November 22, 2014 -- I was afraid this was going to be another case where a greedy studio doing a book adaptation managed to screw things up by splitting a book in half in order to make twice the money, and ended up with half a story. Like the Harry Potter series, the Twilight series and the Hobbit series, “The Hunger Games” is concluding the film series with a movie based on part of a book, but this one works out O.K.

Part three of this series does seem to have a story that works. This is not a film that can stand on its own, however, since it leans so heavily on the book, and on the other movies. If you were to see this movie without having read the book or having seen the other movies, you'd have no idea what is going on. This is a problem common to film adaptations that are so literal they lose their identity as movies and are more of an audio-video book.

This movie picks up the story with Katniss (played by Jennifer Lawrence, reprising her role from the earlier films) waking up in a rebel hospital. She finds herself burdened with being the face of a rebellion against the cruel rulers of a future dystopian version of America called Panem, and that's not a role she wants to fill. Her handlers have to persuade her to star in videos to promote the rebellion. This comes uncomfortably close to being as ridiculous as reality TV. It also continues the unfortunate trend in the books and movies of this series of placing way too much emphasis on the importance of costume design in revolutionary conflicts.

These movies would have you think that costume design, namely Katniss' costume, is an important aspect of this rebellion. In the movie a rebel dress designer declares that Katniss' costume will make her the best looking rebel ever, as if that is important to the rebellion. When a fashion designer is an important part of your rebellion, you know your rebellion is in deep trouble. I've got news for anyone who thinks that costume design wins rebellions: it doesn't. This idea is an insult to every single rebel who ever fought for freedom anywhere. Rebellions are won by fighters, not by fashion mavens.

Once you get past the trivialities of costumes and fashion, and the absurd idea that you can shoot down a fighter jet with a bow and arrow, it is a compelling story. Katniss surveys the wreckage of her old home and rescues the family cat. She goes to a hospital where the rebels are being cared for, with disastrous results. She inspires more rebels anyway. The head of the enemy forces, President Snow (Donald Sutherland) makes more ineffective evil plans to destroy the rebellion. The rebel headquarters is bombed and the rebels have no defense. They just have to ride it out. That's tense.

The story has some real surprises, partly because the surprises don't make any sense. President Snow is supposed to be some kind of evil genius, but he makes some pretty stupid decisions, like holding the hunger games, the last thing you want to do if you don't want to create military heroes who might turn against you. Maybe they never read about Spartacus. The Hunger Games don't work from a political standpoint. The ideas in the Hunger Games work better as social commentary about such things as social media and reality TV shows.

The main purpose of this movie is to set up the next, and final movie in the series, and it does that nicely. You know there is a big battle coming up in the next film, so there really doesn't need to be a big battle in this film, and there isn't. Instead, it sets the table for that battle, and for the resolution of some issues related to Katniss and the men who love her. This film rates a B.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in digital formats, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2014 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

Robert Roten can be reached via e-mail at .