March 22, 2012
Glorietta 4
MTRCB Rating: PG-13
Genre: Science fiction/Action/Drama
Starring:
Jennifer Lawrence
Josh Hutcherson
Woody Harrelson
Eizabeth Banks
Lenny Kravitz
Stanley Tucci
Donald Sutherland
A few months ago, I saw The Hunger Games teaser while waiting for the featured film in a cinema. I was curious about the film because it's a sci-fi film, which I really love, and it's all about game of death with teens as the contestants. Then I heard it is based on a novel. I decided to read it first before it hits the cinema. And the novel is awesome.
I saw the film in its first day. The cinemas were jampacked with movie-goers. It was hard to find a seat and I happened to get a seat right in the first row near the screen.
Panem, once known as North America, was divided into 12 districts. Each year, the Hunger Games was held. 2 tributes from each district, 1 boy and 1 girl, were picked to participate in this televised fight-to-the-death game. In District 12, 12 year old Prim was picked. Her sister Katniss volunteered to take her place. The other tribute was Peeta. Even before the game started, Katniss and Peeta captured the hearts of the spectators. They were the early favorites in the game. They were loved more when Peeta confessed his feelings for Katniss.
In the main game, alliances were formed and the 24 tributes were greatly reduced by almost half. Katniss allied with Rue, a 12 year old girl from District 11. But Rue was also killed. In the end, Katniss and Peeta outsmarted the others. But the rule was only 1 should remain so they had to kill each other. They defied this rule and threatened to kill themselves by eating poisonous berries. Because the audience loved them so much, they were stopped before the berries touched their mouths.
Positive: I love everything about this movie. There couldn't be more perfect to play Katniss than Jennifer Lawrence. It was just like the softie but toughie character of Katniss was tailor-made for Jennifer. The story was stuck in my mind for a very long time. One may complain about the teen violence but that was an integral part of the story. The movie tried its best to be faithful to its book counterpart. And faithful it was.
Negative: I have just one complain about this movie. The shaky camera works. In its opening credits, scenes from the districts were shown. I was seated in the very front of the screen and the documentary-like shots made me dizzy.
Overall: This is a must see film. It is the best dark film since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and way better than any Twilight film. It lived up to its hype and disappointment would be far from anyone's mind.
Rating:
