The Hunger Games

Please note, I've only just begun reading the first book.

When I first saw the trailer for this awhile back, I wasn't that impressed. It was basically just a minute of Jennifer Lawrence running around in the woods. The second trailer was much better and the whole idea of the story was interesting. Pretty soon everyone was talking about it. So did it live up to the hype? I would say yes for the most part.

The Hunger Games takes place in a sort of post apocolyptic future. What was once North America is now known as Panem, a nation divided into 12 Districts (at one point there was 13) and run by a wealthy area known as the Capitol. Every year each District holds a reaping (raffle) to choose one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 to participate in The Hunger Games, where the 24 contestants (tributes) fight to the death on live tv until only one remains. It's the ultimate reality show.

In the poor, coal mining District 12 where everyone is starving, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) volunteers as tribute in the place of her younger sister Prim. The boy tribute is Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), a baker's son who was once very kind to Katniss. Liam Hemsworth plays Gale, Katniss' friend who hunts with her in order to provide food for their families.

The director of The Hunger Games is Gary Ross (Pleasentville, Seabiscuit). I think he does an amazing job showing the bleakness of the Districts. You really get a feel for what it's like for these people who are starving and just struggling to survive. I must admit, I found myself tearing up on more than one occasion.

The best part of the movie for me was Jennifer Lawrence's performance. She was the perfect choice to play Katniss. She really captures the character's strengthy and determination. I can't even begin to tell you how nice it is to see a strong female character who kicks ass and doesn't need a man to take care of her.

My other favorite character was Haymitch, played by the brilliant Woody Harrelson. Haymitch serves as the drunken (but well meaning) mentor of Katniss and Peeta. From what I understand, he's the only surviving winner of The Hunger Games from District 12. He's quite the scene stealer. As is Elizabeth Banks who plays Effie. With those crazy outfits and makeup, she's nearly unrecognizable. Infact some of the outfits for all the characters throughout the movie were... interesting. During some of the scenes it felt like I was watching a Marilyn Manson video. That's not a bad thing though.

The only performance I wasn't too crazy about was Josh Hutcherson's. Don't get me wrong, I really like the character and Josh is a decent enough actor, but aside from a few moments I felt like he had little chemistry with Jennifer.

Liam Hemsworth was okay. But I can't really say much about him yet since, except for the beginning, he has very little screen time. I know his character plays a bigger part in the next two books so we shall see.

The only really negative thing I have to say is the director's use of shaky cam in a few scenes. It's something in movies, while it can be done right at times, I hate. It gives me a headache.

The movie does run a bit long (it's almost two and a half hours) and that might bother some people. It did seem to drag at times, but I was fine with it overall. I like long movies.

I would defenietly reccommend The Hunger Games to everyone. From what I've heard, it's pretty faithful to the book. The author Suzanne Collins was one of the writers on the script. While I'm sure it helps, you don't really have to read the book in order to understand the movie.

The second movie, Catching Fire, I beleive starts filming in the fall and will be released November 2013. I can't wait to see it :)

My Rating: 8/10