Gary Ross is a Genius; It's the best movie possible from the material

Rating: 9/10 (31 July 2014)

Let's separate out the source material itself from the extreme dedication of the production team to get the nuances of Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games right in tone while shrinking the novel into the confines of cinema. In the latter regard, Gary Ross did a superb job in script writing / directing. He's balanced the need to keep the storyline moving with the need to keep true to the novel's underpinnings.
I've watched the movie a couple more times before writing this review. I find nothing superfluous, bloviated, unnecessary. It's a compact story that's equally divided between setup and execution. What's truly sad: Imagine had Gary Ross been the director of Prometheus. Yes -- Gary Ross is a genius.
What about the acting? The only weakness is the lack of chemistry between Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and Liam Hemsworth (Gale). Liam seems a miscast hunk out of place in an ugly dour world. Too bad they didn't cast Miley Cyrus as Katniss's younger sister.
But there's a much larger problem: The source material. The audience has to keep swallowing incredible incongruities just so we can be continually hit over the head with multi-level anti-authoritarian messages. This is an amoral society on steroids that exists only as a foil to propel the thematics. We can't help but become angry at the atrocities foisted on Katness and her conscripted compatriots. Maybe I would have understood better if Katness had worn a six-pointed star.
So, I'm giving this movie 9 stars largely on the excellent execution / beautiful realization of Gary Ross's vision.