The Hunger Games is a relatively new series, but it has already aged in some questionable ways. The first film was released in 2012 on the coattails of Harry Potter’s conclusion and helped launch the career of Jennifer Lawrence. Catching Fire followed one year later, and the Mockingjay films were released throughout 2014 and 2015.
These movies were obviously never as big as Harry Potter, and the movies weren’t quite as good. And now, only four years from the conclusion of the final film, they are somehow even worse. These are ten things from The Hunger Games series that haven’t aged well.
Jennifer Lawrence
While The Hunger Games movies were coming out, Jennifer Lawrence was at the height of her career (obviously). Between 2012 and 2015 she starred in movies like Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle, and X-Men: Days of Future Past and won Golden Globes, a BAFTA, and even the coveted Academy Award. As such, her sheer star power helped elevate The Hunger Games to must-watch status. However, Lawrence’s star status has significantly fallen in recent years and she is no longer the Hollywood megastar that she once was. It gives The Hunger Games series a very “early 2010s” vibe.
The Cast In General
In fact, it’s not just Jennifer Lawrence that gives the movies a rather dated vibe - it’s most of the cast! Josh Hutcherson starred alongside Lawrence as Peeta, and he’s now been relegated to Hulu and voice work. And then there’s Liam Hemsworth, who The Hunger Games desperately tried to make a thing. It didn’t work. And who can forget Lenny Kravitz as Cinna? Catching Fire added Philip Seymour Hoffman to the cast, who tragically passed away the following year. Really, the only people to still have steady mainstream work are Woody Harrelson and Elizabeth Banks.
Two-Part Finale
Another very “early 2010s” thing about the series is its two-part finale. This was very much a product of the time, as both Harry Potter and Twilight did the whole two-part finale thing. Of course, Harry Potter actually needed two parts to tell its story - Twilight and The Hunger Games did it solely out of greed.
Mockingjay was heavily criticized upon release for being split into two parts, and time hasn’t been kind to its legacy. It’s still not considered a necessary move. It’s simply a product of the greedy young adult business practices of the early 2010s and nothing more.
Love Triangle
Yes, love triangles have been around forever and are a cornerstone of many good stories. But again, this was very much a product of its time. Young adult literature was booming in the early 2010s, and damn near every single one of them had a contrived love triangle at its core. In this case, it was Katniss, Peeta, and Gale. The character work was never strong enough to make us truly care about these characters or the triangle’s outcome, and by the end, we were left rolling our eyes and wishing the horrid subplot would just resolve itself already. You can’t just recreate the magic of Team Jacob and Team Edward!
The CGI
Using CGI is always risky. Either it looks good but will appear dated in a few years’ time or it looks like utter, unconvincing crap. This was mostly the latter. For the most part, The Hunger Games’ use of CGI was admirable. But some scenes truly do look God awful. For example, the scene where Katniss shows off her flaming dress to the citizens of the Capitol. It’s supposed to elicit oohs and ahhs from us as well, but it mostly just left us feeling underwhelmed and unconvinced. Yep, that’s a CGI dress, all right!
General Story Structure
The problem with The Hunger Games, and many young adult stories of the time, is that they are horribly derivative. And it is this derivative nature that horribly ages the movie, making it seem like it was capitalizing on a fad rather than telling a genuine story. You’ve got the aforementioned love triangle, the “chosen one” protagonist, an oppressive government/regime, an aloof but trustworthy mentor, and risk averse action scenes and problems we know the characters will overcome. It’s all so been there done that, and we quickly grew sick of seeing it.
The Soundtracks
If you want a who’s who of early 2010s artists, all you need to do is take a gander at The Hunger Games’ soundtracks. The first movie’s soundtrack contains the likes of Arcade Fire, Kid Cudi, and Taylor Swift. Catching Fire contains Coldplay, Of Monsters and Men, and Sia.
And finally, Mockingjay has Lorde, Chvrches, and Major Lazer. Now, obviously a movie’s soundtrack will be a product of its time. We get that. But geez, these soundtracks could pass as Now albums for the early 2010s!
Shaky Cam
A big detraction of the first film is its use of shaky cam. For those who don’t know, shaky cam is a cinematographic technique where the movie takes on a jittery handheld appearance. This is usually done to make the action look more realistic, although it usually just ends up nauseating the audience. Shaky cam was highly prevalent throughout the 2000s and early 2010s thanks to the influence of movies like Saving Private Ryan and The Blair Witch Project. Luckily, its use has significantly tapered off over the years. But not before it hit The Hunger Games.
The Merchandise
Timeless franchises will continue to sell merchandise. After all, how many Harry Potter related things are sold each year? How many Star Wars figurines were sold throughout the 80s and 90s, even when there were no new movies coming out? But let’s be honest, most Hunger Games merchandise is now collecting dust and mold in dank basements across the world. Let’s not even address how inappropriate it was to make toys in the first place. These are kids killing other kids! Surely that is not something to celebrate and act out with your friends?
Making Katniss Look Older
Okay, stay with us for this one. In Mockingjay, Boggs makes a point of criticizing the horrible makeup they use on Katniss to make her look older. This would have hit a lot harder if Jennifer Lawrence hadn’t done the exact same thing in other movie roles. Her roles in American Hustle and Joy were both well outside her age range, but she was cast anyway. This resulted in a major dissonance between the reality of the story being told and the choice in actress, just as it does in the movie. This scene was dated on arrival.
