"I want to show them that I'm more than just a piece in their Games,"

Rating: 10/10 (23 March 2012)

The Hunger Games is based of the novel by Suzanne Collins, and is the first in a series of books that are followed by Catching Fire and Mockingjay. I started reading the novels a few months ago when I first heard about the films and I have loved all three of the books, and couldn't wait for the film to come out. Now before I go onto the review I need to go over some of the preconceived notions about the film and books going around in movie reviews and the internet. The first is that the books and film are a rip off of manga series Battle Royal. For some reason fans of the series thinks the manga is an original idea when it isn't. I've read the manga. Years ago my older brother introduced me to the manga series. I enjoyed it for what it was a violent manga with great action, but not much else behind it. The story was lacking and so were the characters. As for the originality of the series it takes its ideas from great books and films like Lord of the Fly and Ender's Game among others, so saying that Battle Royal is original is laughable. When are people going to learn that it is virtually impossible to find a truly original idea anymore. What it comes down to is execution, bringing your own take on the idea and making it your own. Suzanne Collins does that The Hunger Games and her series of books using an idea that has been used before and making it her own in which she created a great and dark futuristic dark world with flawed and likable characters. The second thing I hear about is how the novel is geared down tween girls and these comments from people who actually haven't read the books. I've read the novels and I'm a man and in my early thirties, and I don't think they're geared for girls in their early teens. In my opinion this is geared for everyone. It's a dark series especially Mockingjay that deals with child on child violence, children forced to sell their bodies, war and torture among the other themes in the books, so saying the novels are truly geared for teen girls is just wrong. Finally we have the comparison to the Twilight books. For some reason reviewers and the public and general are overstating the romantic element in the novels and the so called love triangle between Katniss, Gale and Peete. It's nothing like Twilight, which I tried to read but couldn't because it was really bad. First of all unlike Twilight some crappy romance isn't the main driving force in the novels. Second there isn't a love triangle especially if you've read or have gone on to read the other two books. It comes down to Katniss and Peete. Collin's made that pretty clear in the novels. They are after all the two most important characters in the book. Katniss who will do almost anything to survive and the kind hearted Peete who doesn't want to let the Capital to change him and the confusing and growing relationship between the two. All right I'm done with my rant. I really got to stop surfing the internet or going to certain sites, and now onto what I thought of the film.
As I've said I've read the novels before seeing the film, but I'm not one of those people who'll penalize a film if it's not a perfect copy of the novel. The Hunger Games film adaptation is a great film to put it mildly, but in my opinion it's an excellent film. The best I've seen in recent memory. I think since Inception a few years ago. I won't go to in-depth into the plot of the film since it might spoil the film for those who haven't read the novel. It takes place sometime in the distant future after some kind of world war/disaster which caused the collapse of the United States and North America, and what rose from the ashes was Panem. Panem has a president but it's more of an empire then a republic. Years before the novel the thirteen districts of Panem rose up against the Capital but lost with the destruction of district 13. After the war the Capital forced the districts obedience by holding annual games in which a boy and girl from each district from the ages 12 to 18 are randomly picked and forced into game/reality show in which they children must kill each other and there can be only one winner. You don't need to read the books to enjoy the film as it's pretty easy to follow. As for the film adaptation of the book its stays pretty close to the book. There are a few people cut from the film. The mayor's daughter Madge Undersee and Peete's parents cut from the film. I shouldn't say they were cut since I don't know if they were edited out or just not added. Then there is Haymitch (Woody Harrelson) who they didn't wasn't introduced in the film like he was in the movie. I didn't mind the small deviations from the novel and I liked what they added in place. The added a behind the scenes take on the film. Showing the head game master Seneca Crane (Wes Bentley) as he views the games along with his interaction with president Snow (Donald Sutherland).
Sadly there's a word limit for reviews here. If you want to see my full review go to Movieweb.com and look under the name Huntsman. Otherwise this is a great film and should be seen by everybody.