Outstanding

Rating: 10/10 (29 March 2012)

The Hunger Games is set in the future, in a dystopian society called Panem which is in the ruins of North America. The Capitol controls all of the 12 surrounding Districts ever since the rebellions by the Districts, and rules them fiercely. Every year, the Capitol selects one girl and one boy from each District to fight to the death in a bloody battle, which is televised to the District families as a reminder of the Capitol's power. During the selection of the tributes (names for the selected young girls and boys) for the 74th Annual Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, a young girl from District 12, volunteers in the place of her younger sister Primrose to save her. Peeta, a local boy, is also chosen. They obviously have some history between them but it becomes clearer as the flashbacks become more detailed.
During the weeks of training, emotions run high between each other and the other tributes, all of them jostling for public success which will bring them sponsors. The sponsors send help such as food, medicine or clothing to their favourites, which could mean the difference between life and death.
The Hunger Games is fast paced, punchy, exciting film that will have you on the edge of your seat. Tense sequences culminate in fast action scenes which leave you terrified! It made me sob with terror and with sadness alternately, and was overall the best film I've seen so far. Be warned, the gore in this is not melodramatic, but disturbingly effective.
The fact that it doesn't gloss over the brutal murder that Katniss has to see, but shows it in all the gory detail, makes us feel more connected with her than ever because we know what she's seen and are just as shell-shocked at it. Like any film with that amount of violence, it could have quickly descended into an action-packed chaos, but finely tuned emotional sequences (Katniss and Prim, Katniss and Rue) steady the plot and are brilliantly played by the actors. Jennifer Lawrence I adored in this role, I felt she acted it perfectly.
Also, I loved the fact that although Katniss is an extremely powerful, strong and capable female character, she's not emotionless. The most sensible thing to do when Rue died was to run and seek shelter, but she risked her life to show one last mark of respect for her. Katniss would beat the sappy, submissive and meek Bella Swan any day. Bella wouldn't last a second in that arena! Katniss is such a brilliant female lead, and Jennifer Lawrence is outstanding. What else can I say?
Overall, a triumph. I'm considering going to see it again because I loved it so much, and I really hope that if they do a sequel it'll be just as fantastic as this one.