The Hunger Games is a 2012 dystopian science fiction-adventure film directed by Gary Ross, starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Stanley Tucci, and Donald Sutherland. Based on Suzanne Collins’s 2008 novel of the same name the story takes place in a dystopian post-apocalyptic future in the nation of Panem, where a boy and a girl from each of the nation’s 12 Districts are chosen annually as “tributes” and forced to compete in The Hunger Games, an elaborate televised fight to the death. Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) volunteers to take her younger sister’s place, and with her district’s male tribute, Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), travels to the Capitol to train and compete in the games.

The story can be pretty intense especially with the brutality of the games. It’s slow in the beginning but when the games start the film picks up its pace. One of the biggest problems is the lack of character development. Yes, books have more time to develop the characters, explore their motivations, and to grow their relationships with others. However, the film doesn’t give us a chance to explore these characters. Also, the relationship between Katniss and Peeta feels totally forced with little to no support from the story. However, I can admit that the relationship between Katniss and Rue was a great arc in the story, filled with emotional depth. (2 out of 5)

For fans of the book series I can admit that the characters were definitely ripped from the pages of the book. The main protagonist is Katniss Everdeen, a young lady from District 12 who volunteers for the reaping to save her sister, who is thrust into the horrors of the Hunger Games. Like her novel counterpart, Katniss is a bit hard to like at first as she comes off as stubborn and standoffish. However, she did grow on me as the events of the film unfolded. Second to her is Peeta Mellark who’s pulled into the Hunger Games as well. Peeta is a nice enough character (nowhere as fleshed out as his book counterpart) but unfortunately his relationship with Katniss isn’t as prominent (or believable for that matter) so I can understand some disappointment.

I really liked her support team going to the games. Haymitch (Harrelson) was really good (though not as sloppy a drunk as his book counterpart). Liked the tension between him and Katniss. I really like Cinna who I came to greatly appreciate. I would’ve liked to have seen more scenes with him and Katniss. My favorite character of the three is Effie. She was delightful, fun, bright, and definitely brought spark to the group. She’s definitely the one person who’s one hundred percent faithful to the character. Rue was another special character who brought a lot of depth to the story. Despite the lack of exposition I can say that I really liked the characters. (4 out of 5)

One of the best aspects of the film is just the cast. The casting is some of the best that I’ve seen including some veterans. Jennifer Lawrence is just a gem as Katniss and Lawrence’s performance is to be commended. To me and for a lot of people this is her breakout role. Next to Lawrence I really enjoyed Banks as Effie. She completely nailed the character, delivering her right off the pages of the books. Harrelson nailed it as Haymitch, Kravitz nailed it as Cinna. Other performances include Liam Hemsworth (Gale), Stanely Tucci (Caesar), Donald Sutherland (President Snow), Wes Bentley (Crane), Amandla Stenberg (Rue), Willow Shields (Primrose), Paula Malcomson (Mrs. Everdeen), and Alexander Ludwig (Cato). Really the only downside to the acting was Josh Hutcherson. He wasn’t terrible but it’s obvious that he’s needed some work. There are sequences that feel lackluster with his delivery and the chemistry with Lawrence feels one sided. Hopefully in the sequel he does a better because Peeta is a great character and I’d hate to see such a great character be sorely portrayed. (4 out of 5)

This is just a beautiful looking movie with a brilliance to its cinematography. The brilliance of the Capital with all its majestic flare is captured both in terms of its structure and presentation of its people and culture. The action sequences are shot well enough and despite the intense violence there is a surprisingly lack of blood and gore. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing because it does allow the scenes to feel grounded. I did like how Katniss and Peeta’s outfits before the games where their clothes were set on fire. It was really good looking. Even Katniss’ dress during her interview with Caesar looked exceptionally well done.

However, the biggest problem with the camera is some of the shaky cam. Whoever thought that shaky should be the go-to for action scenes is a freaking dumbass. Another thing is the presentation of the people in District 12 which is suppose to feel more destitute but it kinda comes off a little more modern than it should. There’s a decent use of CGI which looks good for the most part. (3 out of 5)

Honestly, the music is pretty good but it’s not really memorable. I like the music provides good context to the scenes (those dramatic and those more fast paced). James Newton Howard is a really talented composer who’s done music for some of my favorite films including Fantastic Beast: The Crimes of Grindelwald, I Am Legend, Blood Diamond, The Dark Knight, and King Kong. Though the music is decent enough to give depth I don’t see it as being particularly inspiring. (2 out of 5)

As a fan of the books, I’ve got to say that I’ve really enjoyed how well the book was adapted to film. Book adaptations are a tricky thing but I think that under the direction of Gary Ross and the writing we have a decent adaptation that’s pretty faithful to the book. There’s a lot that the director got right. But the writing and direction do suffer in some areas. For starters, there’s a serious lack of characterization for some of the characters that could’ve help given depth to the story. You kind of feel like people are just there without having the full emotional impact that they deserve. Now, praise must be given to how well the leads and their supporting cast were presented (Katniss, Peeta, Haymitch, Effie, and Cinna). Also, the pacing does go pretty fast so a lot of storytelling elements are kind missing and backstory is nonexistent. I understand that the filming process has to make some cuts and this is based off a novel, but I feel that it would’ve helped the pacing. Even when Katniss is in the games, you don’t really see the survival aspect of it. Her fighting dwindling supplies and the environment as well as the other tributes is just really glossed over. What actually took several days kind of feels like one or two. (3 out of 5)

In the end, The Hunger Games is good, not better than the book but good. Despite a lot of the issues I had with the writing, pacing, and Hutcherson’s performance, I actually had a good time with the movie. It does have good performances by Lawrence, Banks, and Harrelson, good story, good direction, and great characterization. The Hunger Games gets 3 out of 5.