A smart, thought provoking and entertaining success.

Rating: 8/10 (12 September 2012)

The Hunger Games gives us a fascinating glimpse into a dark dystopian future society. Here an oppressive government exercises it's power each year by forcing 24 children to fight to the death in a massive battle arena, purely for the sake of intimidating the 12 districts of Panem. This setting stimulates many ethical questions about survival and inequality that resonate across the entire story.
This was simply a very well made movie. Despite the occasional dodgy camera angle on the whole it was brilliant. There were aching moments of suspense along side the deeply saddening. All of this was weaved together with the help of a fantastic director and cast. Jennifer Laurence gave a respectable performance as did Josh Hutcherson which made for a strong relationship between Peeta and Katniss. Many of the other characters seemed to be brought to life even better than I expected, my personal favorites being Caesar Flickerman and Effie Trinket. The director also seemed to encapsulate the maddening, over-intoxicating colors and fashion of the Capitol in a way that was just spot on.
If you have read the books you may have mixed feelings about this film but I would just advise you to keep an open mind. There are some small areas where bits of the book have been taken away and others where extra scenes have been added to better tell the story and the result is highly enjoyable. The detailed, gripping story is surely the main factor that has brought this film such wide success.
All things considered this was a smart, entertaining and though provoking film that sets the series off to an excellent start.
The of the must see films of this year.