May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor. And they certainly are!

Rating: 10/10 (25 March 2012)

The odds are definitely in The Hunger Games favor in terms of box office and reception. I am a huge fan of the book and when I heard about the movie I just got excited as anyone could possibly get. Of course I still had some doubt. Every time I heard someone say it would be the "next Twilight" my heart would drop because Twilight is by far not anywhere close to the standard set by The Hunger Games. However, I went into the movie with an open mind and was absolutely blown away.
The cast that were chosen for the film was perfect. Jennifer Lawrence played Katniss with exceptional strength and even grace that made me completely buy her as being Katniss and could not imagine anyone else as the strong heroine. Woody Harrelson portrayed Haymitch with a respect for the character in terms of how the character truly feels about the Capitol and showing him as a man made bitter by his life, which in my opinion was pretty much what Haymitch was. And Donald Sutherland as the vicious President Snow was absolutely terrifying in the role. He brought on the same aura of malice and hatred that the character was easily able to create in the books. This is just the first movie and I cannot wait to see what else he brings to the table in future installments. Now I could go on and on about how superb the cast was because it is true. Everyone brought something great to the table but it was Jennifer Lawrence's portrayal of Katniss that held the movie very high up. The action and violence was also pretty gruesome and done just right so that it didn't go overboard but was faithful enough to the book that the violence wasn't undermined. The outcome of having Suzanne Collins (author of The Hunger Games) work with director Gary Ross to write the script for the film version was probably one of the best things to happen for this film. It is superb filmmaking at it's finest.
In closing, The Hunger Games is a faithful film adaptation to a great book that is superbly written, performed, and directed to create what will probably be one of the best films of the year. The action and suspense will have you on the edge of your seat throughout the film as well as surprise those of you who have read the books. This film is about two-and-a-half hours long but the pacing matches that of the book so that when it's over you'll feel like its only been an hour-and-a-half. It never drags on but is always on the move to something more exciting than the one before. This film will stay with you for years to come and will make you think a little more about what direction our society is going in.