The Hunger Games

A roller coaster of a plot, which greatly enhances your desire to read a book, but also works as a surprising teenage hit right to the very last minute. The characters are spot-on, the actors amazing, the relationships believable, and despite several seemingly exaggerated scenes towards the end, it's actually hard for me to find any specific criticism. Perhaps if the second installment goes deeper into the interaction between the main characters, I will be fully thrilled. Those who mock the partial resemblance to the works of George Orwell or The Truman Show have failed to grasp that there is a slightly different metaphor here. Katniss Everdeen for the win. P.S.: I fell in love with the book almost instantly, and after reading the entire saga, I would give Suzanne Collins almost anything. Just for the record. (08/04/2012)

The only thing worth anything in this film, its theme, has already been filmed in an original, energetic way as a provocative satire in Battle Royale. The American version, striving to be a serious and riveting thriller with a romantic storyline, is indigestibly lengthy, clichéd and uses makeup and costumes like from "2001: A Space Travesty 2" with Adam Sandler. I’m giving it the second star for the pleasantly sober acting of the two main characters, who are the only elements of the film that don’t seem like a bad joke. (24/03/2012)

The Hunger Games, or dystopia for teenagers, utilizes the concept of fighting in an arena, which has been used many times in literature and film. You shouldn't expect any deeper psychology or convincing portrayal of society, but who would expect that from a Hollywood production of this kind anyway? The level of violence is adjusted to the target audience, so anyone expecting uncompromising, gritty action will inevitably be disappointed. However, considering the target segment of the audience, the film works decently on an emotional level, skillfully playing with sentiment, and the relationship triangle between the adolescent protagonists is relatively solid. The cast greatly helps the film, with young stars led by the charismatic Jennifer Lawrence delivering their performances reliably. On the other hand, the depiction of the social elite from the Capitol feels cliché, resembling an unwanted parody of American television show business mixed with a drug-induced trip by a film costume designer. Although I am far from being the target audience, I would probably lean towards giving the film 3 stars, if it weren't for the chaotic editing that significantly drags down the film, especially in the more action-packed scenes. Overall impression: 45%. (31/01/2022)

Another book phenomenon of our generation translated to the screen, I was surprisingly impressed. Unlike the fantasy sagas of The Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter, I hadn't read the source material, so I had little idea of the story, which I only knew from the trailers. What is most interesting about the film, or rather the book, is that the driving element is the teenagers, but they are often fighting for their lives with more vigor than most adults. The first half of the film was kind of dry and plodding, but once all the Repayers were unleashed into the life or death arena, the plot began to pick up and the tension gradually began to build and thicken. The very first bloody battle for guns, food and survival items was really rough, in fact I was quite curious to see what it would look like when teenage kids would be "soaping up" in the film. Plus, Jennifer Lawrence is quite a looker, I first noticed her in Winter's Bone, where she was one of the film's main assets. In short, a film that may not be to everyone's taste, but I was pleasantly surprised by it, and besides the premise, I would also like to highlight the colourful costumes and make-up of the characters, and the nice musical score (06/09/2013)

A slightly above average film that could have been more. Maybe it's because I haven't read the books, but I kept feeling like I needed to know more about the world in which The Hunger Games takes place in order to believe that such a thing was really possible. That's why I had trouble accepting the idea that there's been a killing contest for 74 years, the purpose of which is, among other things, to pacify the population, and that people have accepted it and somehow it works. Sci-fi or not, the world in which a story takes place should simply be believable. However, I have to give The Hunger Games credit for its fine cast (except that the main antagonist should not have been such a similar type as the main male protagonist, I kept getting them mixed up), the nice pacing that made the two hours and something pass pretty quickly, and James Newton Howard's score. Directionally, however, it was no miracle, and I don't think I'll remember any of the scenes – hopefully the next installments will turn out better in that respect at least, since Francis Lawrence has been placed at the helm. (03/08/2020)