*minor spoilers ahead*

(Image of poster taken from wikipedia)

I watched this movie mainly because I was curious. I’m not into young adult stories though I like watching or reading them if they are nice.

As a note of caution, if you’re a parent and you’re thinking of bringing your kids to watch the movie, I’d suggest only bringing them if their 15 or something. The movie has some violent scenes of teenagers killing each other.

I’m kind of torn about the movie. On one hand, it’s done quite well. But there’s a flaw that kind of annoys me. Which in my opinion makes the movie somewhat weak when it has been strong everywhere else. But your mileage might vary.

The story is about a girl called Katniss who volunteers to enter the Hunger Games to save her sister from being forced to enter. The games is a gladiatorial death match where 24 teenagers aged 12-18 from lesser districts fight to survive in an arena until only one victor lives. Kids are either chosen randomly or volunteer. Each district must send 1 boy and 1 girl. In Katniss’s case, she volunteers because her sister was chosen. Her sister is only 12, she’d definitely gets slaughtered. And the rest of the story is about how Katniss plays the game.

There are many parts of the movie that is done well. The glaring differences between Capitol and the lesser districts is shown quite well. Capitol is full of these decadent people, but modern and well off. While District 12, the district Katniss comes from, is poor, with people starving and living in depravity.

I quite like Katniss. She’s played by Jennifer Lawrence who acts really well in this movie. I don’t think I’ve seen a female hero character like that. She stands strong as a character, without being painted with the usual gender stereotypes. Never weak, and thankfully machoness is not forced on her. I’m grateful they didn’t turn her into a female Rambo.

Some scenes are really shot well. It makes you feel what Katniss is going through. Like the stage fright she gets when she’s interviewed, or her emotions when in the battle that occurs in the forest arena. And some scenes will keep you at the edge of your seat. But the idea of kids killing each other with weapons is kind of scary. Especially when some of them gang together and start hunting other contestants. But I guess it shows the brutality and the decadence of the residents from Capitol.

The main thing that bugs me though, is how Katniss falls in love. I feel it doesn’t fit her character, the whole thing kind of feels forced in. It happens suddenly and it never gets a chance to develop. I also don’t understand why Katniss is drawn to Cinna, and why Haymitch decides to help them. Maybe they had too much story to tell, and not enough time to tell it.

So in the end, if you can ignore flaws like that, than yeah watch it, it’s fun. But if things like character integrity grates you then maybe you just want to be prepared if you decide to watch it. One thing the movie did for me though. I ended up buying the book, because I felt like some stories were left out and I wanted to know more about the connection between the characters. I guess their marketing worked.