Every child required to participate in the reaping arrive at the Hall of Justice and register with a simply-procured blood sample. Katniss loses Prim in the commotion. Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks) arrives to make an announcement before everyone. She plays a short video detailing the history of the games. Effie draws Prim's name as their female representative (or tribute) and Katniss volunteers in her place. Effie calls for an applause, but everyone in the crowd only silently holds up a sign with their hand in reverence for Katniss. For the males, Peeta Mellark's (Josh Hutcherson) name is called. Katniss has a flashback to the first time she met him. She then has her goodbyes with her family and Gale.
Effie escorts Katniss and Peeta aboard a bullet train. In an elegant tea room, she introduces them to Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson) a former winner of the games. When Peeta tries to talk to Katniss, she again reminisces about their initial exchange. Haymitch enters the room and serves himself a drink. Peeta tries to pick his brain, but he's useless. She watches a screen with Caesar and Claudius Templesmith (Toby Jones) discussing a scene from a past game. Haymitch gives a little background on surviving and instructs them on the importance of sponsorship and working whatever charm to one's favor. They finally arrive at The Capitol to a welcoming crowd. All of the tributes are treated to five-star accommodations, as well as extensive spa treatments to doll them up for the televised competition.
Cinna (Lenny Kravitz) is there to help Katniss and Peeta make a great impression on the Opening Day parade. They arrive in special costumes, which ignite as their coast down the thoroughfare on chariot, showing up all of the other contestants. President Snow (Donald Sutherland) addresses the crowd and tributes. Afterwards, their main competition Cato (Alexander Ludwig) glares Haymitch and he, along with Effie, take Katniss and Peeta back to their penthouse. On her television screen, Katniss sees that the natural layout of the games.
The tributes endure a four-day training camp. Cato mistakenly accuses someone of stealing his knife, when it was actually Rue (Amandla Stenberg) hiding up in the rafters. At dinner, they discuss their prospects and again Katniss flashbacks to the time when Peeta took pity on her and gave her a piece of bread.
On the second day, Peeta falls in front of the other tributes and Katniss advises him to pick up a heavy object and throw it across the room to demonstrate his strength. He does so to the surprise of others. He also shows Katniss his talent for doing makeup. Haymitch views Effie and her family from afar. He advises the kids before their compulsories. Katniss struggles with archery at first, losing the attention of the producer and the rest of the group and then regains it by shooting an apple in their buffet. While Effie scolds Katniss, Haymitch couldn't be prouder. At the end of the day, the scores of each individual are presented. Peeta did okay with an eight, but Katniss blew away everyone with an eleven. They toast. President Snow schools Seneca on the importance of giving the audience hope, but containing it, as it doesn't get out of their control.
Peeta isn't invited to the next dinner, as the team has decided to invest all of their hope in Katniss. Caesar welcomes the live audience on the day the tributes are formally introduced individually. After Glimmer (Leven Rambin), Marvel (Jack Quaid), Clove (Isabelle Fuhrman), Cato and others, Katniss is the next to be interviewed. A little nervous, she manages to work the crowd into the palm of her hand, ending the interview by standing up and twirling her dress around as it lightly ignites, as it's also made out of special material provided by Cinna. Haymitch and Effie are thrilled with her performance. During Peeta's interview, he confesses his love for Katniss. She attacks him afterwards. Cinna and Haymitch calm her down with the prospect that Peeta's admission will increase sponsorship support. That night, they can't sleep and Peeta shares with her how much he wants to die with dignity.
The next day, Haymitch coaches Katniss in the elevator. In an aircraft that will transport the contestants to the game grounds, they're each injected with a tracking device. Cinna gives her the mocking jay pendant before she's transported up in a clear tube to the platform where the games will begin. All of the contestants are there. When the countdown reaches the end, most of them run for supplies area where a bloodbath ensues. A girl saves Katniss by killing her attacker. In the forest, she runs into Fox Face (Jacqueline Emerson), but they part ways. After falling down a hill, Katniss rifles through her backpack to check out its contents. The sound of cannon shots star sounding, each indicating the death of a tribute. She finds food, cooks and sets up camp. In a tree she climbs, she spots a video camera. That night, as she is ready to sleep, there is a visual tribute up in the sky for those who died that day.
