Quite an excitement!

Rating: 8/10 (7 July 2012)

I knew absolutely nothing about "The Hunger Games" until I saw the previews for this movie, and also when my Mom and sister went to see it in the theater. My Mom told me it was exciting, but my sister 'liked' it only because she said it didn't really follow the book.
My interest was raised, and I watched a preview and decided to go see it. Honestly, I liked it! The story takes place sometime in the future in a country called Panem, which is a post-apocalyptic America and Canada and divided into 12 (or 13) districts, and one young person from each district is sent to the capital city located in the Rocky Mts to take part in a match called "the hunger games". The games are a series of a fight to the death type of scenario like the gladiator fights that took place during the time of the Roman Republic/Empire, and only one will remain victorious and receive eternal glory. Two young people, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) are taken to the capital city to take part in the games. By now a lot of people have seen the movie and read the books, so I don't think it's a big surprise what happens at the end. Peeta and Katniss are the last two left by the end, and are pitted against each other so only one comes out a winner. They later decide to kill themselves instead, thus forcing the game hosts to declare them both winners. They emerge as celebrities throughout Panem, but now the President of Panem (Donald Sutherland) has to figure out what to do with Peeta and Katniss since they started a rebellion throughout the other districts.
I thought the acting was very good: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz and Donald Sutherland are very good in their parts, and the scenes that took place during the match were pretty intense, and I got a bit freaked out when the giant dogs came out. I never read the books so I can't tell you how the movie is in comparison, but I did feel like there were some things that felt a bit rushed. But in the end, I thought "The Hunger Games" was a good movie and I'm looking forward to the sequels.