Review of The Hunger Games (2012) by Reece G — 13 Aug 2016

The Hunger Games, based off the book of the same name, does justice to it's source material very well.

The acting from Jennifer Lawrence is brilliant and she shines as Katniss Everdeen.Lawerance shows emotion and delivers powerful reactions to events in the movie makes the character feel believable. The rest of the cast feel a bit out of place whenever Lawerance is on the screen with them as she's just that good but Josh Hutcherson does turn in a well done performance as Peter Mallark. Woody Harrelson and Elizabeth Banks do also provide well done performances but the actors aren't given enough to work with. There are some good performances from supporting actors, Rue in particular, but they aren't used very much.

The Second half of the film is where this adaptation shines. It delivers the brutal violence and exciting moments that make this movie very exciting to watch. It also reflects this violence very well into a thought provoking context as well. The CGI is very well done as well though it admittedly does have a larger scope than is necessary at times.

The final 15 minutes are disappointing though as they quickly rush through all the plot points to tie everything up but this ruins 2 moments that should have had more time to be developed.

The first half, while well done and well acted, suffers from a lack of development for the characters,which is a missed opportunity. It is also full of meaningless conversations that do nothing to move the movie on. They are a nice addition and are nice to watch but they are meaningless to the movie and waste time that could be used to expand on more emotional or exciting moments.

The shaky camera is a very annoying part of the movie, especially in the second half, and it ends up taking away from the overall experience. It's at it's worst when the set pieces are happening which is very distracting and off putting.

The Hunger Games suffers from poor character development, a shaky camera and a mediocre first half but shines with a brilliant second half and fantastic performances.