I had a genuinely open mind about this thing. I liked Ross' Pleasantville, I enjoy Jennifer Lawrence. I even rewatched Winter's Bone and Battle Royale to get me amped up for this thing this week.

This is well reviewed? This is going to be massively successful at the box office? Do people need a Twilight alternative so badly that they will embrace this wimpy piece of shit? The script is thoroughly weak, everything feels artificial and stilted, nobody has any…

After leaving the theatre I felt confused, annoyed and, above all, bored.

The first question that sprang to mind was: 'Ok, so why are they called The Hunger Games?' This could of course (and probably has) have a lot to do with my limited IQ, but I just missed it I guess. My buddy tried to explain it to me, but he also wasn't really sure. Then someone behind me said: 'It's explained in the books.' Right. I haven't read…

I'll start this by stating yes I have read The Hunger Games trilogy. I really liked the first and second book, but I found the third to be a bit of a letdown.

Now for my review of the first film. Having read The Hunger Games I was naturally curious if the film would do it justice, and for the most part I would say it's a good adaptation. My biggest issue which was big enough for me to only…

I should say this movie is probably not meant for me; it is meant for those who read and loved the books. That said, wow, what a piece of shit this was and it's a complete failure as a film for those of us who have not read the books. It is completely humourless, which would be fine if the drama had any sort of impact, but it doesn't and if you are going give this pseudo-Running Man/Fifth Element style…

Unlike most reviews I’m going to try and not mention Battle Royale (that doesn’t count) during this review because that film was not the first to explore this concept and The Hunger Games will not be the last. The film has strongly divided opinion (no doubt the record breaking box office has increased expectations for the movie) but I sit somewhere in the middle.

It is tough knowing how to judge a film like this; do you compare it to…

Essentially Battle Royale for the Twilight crowd, The Hunger Games makes the leap from the pages to the big screen with the majority of the details intact. Sticking so closely to the source material means that the movie also shares the novel's strengths and weaknesses.

First and foremost, Katniss remains an interesting, reluctant rebel character (Jennifer Lawrence, excellent), while the rest of the cast of characters veer more towards simple archetypes, sometimes wrapped in colorful costumes, sometimes not. The dystopic…

Wow, what a mess.

I admittedly came into this film with little knowledge of the Hunger Games. I have seen a massive wave of popularity around this series of young adult books and this film, so it was inevitable that I would eventually come around to see what the hype was all about. Books or films that label themselves or get labelled as "Young Adult fiction" tends to repulse me - they tend to condescend in intelligence level and focus…

I have not seen this film since I watched it several times in the theater back in the summertime. At that point, flaws and all, I was completely bowled over by this new discovery: Jennifer Lawrence. (She was new to me, anyway.) Because I liked her so much, I ignored the weak story.

So here I'm watching it now, and time has not been kind. For starters, Jennifer Lawrence is so much better than this crap. I have since seen…

"The Hunger Games" is an altogether winning experience. Grounded in a compelling mythology of a dystopic future, the politics of fear, and the promise of revolution, the film's strongest element may be its story. Being adapted from a series of young adult novels, the film's themes are obvious, but complex and interesting enough for adult consumption.

Gary Ross's film alternates, aesthetically, between a plastic-looking, candy-colored future and the more naturalistic wilds of the film's districts and arenas. While his rarely…

During my flight from Norway to North America I had to find a movie to watch while I wasn't going in and out of a Dramamine coma and I decided on The Hunger Games.

I wanted to prove myself wrong, that despite the hype I was going to see past it and like this movie and I did, I kinda liked it, in a sense that I didn't fall asleep and I didn't stop watching it.

I can see why…