Based on the most highly sought out book of the new era, The Hunger Games slammed theaters on Friday the 23 and has become what can easily be called the greatest movie of the year.
Sure, one might expect this from a Hunger Games fan such as myself, but even for those who have not read the book, the film went beyond expectations and provided maximum entertainment.
For those who have read the book, it is clear the film followed the novel down to almost every small detail. Of course, it never is the same, but The Hunger Games comes as close to the book as possible.
The intense scenes and anticipation brings readers back to those fond memories of when they were immersed in what the New York Times describes as “brilliantly plotted and perfectly paced” novel.
The movie claimed to be no different.
For those who have not read the book, it is about sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in a post-apocalyptic world in the country of Panem where the countries of North America once existed. Katniss is selected to participate in the annual Hunger Games, where a bunch of kids fight to the death on live television.
All that fighting to the death proved to make the film just as intense as the book, just put into film where, almost all of the setting and characters were straight from most readers’ envisions.
As for the cast, they could not have done a better job. Katniss is played by the beautiful Jennifer Lawrence, and love interest Peeta is played by the dreamy Josh Hutcherson. Before I saw the film, I was skeptical about all the choices of the cast. Lawrence being too pretty for the role of Katiniss and Hutcherson not having the right look. When in actuality, the cast all had perfect chemistry.
Other magnificent standouts in the cast included Stanley Tucci as the flamboyant talk-show host Caesar Flickerman and Woody Harrelson as the sarcastic but caring mentor Haymitch.
The very young actors also did amazing jobs. Young Amandla Stenberg played Rue, and was adorable and fabulous. For those who read the book know the saddening events for the character Rue, and there was a deafening silence during the heartbreaking scenes. There were emotional reactions during the movie were shocking, proving the movie’s ability to range from utter sadness to bringing uplifting laughter.
Viewers will practically not notice that they are watching a non-existing world, it was that real seeming. Attention to detail was superb. Computer geeks will know what I am talking about. This movie was not rushed in the making.
Statistically, it was about a 60 million to 75 million dollar Friday, and the weekend was looking to be a possible 150 million grossing in North American theaters alone. This would in fact beat Twilight’s opening weekend by a long shot. It definitely lived up to all the hype that has been going on for over a year now.
However, if I could make one negative comment about the movie, it would be the shaky filming and abrupt scene changing. The camera was constantly shaking and moving about even when a character was simply walking. Now with intense fight scenes or running scenes, the camera would shake and move so much it made it one chaotic blur.
To be fair, in fight scenes, they could not show too much gore and violence, since it is only a PG13 movie. Though what horrific scenes they did have made the movie all the more exciting.
The movie was two and a half hours long, but it felt like it went by in a blink. It was a heart-pounding, adrenaline-rush movie and is susceptible to amaze viewers. Anyone who has read the books will be pleased with how director Gary Ross transformed the book into this film. Not a fan of the books, no problem, viewers can still enjoy this film. In other words, anyone can and will be thoroughly entertained by this spectacular movie.
