A worthy adaptation

Rating: 7/10 (9 April 2012)

I'll start off by saying; I have been a long time fan of The Hunger Games book series since my girlfriend recommended it to me. I read them all cover to cover within a week and a half, and I am not even an avid reader. In short, the books are highly addictive, and very thought provoking.
When I heard that a film was in production for the first book, I was scared they would turn the whole thing into a "Twilight Phenomenon", a bad movie for 12-year-old girls to scream and rave about. And how wrong I was, this film is a very good adaptation of the book! I particularly enjoyed the added perspective of the game makers, which is something not detailed in the book. I thought the use of flashbacks to explain Katniss' family situation was appropriate and helped with the pacing of the film. Jenifer Lawrence was perfect for the role of Katniss; every wince of pain, every nervous line, every forced smile was very convincing.
My only complaint with this film is Garry Ross's use of shaky cam throughout the action sequences; I understand he was trying to emulate the book's first person perspective, but I felt that it was over done, to the point of nauseating. Some sequences were hard to follow because you couldn't physically see what was happening. On the other hand, if the camera work had been steadier, the action would have been shown in much greater detail and brutality, bringing the film's classification closer to an "R" (or MA 15+ in Australia), which in my opinion would have been in keeping with the book's graphic and brutal style.
But never the less, this is a worthy adaptation of an amazing novel; acting is brilliant, sets are convincing and characters were very true to their "written word counterparts". Despite some nauseating camera work, I thoroughly enjoyed this film and recommend it to anyone over the age of 13. But most of all, I recommend reading the books, they are well worthy of your attention.