Just Take a Look, It's in a Book: The Hunger Games

Title: The Hunger Games

Director: Gary Ross

Writer: Gary Ross, Suzanne Collins, Billy Ray

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Woody Harrelson, Stanley Tucci, Elizabeth Banks

Grade: A

Synopsis: Twenty four tributes are sent into a secluded playing field. They must fight to the death until one victor emerges. That victor is allowed to rejoin civilization. 

Good Movie For: Teens, Adults, Parents, Kids. Ok. Maybe not kids. Babies might cry. 

I'm a reader. Or well at least I try to be a reader. I have learned along this wiry road to becoming a scribe that many movies are adaptations of best selling novels (i.e. The Help, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Twilight, Harry Potter, etc.) I had heard some inklings about The Hunger Games from friends and family and finally bought it once the movie posters came out. It collected dust on my shelf for a couple months until about a few weeks before the release of the film. At first I wasn't all that into it. I had sped through the Twilight books and this was just a bit harder for me to dive into. It wasn't until around the half way mark when I couldn't put it down. There's two more books in the series and I'm itching to start reading those.

I think that the main reason why I had trouble connecting with the book and why I wasn't entirely thrilled that the movie was coming out was because the story was so eerily similar to Battle Royale, a movie that I absolutely love! Did no one tell this woman that she's writing a book that's already been made? Did no one tell these producers that Battle Royale existed? With all my hesitation and apprehension I still found myself hooked on the characters and the story, so when it came time to see the movie, I was completely excited.

The movie was great. I had some gripes about it though. Generally they take out a lot of points in the story because it's a film, which is completely understandable. The movie held true to the book, but that brought up a complaint in my mind. The movie seemed too fucking long. Two and a half hours? I mean it was a time well spent, but still, it was pushing it. This stands at the other end of the spectrum with adaptations. When is too much just too much?

Overall I enjoyed the movie thoroughly, but I did have one major redflag. Why in the hell was everything shot with a handheld not so steady cam? I completely understand using handheld filming while inside the battle grounds because the action and movements help to emphasize it, but a tripod could have been used in their home or at the reaping. I understand that it was used to portray some gritty effect to the shooting, but ten minutes in I was starting to feel bouts of motion sickness. Regardless of that though this movie is a great watch, and I honestly would take the Hunger Games series over Twilight any day.