known as the Hunger Games, during which only one competitor survives. When her terrified younger sister is chosen, 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) volunteers to take her place, representing impoverished, coal-mining District 12 (presumably Appalachia), along with the baker's son, Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson). En route to the garish, candy-colored Capitol, the pair meet their mentor: drunken, dissolute Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson), a former victor. After a brief indoctrination, grueling evaluation, and beauty pageant-like interviews, the gladiators are released into a wilderness compound, where the brutal carnage commences. Scrappy Katniss, a skilled archer, is determined to outwit and outlast the others while maintaining her integrity and humanity. Directed by Gary Ross, this visceral anti-totalitarianism fable (with an acerbic indictment of our voyeuristic obsession with reality television) also stars Stanley Tucci, Wes Bentley, and Donald Sutherland. Sure to be popular, this is highly recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include “The World is Watching” eight-part “making-of” documentary (122 min.), “A Conversation with Gary Ross and Elvis Mitchell” with the director and the film critic (15 min.), “Game Maker: Suzanne Collins and The Hunger Games Phenomenon” with the author on the creation of the series (14 min.), “Letters from the Rose Garden” with costar Donald Sutherland (9 min.), a “Controlling the Games” featurette on concepts (6 min.), a propaganda short (2 min.) a poster and photo gallery, and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are “Preparing for the Games: A Director's Process” with Ross (2 min.), the BD-Live function, and bonus digital and UltraViolet copies of the film. Bottom line: a fine extras package for this blockbuster.] (S. Granger)