The Hunger Games Review

Plot Summary:
In the future, the Capitol selects two tributes from each district to a fight to the death on live television. On District 12, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) volunteers to take her younger sister's place in the deathmatch. She and her male counterpart, Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), will face bigger, stronger representatives from other districts that have trained for this their whole lives. Based on the books by Suzanne Collins.

The Positives:
I'll start with my review saying I have never read the original source material for this. I planned to before seeing the movie, but I never got around to it due to schoolwork and similar things. However, seeing this movie makes me want to read the books right away! I loved the concept, the characters, and the events taken place in this film. It's a world I've never been to before, but I want to explore more of.

What really strengthens this film is the casting and the performances. Jennifer Lawrence is great as Katniss Everdeen. She plays a role similar to her role in Winter's Bone, but it is given a lot more personality and emotion which makes her character more interesting. Josh Hutcherson may have finally found his breakout role as Peeta, he really delivers here. It shows how hard he has worked over the years, and finally gets a huge breakout role like this. I see him and Lawrence getting more roles because of this film, and they truly deserve to. The supporting cast is colorful and wonderful in their respective performances: In particular, I really enjoyed Woody Harrelson and Elizabeth Banks's performances here.

I was also satisfied with the direction style they went with for this film. This is Gary Ross's first film in nine years, and it is a pleasure to see him return to directing. His choices of set design and cinematography were perfect for this film. While some people complain about the shaky-cam, I quite enjoyed it. I felt it made the film look more brutal and realistic at times. The set design was created really beautifully here. For a budget of less than $100 million, they made the sets look great and different from any other film I've seen.

The writing here was excellent too. They really developed the main characters for the most part. It made me care for them and want them to succeed in the end. I also enjoyed the story and its continual suspense. It really kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the film. I also loved how for a 2 and a half hour film, they made it so fast-paced. I can say it is one of the fastest 2 and a half hours I've been in a theater for.

The Negatives:
I mentioned that I really loved the concept and the story. However, I felt at times, the story went for a more predictable route. Since it is about a fight to the death, it is somewhat obvious who lives and who dies throughout. I wish they went for a less predictable route, but the film is still enjoyable.

Also, I mentioned that I loved how they developed the main characters. I wish they developed the side characters a little more. There are many characters that could have added on to this already intense story, but for some reason they chose not to develop these characters. Hopefully, these characters are developed in the next movies.

Conclusion:
The Hunger Games is a solid start to hopefully the next big franchise. One that offers a unique concept, strong characters, and suspenseful action scenes. A very well done film that fans of the book and people who have never read the book can equally enjoy.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10