The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games is the first movie of a trilogy based on the bestselling books written by Suzanne Collins. This movie stars Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen, Stanley Tucci as Casar Flickerman, Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorne, and Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark and surrounds the events of the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games take place in a dystopian post-apocalyptic future in the nation of Panem and involves 1 male and 1 female tribute between the ages of 12 and 18 being selected to participate in the annual Hunger Games. This selection is made during The Reaping which is essentially a lottery process set up in each of the 12 districts to select 2 Tributes from each district, for a total of 24 participants. Based on this annual event The Hunger Games film follows Katniss Everdeen as she becomes a Tribute and her journey surviving the Hunger Games.

 

As someone who has only ever seen the movie and never touched any of the books I am unable to comment on anything regarding differences or similarities however because of the books I was at first hesitant to see this movie. The Hunger Games arrived after all of the Twilight hype originally in theaters, so then I heard about the popularity of this book I assumed that it was just another one of those types of stories. However after seeing the initial trailers for this film I realized that I would be seeing it in theaters and it did not disappoint. Watching this movie again for this review I was not disappointed, The Hunger Games is an all around good movie. 

I could easily sit here and rip this movie apart over minor things or defend the movie from all the criticism, just like any other movie, but I think when it comes down to it this movie is an all around good movie. I find it annoying how some people will try to compare all movies on the same standard, and with The Hunger Games being a big blockbuster film I think it is just that. The story is interesting and easy to follow, the action is interesting, and visually it looks stunning. 

Maybe it’s just Jennifer Lawrence, but this movie is one of those movies that I can watch over again without being bored to tears. It generally moves at a strong pace and anytime it slows down I at least have Jennifer Lawrence to look at. This isn't to say this movie is only good because she is in it, but she certainly was a very strong cast for this movie. 

The problem for me though while watching this movie was that it left me wanting to know more, and being that I have never read the books I am left waiting for Catching Fire to come out. Now I could just read the books, but I read comic books and have enough of those to catch up on, so I am rather excited to see Catching Fire to continue this story.

Chris – 8/10