Review: The Hunger Games

I went into seeing The Hunger Games without any prior understanding of the storyline as I had never read (or even heard of) the books; which means I get to judge the film as a stand-alone, rather than comparing it to the books.

So, as a film, The Hunger Games had its good moments, and slow, cumbersome moments. Overall, the directing (by Gary Ross--Pleasantville, Seabiscuit) was good, but not great. It seemed rushed in many places, then really slow in others. There just wasn't much consistency to the pace of the storytelling.

The acting was good. Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen was excellent. Other outstanding actors were Woody Harrelson, Lenny Kravitz, Stanley Tucci and Wes Bentley.

Personally, I thought there was too much pre-games drama, and not enough about the games themselves; just like I already stated about the pacing of this film.

So, is The Hunger Games a bad film? Absolutely not. Is it a great film? Sorry, but the answer is again a solid "no." Unfortunately The Hunger Games falls somewhere in between. I won't be seeing this one again because [for me] it just isn't worth another price of admission. For hardcore fans of the book, the answer may be quite different than this. But again, as a stand-alone effort, The Hunger Games falls well short of the hype and expectations surrounding it.

I won't be buying this one, and likely won't even be renting it. Then again, I am not a fan of the books who might look on this film as a phenomenal effort.