Proved that 'The Hunger Games' could stand toe-to-toe with 'Harry Potter'

Rating: 9/10 (14 November 2015)

I'll admit I laugh at the fact that every single 'Hunger Games' film released to date, when viewed on the IMDb mobile app, leads off with a negative user review. So to serve as a means of contrast with these negative reviews, here's a positive review of the first 'Hunger Games', directed by Gary Ross.
Now I'll fully admit that this film did end up getting out-shined by its far superior sequel, 'Catching Fire'. But that doesn't mean that this film is as bad as some have put it out to be. Through Gary Ross' solid direction, the film does its job of establishing the universe of Panem and its characters and overall both the story and characters are well-written, especially when compared to other 'Young Adult' franchises like 'Twilight' and 'Divergent'. It also helps that the film has a terrific ensemble cast highlighted of course by Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen, who pretty much carries the film by herself, even in a film that also features names like Stanley Tucci, Woody Harrelson, Donald Sutherland, and Elizabeth Banks.
A lot of criticism towards this film mainly revolves around the fast editing and shaky cam, primarily during the Games themselves. Personally it didn't really bother me but I understand where others are coming from. That was definitely one thing that the sequels did improve on. But even with that in mind, 'The Hunger Games' was a solid start to one of the few 'good' film franchises based off of a Young Adult oriented book series.