The Hunger Games

The plot roller coaster, which greatly enhances the desire to read a book, but also works as a surprising teenage hit until the very last minute. The characters are precise, 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 part goes deeper into the interaction between the main characters, I will be fully thrilled. Those who mock the partial resemblance to Orwell or Truman Show have not understood that there is a slightly different metaphor here. Katniss Everdeen for the win. P.S.: I became friends with the book practically instantly, and after reading the entire saga, I would give Suzanne Collins almost anything. Just for the record. (2012-04-08)

The Hunger Games is another of those interesting fantasy book series that got adapted into a Hollywood movie. I was quite reluctant to see this. Even though I like fantasy films very much, I never know what to expect from them, and what I’ve seen lately was mostly so mediocre that it made me sad. But in the end, I made time for The Hunger Games one Sunday afternoon. I chose Sunday because the film has almost three hours. A film of this length must inevitably have some balls to grab my attention and keep me from falling asleep. The first half an hour was an introduction to the fantasy world in question. There was nothing much going on, but it served its purpose. Nevertheless, at the moment the titular hunger games kicked off, I started to enjoy the movie very much. I found the premise really intriguing, and the way this movie was shot is also not exactly ordinary. The story is quite realistic, with a lot of food for thought. And I must say that even though I felt kind of skeptical about this fantasy world at first, over time I grew fond of it and I began to wonder what the creators – and the source book – have in store for us next time. So yes, I must say that there is something about this world. The execution is also well-done, so the remaining two and half hours passed in the blink of an eye. I was satisfied with the result, and now I’m curious about the sequel. (2013-12-13)

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. (2012-03-24)

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 (2013-09-06)

Twilight for fifteen year-old intellectuals, and I don’t mean it as bad as it may sound. Hunger Games is for the same age group as that other rubbish, but at least it tries (and in the book maybe successfully, I don’t know, can’t judge, didn’t read it) to deliver some social criticism, it’s also about a lot more than whether some unstable idiot will take a vampire or a werewolf as her lover, and the motivations of the protagonists are much deeper. As an undemanding blockbuster, it’s pretty good, it looks quite nice (given the low budget), and the art design of the Capitol and its inhabitants was captivating. The most interesting themes, though, are only sketched out, but maybe the upcoming sequels will manage to complete them, I’m curious. What bothered me the most was the unrealistic behaviour of the characters in the Arena and the fact that I didn’t understand at all how the institution of the Hunger Games is supposed to help the Capitol rule the other regions. The film is not great by any means, but it was decent fun. Jennifer Lawrence is brilliant. 7/10 (2012-03-28)