Good Entertainment with Fine Performances

Rating: Null/10 (19 April 2012)

The Hunger Games (2012)
*** (out of 4)
Good adaptation of Suzanne Collins' novel is part THE RUNNING MAN, part THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME and part BATTLE ROYALE. Set in the future, each year twelve colonies must send a boy and girl to participate in the sport known as The Hunger Games. The battle to the death will allow for one winner who will get to take food back to her people but this year there's a twist as the two contestants from twelve (Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson) begin to have feelings for each other. I'm probably one of the very few that hasn't read the novel so I have no way to compare the two and I can't say what the book got right or wrong. For the most part I thought this was pretty entertaining from start to finish even though there are some flaws in the film. I think one of the biggest flaws isn't really the fault of the film but when you know sequels are coming it's pretty hard not to know what's going to happen at the end of this film. The one other problem might get me killed by some but I found there to be very little passion between the two leads and I thought the love story was the weakest thing even though this obviously plays a very big part in the film. With that said, the rest of the film was highly entertaining and I was pleasantly surprised to see how effective the film was even with its PG-13 rating. The hunt sequences are actually pretty intense and there are some gripping moments during the deadly games. I also thought the entire opening bit was quite good and really helped build up the hype for the game that was to follow. It also didn't hurt that the cast were so good. Lawrence turns in another winning performance and she's so good here that it's nearly impossible to take your eyes off of her. I also thought the supporting players were great including Donald Sutherland, Woody Harrelson, Wes Brently, Lenny Kravitz and Elizabeth Banks. THE HUNGER GAMES also benefits from some beautiful scenery even if some of the CGI looks incredibly fake. Again, I'm not sure how this differs from the novel but as someone unfamiliar with the story I must admit that the movie is extremely well made, gripping and delivers some fine performance all of which makes it worth viewing.