Three hearts beat in the chest of the Hunger Games series. First, it’s a teen drama with young characters and romantic tangles. Second, the films function as fantastical sci-fi that stages a decadent society in bright colors. But most important for the mood of the films is the action or thriller aspect. Each development occurs against the background of brutal death games in which young people cruelly set against each other become. This formula should also help the new Panem film The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes to be a success.
We burn for Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) as long as their pain and deprivation are believable to us. However, the first movie The Hunger Games managed to piss me off Peeta completely in 20 seconds. Because he uses his bakery skills turned into a stone. Yes, exactly. Into a stone!
The Hunger Games hero Peeta looks ridiculous as a stone man
The scene arrives at about the 100 minute mark. Katniss finds Peeta’s tracks down a river, which lead them to a pile of rocks. Suddenly the stony mass stirs, a face appears in it. Peeta used his decorating skills as an apprentice pastry chef to develop himself to blend in with the environment for camouflage.
You can watch Peeta’s stone scene on YouTube.
studio canal
Peeta in stone form
After that it was over for me with Peeta and the credibility of the first film. Why? First of all, because Peeta’s mimicry just looks ridiculous. He looks like him Defecation of an incontinent granite monster on a paleo diet. A Pirates of the Caribbean zombie that’s been gathering dust in a Disneyland closet for 30 years. The generic creep from an old sci-fi series, made up of balls of gray foam and painted eyes. An ugly cross between Korg and Dr. Manhattan ordered from Wish out of boredom!
The stone scene destroys the murderous Hunger Games atmosphere
But the bigger problem is that the moment destroys the dense survival mood of the Hunger Games scenes. I just saw Katniss having to tie her belt to a tree to keep from falling. How she used a wasp’s nest as a weapon. How much effort it takes just to get her a small jar of healing ointment. The more realistic the game of death turns out to be, the more excited I am.
But a stone camouflage? As a natural transfer of a baker’s journeyman? How did Peeta make the camouflage? And when? Did he himself I brushed my face with glaze I brought with me for five hours, seriously injured while the other Hunger Games participants played Russian roulette? And why does the poorest district of Panem actually have a pastry shop whose cakes apparently require more finesse than the preparation of Japanese puffer fish?
studio canal
Katniss (Lawrence) and Peeta (Hutcherson) in The Hunger Games
So, besides the unintentionally weird make-up, there’s a fantastic touch to the scene that ridicules the brutal death games. On one side a young girl is pierced by a spear. On the other side, a boy disguises himself as a stone. Can the next candidate then fly like Icarus because he plucks geese at home?
After the first Hunger Games movie, Peeta was lost
The credibility of the first Panem film and one of its most important characters was destroyed for me afterwards. The decadence of the rich, the abject poverty, the brutality of murderous teenagers – you could apparently escape it with make-up. And my assessment of Peeta as a character is heavily tied to that scene, because camouflage is the greatest inspiration of his otherwise fundamentally helpless character.
This is not a general criticism of the Hunger Games series. It also works because it thematically expands on the trauma of the survivors after film 1. Only Peeta Mellark was never the same for me. He’s still lying on a riverbank with his journeyman’s piece on his face.
The 10 biggest streaming films of 2023 on Netflix, Amazon & Co.
In this installment of our Moviepilot podcast, Stream Browsing, we take a look at the big movies coming exclusively to Netflix, Amazon, Disney+ and Apple TV+ this year. The result is a list of ten special recommendations.
At this point you will find external content that complements the article. You can show it and hide it again with one click.
From the sci-fi epic to the potential Oscar nominee, everything is included. The talents gathered are particularly impressive. In 2023 we can expect new movies from Martin Scorsese, David Fincher and Zack Snyder in the streaming space, while Gal Gadot, Leonardo DiCaprio, Henry Cavill and Chris Hemsworth will be in front of the camera.
*. If you make a purchase through these links or sign up for a subscription, we will receive a commission. .