The Hunger Games Movie

     Raking over $400,000 worldwide and challenging Twilight and Harry Potter for box office records, The Hunger Games was an immediate sensation.

      Fans of the books and non-readers alike enjoyed the exciting story of Katniss Everdeen, played by Jennifer Lawrence, fighting for her life and for the honor of District 12.

     The premise of the book is that 24 teenage participants are forced to fight to the death while the citizens of Panem are required to watch. The Capitol has imposed this punishment as a reminder of their complete control over the people following a crushed rebellion that ended in the demolition District 13.
     Senior Anna Woodruff recommends seeing the movie, even for those who have not read the books.

     “It is still a good entertaining and quality movie,” Woodruff said. “I think they did a good job with the movie. The difference is all the books are from Katniss's point of view, so you miss some things that really made the book awesome. Things like relationship development and whatnot.”

Junior Stephanie McCann, who has already seen it in theatres twice, agrees that the film is worthwhile. 

     “I think the film adaptation of the book was really well done. The film did a good job of capturing the overall mood of the book. I saw it the day it came out and again a few days later. The book version of any story will always be better than the film adaptation.”

     Part of the excitement of this movie, especially for girls, is watching Katniss’s love life unfold. Hollywood hunks Liam Hensworth and Josh Hutcherson play Katniss’s love interests, Gale and Peeta, respectively. Both McCann and Woodruff root for Peeta.

     “My favorite scene was the riot scene in District 11. I was really glad that they showed that the people were beginning to turn against the Capital. My favorite aspect of the movie is how it ‘watches.’ It has a lot of ‘indie’ film qualities that makes it feel like a much more intimate experience and less like a beginning to another crazed book and movie franchise,” McCann said.

     Though The Hunger Games will soon leave theatres, fans can look forward to the sequel to the film, Catching Fire, which will be filmed in the fall.

Written by Angie Stewart