Movie Week – The Hunger Games

Image via Minimal Movie Posters

I’ll admit to being reluctant to check out The Hunger Games.  On one hand I’m loathe to jump into anything based on a Young Adult series of novels  I got fooled by Harry Potter, but carefully avoided Twilight. 

On the other hand, I’m a fan of Jennifer Lawrence.  She was amazing in Winter’s Bone, which was a star making role.  And of course she killed Silver Linings Playbook.  So, I want to support her work as an actress. 

And that’s what I was thinking about when I saw that The Hunger Games was on Netflix.

Of course I’d heard all of the great things about The Hunger Games.  I’d read the reviews and heard from friends and coworkers that I should check it out.  I just didn’t feel like I was the target demo and I didn’t think I could see it in theaters. 

The Hunger Games had a lot of things going for it.  First and foremost it did a great job of building the world.  I really believed that I was getting a peek into a futuristic society.  It was sort of like how the first Robocop used commercials to flesh out the world.  The world of The Hunger Games was really well realized. 

The fan participation, the presentation for the sponsors and the stylists all felt very natural to me.  It made sense, which is something I always appreciate in a story.  I liked the strategy involved in the game and how it came into play at various points. 

I also dug the distinctions between the districts.  I liked the arrogance and skill set of the top districts.  And I enjoyed seeing how they teamed up, but I wish we could have seen how things would have played out with out Katniss raining on their parade. 

Being a Wes Bentley fan I enjoyed his role in the flick.  I also dug it because I’m a fan of wacky facial hair.  Stanley Tucci also really did a great job as Flickerman.  I totally believed I was watching a real talk show.  Jennifer Lawrence was great as always. 

My actual only qualms were that I wanted more.  I wish we could have seen how the other tributes were prepped and who their mentors were.  I wish we could have gotten info on the three finger salute, so we’d understand it’s importance. 

Also, I remember people talking about Lenny Kravitz’s performance.  And I didn’t realize that wearing less jewelry than normal and not wearing sunglasses was considered “acting.” 

All in all, I was not disappointed with The Hunger Games.  It was an enjoyable experience.