The Hunger Games

Rating: 4.25/5

In a dystopian look at the future, The Hunger Games does an excellent job at portraying its' bleak source material.

The Hunger Games was released in the midst of the boom of young adult novels being turned into films. Many of those titles were lost in the ever growing number of adaptations that were being made, but The Hunger Games is most certainly not one of the movies that fell to the wayside. Not only is the story intense and well written, but the performances make it so the film majorly stands out from the crowd.

Jennifer Lawrence wasn't exactly new to the film world when she made her first appearance as Katniss Everdeen, but she definitely wasn't as well known as she is now. As the powerful heroine, Lawrence gives Katniss the perfect amount of fight and vulnerability that make up the character. The best example of this is when Katniss is realizing the severity of her fear before entering her arena. If anyone had any doubts on whether or not her acting skill could measure up to the requirements of the character, all they would have to do is watch this scene to see that Lawrence has more than enough talent to meet the role.

As far as adaptations go, The Hunger Games does a decent job. As it is with almost all movies based from books, there are going to be details left out. Personally, skipping information doesn't bother me nearly as much as adding in fabrications to the story. Thankfully, from as far as I can remember from the novel, The Hunger Games does not add in a large amount of details that were not in the original source. Character and setting wise, the film is pretty spot on, and that definitely helps make up for any neglected details.

Considering the premise of The Hunger Games, it is expected that there will be scenes of violence that will be difficult to watch at times, but the filmmakers make sure not to go overboard with what is happening in any moment of the film where a tribute is killed. It is thanks to that type of restraint that make The Hunger Games such a well done film. Instead of being a movie overly focused on blood and death, it is a well thought out and impressively put together movie about fighting to change a corrupt system.