Review of The Hunger Games (2012) by Kyle L — 20 Nov 2014

Thrilling, tense, powerful and visually stunning and striking The Hunger Games is one of the best Young adult adaptations ever made since the Harry Potter films and this is way better than other young adult adaptations like the horrid and awful Twilight saga or the Divergent series and Mortal Instruments City Of Bones.

The Hunger Games is about the dystopian post apocalyptic future where girls and boys are forced to participate in the annual Reaping or so called Hunger Games. When Katniss Everdeen volunteers to take her sister's place and is forced to team up with Peeta.

When the games start she soon learns the things she will face and what its like to be in The Hunger Games which is survival. I seriously love this movie and I also love the book because I read the novel as well after watching this film in the cinema and I also consider this film to be one of the best young adult adaptations ever made and its very true thanks to the film's execution.

What makes The Hunger Games a great film is that the movie is extremely captivating and visually striking from start to finish. The film has so many scenes that are extremely thrilling and intense(The first attack when the game starts, the outstanding Tracker Jacker sequence, the super sad death of Rue and the intense climax)plus the film itself is also full of scenes that are violent, gory and extremely sadistic and painful at the same time.

The other good things about The Hunger Games is that the film is extremely well paced from start to finish and I love how the build up is slow first and then the film goes into dark places within the next half of the film also the soundtrack by James Newton Howard is magnificent and beautiful it seriously gives the film not only an intense feeling but also a very dramatic and heartbreaking I love when one of the dramatic songs of the film was playing in the sequence when Rue dies it seriously breaks my heart the whole time when I watch that scene.

Plus the film also has so many outstanding CGI effects that are magnificent and very effective, the editing is top notch and the settings are so cool and stunning at the same time. Now the acting is one of the main highlights of this film and although the acting is not as intense as in the sequels and most of the dialogue isn't as superb as in the sequels the acting still deserves an Oscar.

Jennifer Lawrence did a very good job with her performance as Katniss Everdeen and she's so gorgeous at the same time and I love when the sequels were released she managed to show a series of improvements in the next films.

The same can be said to Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark, Woody Harrelson as Haymitch, Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket, Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman and Donald Sutherland as President Snow along with Liam Hemsworth as Gail Hawthorne.

While the other actors did a very good job with their performances as well like Alexander Ludwig as the aggressive and vicious Cato along with Isabelle Fuhrman as Clove. Director Gary Ross did such a fantastic job with his work on this film and he managed to make Suzanne Collins' book into a violent, suspenceful and shocking survival film and Gary Ross' directing is flawless and extremely focused and he seriously gets the formula of the novel I just can't believe that he didn't return to direct the next three Hunger Games films and Francis Lawrence took over his position as director but at least Lawrence is also a good director and I wonder how these films would also work if Ross directed all four movies but at least Gary Ross managed to make the first film work well.

Overall The Hunger Games is a superb young adult adaptation that beats other young adult adaptations and it is in line with the Harry Potter films and not the awful, horrid and terrible Twilight saga.

This movie gets a 10/10 Catching Fire will still be the best in the Hunger Games series.