Movie Review: The Hunger Games

I've been nervously awaiting the film adaptation of The Hunger Games ever since I heard that the rights to the beloved book were acquired by Lionsgate. Author Suzanne Collins futuristic parable about the dangers of a sadistic 'Big Brother' style government that forces young adults to battle to the death has struck a chord with readers (and now viewers) of all ages, myself included. My verdict of the film can been deciphered in the fact that during the first three days, I went to see the film three times. It is, in a word, exceptional.

The movie isn't entirely faithful to the book, but that would be impossible given that director Gary Ross (Seabiscuit, Pleasantville) was committed to securing a PG-13 rating. In that realm, the movie does respect and translate the source material into a near pitch-perfect adventure with a moral lesson at the core. I am a big believer that anyone who buys a ticket to any movie based on a book should not have had to read the book first—it's the job of the filmmakers to make the story accessible to all. In this case though, knowing the story would definitely help to enhance the movie watching experience. There were a couple of scenes that were oddly omitted but knowing the background, I was not put-off. Viewers that had not read the book would not know what they are missing, so it's ultimately a non-issue.

Outside of a great story, the movie's strongest element was the acting. Jennifer Lawrence fully immerses herself into the role of 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, the heroine of the HG saga. The Oscar-nominated actress is able to command the screen and keep even tweens interested in her every word. The exceptional supporting cast, including Josh Hutcherson as Peeta, Woody Harrelson as Haymitch, singer Lenny Kravitz as Cinna, and Elizabeth Banks as Effie, turn in performances that prove they are not just going through the motions. The casting team for this movie should be applauded for their detail into the recruitment of perfect actors/actresses for even the smallest of roles.

While the movie was excellent, there were a few minor let-downs. The vast Capitol which is described as massive, high-tech, and luxurious, was limited to just a few brief computer generated shots from a distance. The epic nature of the evil city was not as fully developed as the characters themselves. Also, a few of the special effects scenes showed signs of the relatively low budget of the movie. They weren't bad, but they weren't quite what a story as beloved as this one deserved. I'm hoping both of these things can be remedied in the second installment, Catching Fire, due out in November of 2013.

One of the times that I saw the movie was with 28 young adults, who overwhelming gave the film their approval. One of them said she cried more at this film than she did the final installment of the Harry Potter films. The fact that this movie is even being compared to that series should clue you in on how massive of a film series this is poised to become. Now that HG has broken all sorts of records with a $155-million opening weekend (which beats all of the Twilight films), I can only expect things to go up from here.

As I mentioned in a a little while back, the themes are not geared or intended for young children, and that would apply to the movie as well. The violence is tastefully done and creatively edited not to show too much of an explicit nature, but a number of scenes are still very disturbing. One young adult from Shrewsbury told me that while he loved the movie, he never pictured things so vividly and was worried about having nightmares. That should be a warning enough to parents thinking about whether or not to let their child into this film.

In conclusion, if you are a HG fan, you'll most likely enjoy the movie. If you aren't, you may still find a lot to take away from this riveting experience. At just over 2 hours and 20 minutes, it's one of the fastest 'long movies' I've ever seen. And in my movie-going opinion, it's an early front-runner for best picture of the year.

I would give it a 9 out of 10.