The Hunger Games (2012)

[takes itself too seriously]

The Hunger Games (2012)
IMDB- 7.4
Rottentomatoes- 84
RJG Rating- 55

In a futuristic world ,selected teens from districts must compete in a deadly battle called the Hunger Games.

Starring- Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson
Director- Gary Ross

Hunger Games is a movie based on the best selling book of the same name.

Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss and Josh Hutcherson as Peeta do a good job as the leads.Jennifer seems much at ease in this role since she basically has done the same in her Oscar nominated performance in Winters Bone.But the supporting actors arent so good.Woody Harrelson seems typecasted as the weird good guy,he gives an okay job.Elizabeth Banks goes over the top most of the time.Jason S does a good job in his short role.

The story is disappointing.While it has been said Hunger Games is a rip off of Japan's Battle Royale ,i only found the core concept to be same (nation selects kids to fight it out ,to keep them in check).The movie's choice to go after the easy options rather than the more tough ones makes the movie less severe.The end leaves much of the points that were raised, hanging.While a sequel is inevitable, atleast some points should have been cleared up before ending this 160min movie.

Direction is average.Hunger Games could have taken either the gory R rated direction or the PG rated adventure route,Gary takes the PG route with offscreen violence,this completely drains any severity of the Hunger Games.And from the start Gary tries to instill a very serious tone for the movie which not at all suits it.While the futuristic city is nice it isnt fully utilized and many components are only vaguely explained.

The music is poorly used and is out of place.The romance is poorly brought up and doesnt make much sense either.While the action scenes are the only noteworthy elements of the movie,it occurs very rarely onscreen.

Acting-3/5
Story-2/5
Direction-2.5/5
Romance-2/5
Action-3.5/5