The Hunger Games Movie Review (By: Nikhita Singhal)

For the fourth weekend in a row, The Hunger Games has dominated the box office – in fact, it’s the first film since Avatar to spend that amount of time at No. 1. And on its opening weekend alone, the movie grossed a whopping $155 million, making it the third-highest debut in North American box office history. Only The Dark Knight and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 came ahead of it, both of which were sequel films that were released in the summer.

But does The Hunger Games live up to all the buzz?

As you probably know, the movie is based on the best-selling dystopian novel for young adults by Suzanne Collins. It all starts when Katniss Everdeen, a teenager played by Oscar-nominated actress Jennifer Lawrence, volunteers to take her sister’s place in a brutal, televised fight-to-the-death. And worst of all? All of the competitors, known as tributes, are between the ages of 12 and 18.

The struggles of the main characters may not be literally the same as what we go through every day, but are certainly relatable. And the film is fairly well directed. But in the end, it’s the strong performances by the film’s leads, Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson, as well as a few of the minor characters, that set this movie apart. In particular, Stanley Tucci steals every scene he appears in. However, the film lacked some of the darkness that was omnipresent in the book. Sure, there were children killing children. But the movie almost seemed like it had had the sharp edges of the book smoothed off. Several scenes were still full of raw emotion though, and may even bring you to tears.

All in all, The Hunger Games is a superbly acted, fairly thrilling film which appeals to a wide audience. And although it certainly lives up to the hype surrounding it as an amazing movie, it doesn’t quite live up to its potential.

The next installment in the series, Catching Fire, is set for a November 22, 2013 release.