Review of The Hunger Games (2012) by Ethan J — 30 May 2017

'THE HUNGER GAMES' was directed by Gary Ross and stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Woody Harrelson. ?Due to an uprising nearly 75 years ago, an annual tournament called 'The Hunger Games' is held once a year in the not to distance future. Each one of the 12 districts that rebelled against the capital must nominate one male tribute and one female tribute to compete in a battle to the death. On the reaping of the 74th Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen(Jennifer Lawrence)'s sister(Willow Shields)'s name is pulled out of the reaping glass. To stop this, Katniss volunteers in her place and must fight against the other 23 tributes to get back home.

I think this movie was made primarily for the fans of the series(like me) and not for newcomers. I recommend you watch this movie but I recommend you read the books first. If you hate reading, I cannot blame you but screw you. This movie is fine but the book is far superior. Nothing in this movie is particularly impressive but everything leans more on the positive side. It's a mildly entertaining movie that I probably only like because I really like the books. I'll say you can watch this movie and get entertainment out of it but you don't NEED to.

If you'd rather watch the movies before you read the books, I don't envy you but I can understand were you're coming from. If you watch the film first, you will probably be a little bit confused because they don't explain things the best and leave a few things out but I imagine you'll be able to understand eventually. The story is completely fine and passable but it is kept afloat by it's awesome premise. Again, the story is better done in the books but I can understand you not reading the books because you shouldn't have to. Thus, I will not say that I have issues with the story(because I get it) but I can understand non-fans not enjoying it.

Jennifer Lawrence is more wooden than a tree in this movie but I can understand that she was perfect for the role because the character being pretty wooden as well. To be fair to Lawrence, she does express genuine seeming emotion at points in the movie and I can't say she's terrible as Katniss but I think some more emoting would have helped. John Hutcherson displayed worse acting in this movie than Mel Gibson did in his Anti-Semetism apology. I hated him in this movie and I can't really explain why. I just don't like him. I like the character of Peeta, but not Hutcherson's performance. Woody Harrelson's performance as Haymitch Abernathy was the best part of the movie. He was great and I just wish he was in the book longer. Elizabeth Banks was off the wall as Effie Trinket which isn't surprising considering she supported Clinton(points! and I can say that because I'm not American). The remaining performances were mediocre(Liam Hemsworth) to barbaric(Lenny Kravitz) with some impressive exceptions(Stanley Tucci).

A lot of hate was thrown Ross' way for the cinematography for this movie and while I understand the need for tripods, I feel that the style he was going for was the documentary style which fits more in line with the first person perspective of the books. That's probably just my opinion and I completely understand why someone would hate it but I personally didn't mind it. This movie was released in 2012 but the effects were finished in 1875, or whenever George Lucas began his CGI fetish. The effects in this movie are barbaric and it's disgusting they were even allowed. The set design is also extremely bland and generic in this movie. I wanted to feel the awe and wonder Katniss felt when she first visited the capitol but instead I was vastly let down.

The action in this movie is okay but could have been much better. The world building is fine but was done much better in the books. This movie is a perfectly disposable dystopian action/romance movie which I can recommend you watch but it's not something you NEED to watch. I'll rate it 6 out of 10 PEETAS!!!