Straight as an arrow!

Rating: 9/10 (24 August 2012)

After enjoying the dystopian reality of the novel, I was unsure if this could be adapted into the medium of film. I was concerned that the story itself was just too long and in-depth for the time constraints of a movie. However, I was pleasantly surprised. Casting is genius, particularly with Donald Sutherland as President Snow and Woody Harrelson as Haymitch. Jennifer Lawrence plays an acceptable Katniss. The setting is well done without taking over the film. The Capital's garish clothes are perfect and contrast visually with the bland poverty of the districts. Surprisingly, the violence is not particularly watered down. It is instead inferred with the camera only viewing the before and after. This works well in a story where the violence is integral to the plot. The Hunger Games themselves are well done. The brutality is emphasised by the switches to the control room and the concentration on the 'game' aspect. There is thankfully very little obvious CGI which could have been overdone. My only negative comment about the film and the reason I did not award it 10 stars was because the lack of focus on the 'hunger' aspect of the society. In the novel, Katniss and Peeta gorge themselves on food. Unfortunately in the film, they do not. This means that the poverty of the districts is not viewed as extreme as it is supposed to be. The viewer cannot believe any people who have lived on the edge of starvation their whole lives would sit in a dining car full of food without eating it... In conclusion, The Hunger Games is an excellent adaptation of the novel. Actually one of the best film adaptations I have seen. Worth a look whether you have read the novel or not.