Cato has formed an alliance, which Peeta has joined and they kill one of the contestants. The next day, she wakes up to an artificially-generated forest fire care of Seneca. She narrowly escapes to a river where the alliance finds her. They chase her up a tree and Peeta convinces them to wait her out. While Haymitch parties, he has sent Katniss ointment via an electric aero-device. When she wakes up the next morning, Rue, who was not to far from her, quietly indicates a wasp's nest above her. Katniss cuts it down and it lands near the camp of the alliance, killing Glimmer. Having been stung herself, Katniss begins suffering hallucinations after she jumps from the tree, including visions of Peeta trying to save her, as well as the death of her father. After waking up from passing out, she learns Rue had taken care of her over her two days of slumber. They set up pyres to distract the alliance and agree to meet each other later that day. They decide to communicate to each other through the local mocking jays, who replicate human whistling and singing.
Katniss travels back to the platform where the alliance is guarding all of the food and supplies, formed into one huge pile. The investigate a plume of smoke off in the distance, created by Rue, leaving the youngest of their group to stand guard. Fox Face manages to successfully negotiate the booby trap of mines they had devised and steals some items. Katniss manages to hit a bag of objects at the top of the heap with an arrow, which topple down, setting off the mines and creating a devastating explosion. The alliance returns and Cato kills the young boy keeping guard. Katniss looks for Rue and finds her trapped by a net. While trying to save her, Marvel murders Rue and Katniss kills him. As Katniss sings, Rue dies in her arms. She memorializes her body with flowers and signals to the camera with her hand in solidarity with District 11. The residents watching stage an uprising and begin to destruct everything around them. The peacekeepers arrive to hose them all down.
Haymitch advises Seneca to spice up the proceedings by pushing a love story between Katniss and Peeta, which President Snow scoffs at. An announcement is made, and, for this year only, they will make an exception to allow both the female and male from the same district to live. Katniss finds Peeta camouflaged near the river. She tends to his wound and hides him in a nearby cave, where they share an intimate moment. They receive some soup via one of those aero-devices with a message from Haymitch, "You call that a kiss." Peeta shares how he has secretly admired her from afar all these years and how much he loves her. They sleep and announcement is made that there is a feat at the platform with particular supplies available for each district left. As Gale watches on the television, Katniss shares a passionate kiss with Peeta. He beckons her to stay and she wait to depart until after he falls asleep.
At the platform, Fox Face first shows up to grab what's hers. When Katniss approaches the table, Clove surprises her and would have killed her, were it not for Thresh (Dayo Okeniyi) dispatching her attacker. Back at the cave, Katniss applies ointment to the wounded Peeta. Their sleep is disturbed by a cannon shot for the recently departed Fox Face. Seneca has Game Center Tech #2 (Sharon Morris) design a beast to attack the kids. That night, a cannon shot for deceased Thresh is fired. Four of these beasts emerge on the premises of the games and chases Katniss and Peeta. They run to the platform where they climb to safety on the pod. They're surprised by Cato who attacks them. He strangles Peeta and Katniss manages to shoot him with the area so he falls to his death to ravenous beasts, without taking Peeta with him. During his audible pain, she puts him out of his misery.
The next day, another announcement is made and the rule exception made for two winners from the same district is rescinded. They decide to die together by ingesting hemlock, but the announcer stops them before they carry through. The exception stays. After the hovercraft takes them home, they debrief with Haymitch and Effie. A disgraced Seneca, who failed to contain the hope, commits suicide. Caesar interviews the couple. Before they take a bullet trip home, President Snow offers his congratulations. District 12 throws them a homecoming, as the President watches them on his screen. Roll Credits.
Box Office Prospects
Considering the solid marketing for the film, and the wide appeal it may have to an additional older demographic, the film should easily best any of the movies from the Twilight series, grossing over $300M. I could low-ball it at $325, but falling just short of $400M wouldn't surprise me. Over at Cinema Sight, I predicted $325 as its final take, $145 for the weekend.
Oscar Prospects
While director Gary Ross thinks his heroine should be nominated, the role wasn't quite at the level of Winter's Bone. I thought Elizabeth Banks would have a chance, but after seeing the film, I realized that all she does in an affected accent and walk around in a garish costume and makeup. No to any of the big ones, basically. While it was a solid enough of a film, it didn't stand out in any category to be a slam-dunk. But, there is going to be a big studio push for this, as this will be Liongate's main entry into the race. I suppose it has a chance as technicals such a Editing, Art Direction, Costume Design and Makeup, but I'm hard-pressed to even put my weight behind its most distinct entry: Costume Design. Therefore, I would say it has its best chance as of the technical of all technicals: Sound Effects Editing and Sound Effects Mixing.
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