I suppose there are two different ways to view The Hunger Games; while comparing it to the Suzanne Collins novel it is based on, or allowing it to stand alone as a similar but independent piece of art.

I wouldn’t know about comparing it to the book, since I haven’t read it, but I did enjoy the film as its own work.

I credit my liking the film wholly to Jennifer Lawrence. She embodies her character, Katniss, a teenager who is drafted into the titular Hunger Games as the female representative of ‘District 12,’ and is truly great in the role. Josh Hutcherson, who plays her male counterpart, Peeta, also does a good job with what he’s given, particularly at the end. Other standout performances come from Woody Harrelson (Haymitch), Lenny Kravitz (Cinna), and Stanley Tucci (the on-air host of the games).

It should be explained at this point what The Hunger Games are:

• Each district selects a male and a female to fight to the death in a large arena with the other contestants, while the audience watches live from home.
• The tradition of having such a war started when the people of the country revolted… this is their punishment from the government.

Most of the film is very effective. Director Gary Ross refuses to make the film about the fighting, instead focusing his camera on Katniss most of the time. This allows for adrenaline-filled action scenes as well as parts that inform us about Katniss. But the chemistry between Lawrence and Hutcherson is what drives the film. In fact, most of the character relationships are very authentic and keep the film grounded.
But The Hunger Games bites off more than it can chew, at times, and doesn’t make good usage of its long running time. In a film featuring children killing other children, I expect some heavier themes to be explored. It had a great opportunity to grill the reality-TV-filled world we live in today, but instead it just makes light jokes about it. And while the violence wasn’t graphic, it didn’t help my understanding of their overall situation and I would have much rather seen how the characters felt about it.

Too much of the film was setup for a sequel. But why shouldn’t it be? The Hunger Games will go down as one of the highest grossing movies of all-time, and Lionsgate, the film’s distributor, should expect the same dollar amounts for its two sequels in the works. Eventually, we’ll be able to judge the series as a whole, and maybe we’ll find that it is truly brilliant. But as long as the rest of the films deliver the same level of excitement, entertainment, and Jennifer Lawrence to its audience, I won’t be able to complain.