A timid but firm first step towards a powerful trilogy.

Rating: 8/10 (24 March 2012)

I am already a fan, but I will try to make this review as fair and as clear as possible.
The Hunger Games is about a great deal of things, but on the surface is this: survival. Those who enjoy dystopian stories may find the Hunger Games to be similar, and yet the style and voice are fresh enough to appeal to the youth. So where does this film fit in? Somewhere in the middle; you don't have label yourself a critic or a fan or a casual viewer to enjoy this movie-it stands on its own.
Our protagonist is Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence). She is neither acidic nor saccharine in behavior; she is simply naturally reserved, and perhaps a little sullen (with good reason). Her character is well-played and strikes to the core as realistic; for that alone the audience is able to cheer for her. If she's is genuine, so too are her dire circumstances, and so too is the weight of her success. The supporting (and talented) cast fall into place comfortably; not once did I cringe at an ill-spoken line or a poorly-cast character. Certainly there were changes made from book-to-movie, most if not all were to aid the audience's comprehension, as we no longer have Katniss' first-person narration to explain plot points to us. The art direction was in most areas commendable, and in others simply adequate, the music score was unique and subtly haunting, and the camera work to be honest flipped between lousy and decent. I recommend you sit a fair deal away from the screen since most of the intro scenes are choppy. I assume this was done to hurry things along and add to tension but I felt that swift, steady shots would have sufficed. The violence in this movie is sensitized at just the right level (which is refreshing, since most film-violence is usually melodramatic or mindless), and is a unique blend of toned-down bloodshed with an intense feeling of moral disgust. As for my complaints, there is the aforementioned shaky-camera in some scenes, the too-rushed character interaction/development (at least on behalf of characters who won't return for the sequels), the omission of a few bits of back-story and artistic design that I felt would have enriched the story more for those who haven't read the books (and a few times their omission made the film seem a little too edited), and there were a handful of scenes that could have used dramatic embellishment and yet went without.
All in all I give it an 8 out of 10; it stands the test of translating from one form of media to another, it gives us a taste of both the love and the humanity within such bleak settings, and it wets our appetite for the chaos to come. Let the games begin.