The Hunger Games

For a book that takes place mostly inside the mind of the main character, I had worries about The Hunger Games being adapted to film. So much of the story relies on Katniss' mental reactions to the situation around her - situations that force her to be braver than she ever had to be in her hard life. In the hands of the wrong actress, this movie would have been a failure. Jennifer Lawrence, however, is so good at expressing powerful emotions with only the smallest twitch of her lip or look in her eyes, that you are with her throughout this adventure.

It really helps if you have read the book. The movie doesn't go overboard with explaining everything and assumes you will catch up with the story about a half second before the main characters do. That makes things unpredictable and thrilling for newbies. Luckily for long time fans of the book, the story moves fast and rewards the viewer with all kinds of 'easter eggs'. The short trailer below hits all the emotional high points without giving anything away.



The story is good, but it's the performance that Jennifer Lawrence gives as Katniss that is the real reason why The Hunger Games is such a cool movie. I look forward to her growing into this signature role over the years.

It's hard not to love Lawrence if you have ever seen her being interviewed. She is so delightfully goofy and unpretentious. All the great actresses share similar qualities. I like how this franchise will give her the power to do smaller independent films with better directors, writers and co-stars. She will have the power to call the shots in her career. She deserves all the praise she is going to get for this film. This performance should be nominated for an Oscar and with all the money this movie will make, it will be hard to forget it come Oscar voting time.


Finally we have a female lead character who is strong without being brutal, appealing without being objectified, and confident without being female-chauvinistic.

I wanted to watch this one again right after seeing it for the first time. I am getting into the second book now. It will suck to have to wait two years for a sequel but in the end I am sure it will be worth it.

9/10

The success of “The Hunger Games” film is the apotheosis of a new kind of young female fandom, one that has its roots in books and owes its flourishing to the Web. The old, predominantly male fandom for comics and science fiction pre-existed the Internet and was one of the first subcultures to take advantage of it. The fandom for “The Hunger Games” grew (in part) out of forums and other networks set up by “Twilight” fans, which in turn grew out of the fandom for “Harry Potter.” These fandoms, which flourished during the advent of social media, are certainly not entirely female — any more than science-fiction or comics fandoms are entirely male — but most of the people who establish, maintain and participate in them are young women. - Salon.com