Pretty good, but could've been better.

Rating: 7/10 (4 May 2012)

May the odds be ever in your favor!
The Hunger Games is a really good film, and I can only imagine how good the books must be (I gotta read them some time!). The world of the film fascinated me, the story was great, the characters as well, especially because of the great actors portraying them. Good special effects, OK action and good times at the movies.
What I hated though, was the cinematography. The hand-held camera, the shaky-cam irritated me so much, I couldn't enjoy many parts of the film because of it. The fast-paced editing didn't help either! Sometimes things got so confusing, I couldn't tell what was going on on the screen. And the camera never stopped! It would've been great to let our eyes have some rest between poorly coordinated action scenes, but the darn camera just kept on moving! This has to stop. This style of shooting isn't good. Stop it. Please.
Other than this unfortunate error, I enjoyed the movie. I haven't read the book, so I don't know how good the adaptation was, but I think the screenwriter(s) did a terrific job. There were a couple things I didn't like about the story though: the ending, which I found predictable, and someone's death, which I think was overemphasized. The love story seemed forced to me too, but maybe it was better written in the book. I also missed the twists. All the major plot points were in the trailer, so there weren't any surprises. I loved Stanley Tucci in the film and Jennifer Lawrence was a perfect action star.
Another thing I didn't like was the PG-13 rating. Some scenes could've been so awesome, but the editors took away the sound, added some heart-braking music to the shakily shot scenes, making them hard to enjoy. The film could've had so much potential if the studio didn't want to stick to the lower rating. Blood and gore is fun! Especially when the theme of the movie is so brutal. People expect to see more, than just quick, shaky images that only imply the action, rather than show it.