Credit to Lions Gate Entertainment
Tim Ajmani
The Corsair
There’s only been one series of books that has captivated my interest and desire to finish reading each as soon as possible. That is the story of Harry Potter. Well, that is, up until now. When I started to read Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games, I experienced the same feeling; I just couldn’t put it down. I finished the book in three days. Naturally, with the newly released movie based on the book, I was highly intrigued and couldn’t wait to see it.
I must admit, I was a little worried about the movie being a letdown. I’ve seen several book-to-movie attempts, and many of them were not as good. A good case in point is the middle of the Harry Potter saga; I felt as if the movies were too rushed in their release.
But The Hunger Games movie didn’t disappoint at all. Director Gary Ross perfectly models the movie representation around the book. Unlike the last two Harry Potter films, the similarities between the movie and book really didn’t produce any slow or boring moments throughout the movie. The love story (supposed love story, that is) between Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark really didn’t obscure the main plot of the story, which was indeed the event of the “Hunger Games”, a gladiator-type event in which twenty four adolescent competitors fight till death.
Although approximately two and a half hours long, The Hunger Games contains a lot of action packed moments, and never really deviates into additional side-plots. The biggest difference between the movie and book is probably the fewer amount of graphic deaths depicted in the games; I’d definitely say that the book was more vivid with the details.
As for the people who haven’t read books, the movie provides enough background information in the beginning for people to catch on and understand the action.
I haven’t really watched many movies lately, but The Hunger Games certainly was a great watch from start to finish.
Tim’s Grade: A-
