When I saw a promo for Hunger Games with Jennifer Lawrence, months and months ago, I was intrigued. Â As a survival show fan, the concept of a survival game hooked me. Â Then the sister angle, that Jennifer Lawrence plays Katniss Everdeen who volunteers as substitute “tribute” for her little sister? Â It just kept getting better and better. Â Add in the romance – this is a movie I don’t want to miss.
As the release date got closer and the pr ramped up, I got more interested. Â I truly love movies and like to see so many that I don’t limit myself to the best of the best, but I knew this one was something special. Â My girlfriends and I made plans to see it together but coordinating schedules meant we couldn’t go until the second weekend. Â Hmmmm….. Â what to do, what to do? Â Well, see it twice, of course! Â Movies in my area are rarely sold out, but I didn’t want to take any chances, so I bought my ticket the day before online. Â Can you tell I was excited? Â Would the movie hold up to these high expectations?
The story comes from the best-selling book of the same title.  It takes place in the future, the United States has collapsed and now North America is called Panem.  Panem is divided into 12 districts and the Capitol.  In a twist on reality show entertainment a random drawing identifies two young representatives from each district who compete to the death.  The competition is watched by all the citizens of Panem.  One twist I didn’t expect was that the government has some control over what happens in the game but *no spoilers* from me!
This film has a strong cast.  From the first time I saw Jennifer Lawrence in Winter’s Bone, I’ve been a huge fan.  She’s beautiful, but it’s the type of beauty that makes you want her as a best friend, not the type that makes you jealous.  It’s a Julia Roberts vs Barbie Doll thing.  Josh Hutcherson, has been in a number of movies, including The Kids Are All Right, but he stands out in The Hunger Games like never before.  I saw in on Good Morning America and they said it’s the biggest crowd they’ve ever seen for a Times Square interview.  Josh plays the role of Peeta, the other person chosen from her district.  Liam Hemsworth, is probably best known for is role in “The Last Song”, the Nicholas Sparks’ story starring Miley Cyrus.  In The Hunger Games, Liam plays Gale Hawthorne, Katniss’ pre-game friend.
So, did it hold up to the high expectations I had?  Will I want to see it twice?  It did!  I can’t wait to see it again with my friends next Saturday!  I’m most disappointed in absolutely nothing about this movie, only that they haven’t started filming the second movie yet and that means it will be a long time before we get to see what happens next.  I’m going to have to decide if I want to read the book or not…  There were actually quite a few men in the audience and they seemed to enjoy it as much as the women.  Should you take your kids to see it?  Hmmm, it’s rated PG-13 and I think that’s warranted. Everyone knows their own kids, but it is young people fighting to the death….  I heard one critic say that it was too long, but I thought the opposite – I could have watched more!  I give it an enthusiastic thumbs-up for teens and adults!  There are good performances and the story is very interesting.
Anyone else go to see it yet? Â What did you think? Â Are you going to go see it soon?
Thanks for the review! I’m heading to the movie in a few minutes and I couldn’t resist reading. I’ve read the books so I’m not worried about spoilers anyway.
I just got home from seeing the movie, and I want to go back, right now! Best movie from book adaption I have seen in a long, long time!
I just came home from watching it with my friends, and while they were complaining hat the movie was too long…I thought they cut off so much from the bo that it was a bit short(thought it was like 2hours and thirty minutes…)
and then they kept asking me if Peeta dies.
I meant the book…I loved the book to bits.
They did follow the book fairly closely, but there’s just so much backstory condensed out of the movie…
Where going to see it this weekend. Almost everyone is talking about it and I need to see it for myself.
I can’t wait to go see the movie! And I vote YES you definitely need to read the book. I’m about to read it again. It is SO GOOD! It doesn’t take long to read either, because you won’t want to put it down.
I loved the trilogy and have been debating whether I want to see the movie or not. I’m sure I will, just not entirely sure when at this point. As a teacher, I love to analyze how Hollywood changes literature when they adapt it.
I read the book because I wanted to see the movie. And yes, I bought my ticket online too because I had a dream it was sold out!
I recommend reading the book. They did a fantastic job of staying true to the book, and I am currently reading the second. It was fantastic–one of the best movies I have ever seen!
i first read the trilogy when they came out and have absolutely loved it ever since. prior to the movie release i re-read book 1. my sister called me on opening day 15 min before the movie started in the tiny little theater next to my house and asked me to watch with her. i had already bought tickets online for my husband and i to see it on the following monday but how could i pass it up? i was dying to see it and was thrilled to know i would see it twice! until i saw the movie that is…….by the end of it i was so thoroughly disappointed and kinda mad that i had to see it again a few days later. im such a booknerd that my expectations for this movie were rediculously high. when monday rolled around, my hubby was happy to see it…..i had much lowered expectations this time since i knew what to expect and decided to focus more on things in the background i may have missed. boy am i glad i went again!!! i absolutely loved it the second time around! if ur book-to-movie ratio is impossibly high (like mine) then i recommend waiting to read each book until you have seen the movie first…otherwise go read the books!!!!
didn’t mean to write a novel on ur comments but im very passionate about my books lol :P