THE HUNGER GAMES REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

Katniss Everdeen is, undoubtedly, one of Jennifer Lawrence's best performances. It was this role that shot her to stardom and gained her success. This is the first film in The Hunger Games franchise and it's one of the best as it sets up the premise and characters and introduces us to the titular Hunger Games.

In a dystopian future, the totalitarian nation of Panem is divided into 12 districts and the Capitol. Each year two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal retribution for a past rebellion, the televised games are broadcast throughout Panem. The 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors while the citizens of Panem are required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss' young sister, Prim (Willow Shields), is selected as District 12's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart, Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), are pitted against bigger, stronger representatives, some of whom have trained for this their whole lives.

Like I mentioned, Jennifer's performance of Katniss is one of her best, in my opinion. She makes Katniss a strong and feisty protagonist who is determined to win the Games in order to return home to her sister. This was the first film I'd seen Jennifer in and I immediately became a fan of hers.

Another strong performance comes from Josh Hutcherson as Peeta who develops a friendship with Katniss despite the inevitable fate that one of them will have to die. The cast includes a lot of recognisable names including: Woody Harrelson as Katniss and Peeta's mentor, Haymitch Abernathy, who is an alcoholic and provides some comic relief; Elizabeth Banks who is unrecognisable underneath her incredible make-up and costume as Effie Trinket who is Katniss and Peeta's escort and Stanley Tucci as the eccentric TV presenter, Caesar Flickerman.

Of course, with films like this that feature a lot of conflict, there's going to be an antagonist and that's President Snow who is played brilliantly by Donald Sutherland. From the second we meet him, we know he's the villain. To be honest we don't see much of him because the film's main focus is on the games and the conflict between the contestants. Fortunately, in the sequels, we see a lot more of him and why he's the main antagonist of the franchise.

With a film that's about fighting to the death, there's going to be violence. This was one of the main concerns when making this film because the filmmakers wanted the film to be a 12A (PG-13 in US) but found it difficult as the book, written by Suzanne Collins, was so violence. Fortunately, they were successful. The level of violence is still quite high and the way in which some of the contestants die are brutal but not graphic. 

If it wasn't for Collins' book, I probably would've given this film a miss as, back when this was released when I was 15, I didn't enjoy watching violence. However, I loved the book and knew I had to watch the film. Fortunately, the motion picture adaptation didn't disappoint and it went on to be a huge success, receiving critical acclaim and gaining over $694M at the box office. 

Overall, because of its thrilling action and strong performances from the whole cast, The Hunger Games captures the dramatic violence, raw emotion, and ambitious scope of its source novel.

8/10

Read my review of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire here.

Read my review of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 here

Read my review of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 here