Not as violent as it should be

Rating: 7/10 (6 May 2012)

I finished reading The Hunger Games book trilogy three weeks before the Egyptian Revolution. Seeing what happened during the 18 days was like watching Suzanne Collins' books on screen. Until today, more than a year after the revolution, I believe The Hunger Games remains the closest work of fiction to the events of the revolution in Egypt. After all, it's about a game that the Capitol of Panem has started after the people made an uprising against it. The Hunger Games has 24 tributes but only one can win and that's by surviving.
Violence, thus, is the keyword. It's the core of the world created by Suzanne Collins who mentioned in an interview that she got the idea of the books while watching footage of the US crimes in Iraq. On the other hand, Gary Ross's film adaptation did not survive the gleam of Hollywood. The result is unnecessary scenes of romance (which filled the theatre with giggles at its silliness) at the expense of core violent scenes, all for the sake of topping the box office.
Despite that, most of the performances were excellent. When fans of the book trilogy (me included) made their disagreement clear when she was first cast, Jennifer Lawrence replied that she will do her best, playing Katniss Everdeen. And she did. When it comes to other leading characters, Josh Hutcherson is no less good, though there should have been much focus on the character of Haymitch and the humorous side of it as well as the relationship he developed with Katniss and Peeta.
Of course it couldn't all fit in 2 hours and 8 minutes. However, this is no justification for the film's clear means to win the war to the top of the box office. But, in the end, the first book is my least favourite. The best is yet to come.