Hunger Games Review

I have been waiting for The Hunger Games movie since I first read the books 2 years ago and it did not disappoint. I was worried that it would end up like The Firm, Eragon, and Twilight - movies made from books that did not live up to the book's greatness. Fortunately, the producers used the input of the book's author, Suzanne Collins, and the director followed the book very closely. Of course a few things had to be left out in order to make it flow and fit in a film's time frame, but overall The Hunger Games is a great adaptation of the book. The casting is one of the big reasons that this film works. Everyone fits perfectly with what I imagined when reading the books. Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss is excellent! She displays the right amount of emotion, tomboyishness, beauty, fear and confusion. I can't imagine anyone else in the role - it's like Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, there is no one else who can play the character as well. While we don't see much of Gale, his portrayer - Liam Hemsworth is a perfect match and cute to boot! Peeta is also well played by Josh Hutcherson, and comes across as the sweetest, most selfless character in the movie.  Rue, Haymitch, Primrose, Cato, Cinna and President Snow all match their literary characters exactly which really help this movie make the book come alive.  There is only one thing they left out of the film that bothered me and that was the bread given to Katniss by the people of District 11.  Instead we see District 11 rebelling against the Peacekeepers which doesn't really happen until book two. The rebellion was a moving scene and it didn't bother me that it was there out of place, but with one more minute of film they could have shown the bread being dropped to Katniss, it would not have taken long.  A brilliant addition to the film that was not in the book, was the scenes of the game-makers creating obstacles for the tributes in the arena.  From firebombs to vicious beasts, it was portrayed as a big video game controlled by people who acted like kids killing each other was just a game.  We imagine this in our minds while reading the books but it is never explicitly stated.  These scenes really push home the idea that the government of Panem is like their ancient counterpart in Rome during the times of the gladiators.  Killing is a sport and whoever is killed means nothing to society, or at least to the society in power.  Another scene that is small but really pushes this idea home is a moment set in the capitol.  There is a huge courtyard with TV screens in it.  Families are there watching the games like it is the super bowl.  We see a family of four sitting on a bench.  The son has a plastic sword and he viciously attacks his younger sister with it.  She screams playfully as she pretends to die while the parents laugh and applaud at their play.  A great film, a poignant message and hopefully a cautionary tale to future generations.
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