The Hunger Games

August 1st, 2012 

The Hunger Games Review:

The Hunger Games finally hit theatres last weekend with an explosive opening. It grossed over 200 million dollars in the box office in one weekend, only behind The Dark Knight and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II. I myself did not realize how much hype this film truly had until it finally released this weekend. Is it worth the wait and the hype. The answer is a resounding yes.

Performances:

Each actor in this film is truly the character that was written. I have never felt this way about any film, even Harry Potter, and it shows just how committed everyone was to making this film succeed. Because of the actors doing so well, I can’t say which one did the best, but I’ll talk about Jennifer Lawrence. Lawrence is Katniss Everdeen. She does so well in the role, but she plays it understated. The cave scene with her and Peeta was so well played. Also the scenes with the fire are thrilling and exciting, her interaction with Haymitch is great. My favorite actor in this film is Woody Harrelson as Haymitch, but that is probably because Woody Harrelson is my favorite actor. But he is so good as Abernathy he just brings a quality of depression but also hope that so defines the Hunger Games series as a whole. Also, Donald Sutherland was close to perfect as President Snow. The level of understated menace he brings to the role is just how Snow was written in the books.

Plot:

The movie follows the plot of the book to the letter. Never before have I seen a movie that so closely follows the plot of the book it is based off of. The premise is the same, the districts rebelled against the capitol so the tributes have to fight to the death. But it takes it in surprising new directions. The scene with District 11 rebelling against the Capitol is such a good twist, it foreshadows the second and third films and is one of the things that makes the movie better than the book. I didn’t enjoy the books that much when I actually read them, however I felt that the plotline was fantastic. The movie just runs with the plot and doesn’t bore you at all, making it 100% and better than the novel it was based off of.

Entertainment:

This is one entertaining film. The first half is before the Games, with them training and getting ready. The final half is the Games themselves. The first half can get a bit slow, but it has the best from both Cinna and Haymitch so I give it a rest. The part with the Games is very entertaining. It shows both gory death scenes with Cato, and forgiveness and hope with Rue. The forest fire scene is very thrilling and scary, and the final battle with the mutant dogs is scary and epic. Donald Sutherland is the menace in this film, and the scenes with Stanley Tucci, Sutherland, and Wes Bentley discussing the games make it all the more thrilling. This is one film with so much entertainment packed in the plot you just need to see it.

Overview:

The Hunger Games is a damn good film. It brings up views of an evil dictatorship but it also shows shines of hope throughout. The performances are just like the characters in the book, perfect. The actors they picked are perfect, the plot is perfect, the setting is perfect, the ending is perfect. Just everything is perfect. There is not one thing that I would change about this film. It has all of the elements of Harry Potter and Batman. It also has things that resemble Buffy, Firefly, 24, Donnie Darko, and Game of Thrones. There is only one gripe that I have with this film, and that is that it gets a little slow towards the end. This is when Katniss and Peeta are in the cave. The romance angle in this movie is a lot better than Twilight, yet it does seem a little pushed. If they had pulled it off a little less like Twilight, than I’m sure that it would have been a tad bit better. Also, a couple of my friends that I went with thought this as well, but they had not read the novel. However, this film hits every right note, and it is the best film of spring 2011. All in all, the Hunger Games is one great film.

Final Grade: B+