“If TWILIGHT didn’t quench your thirst for love triangles, look no further!”

Since I’ve started the Film Teen Reviewers and Critics program with Instructor Larry Maslon, I’ve seen movies galore! In the past couple weeks, I’ve seen five movies! Not to mention the clips from classic movies such as Superman, The Sound of Music and two others. However, of all the movies I’ve seen, so far the one that stuck out to me the most was The Hunger Games, based on the Suzanne Collins trilogy The Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Mocking Jay.

The Hunger Games follows the journey of sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen as she enters the Hunger Games: a savage athletic competiton in which twenty four adolescents from twelve districts kill each other and attempt to survive in a ruthless envoirnment until only one winner remains.

In my opinion, the visual elements of the movie were amazing. The movie was extremely clear, with stunning quality,and the director made sure to include everything, down to the most miniscule of details.

The content however, wasn’t quite as amazing.

The whole concept of killing each other as tribute to the capitol is quite barbaric. The director also manages to dehumanize most of characters, with the exception of Rue, Catniss, Peeta and, Thresh, the tributes from districts eleven and twelve. Most of the tributes were killed too early on in the movie for character development, which is understandable. The remaining six however were savages who formed alliance with the intent to kill all the other tributes. Only to turn on one another due to the pressures of survival. Their  leader was overly aggressive, and his dramatic scene prior to his death was unnecessary. The only reason he had that magical epiphany in the first place was because he was about to die. In addition to that, the movie seems to provide subliminal messages that were quite feminist, as brought to my attetion by one of my peers. It was conveyed perfectly by Katniss, in the way she took care of Peeta and was assertive in her role as his care giver.  However, the aggressive feminism conveyed by Clove was just another aspect of the brutality expressed in the movie. And if Twilight didn’t quench your thirst for love triangles, look no further! The Hunger Games will surely revive you if you’re parched. Yes, I said it, another love triangle to add to the collection.

The Hunger Games was a pretty good movie.It may not be my favorite, but don’t let that stop you from going to see it. If you like science fiction, with a touch of action and romance, this is definately the movie for you. The graphics, costumes and visual elements are phenominal. Nature is manipulated before your very eyes, and in this movie, (if you haven’t read the book yet, like me) there’s a surprise around every corner. So go see the Hunger Games, in theatres now. If you’ll excuse me, I have some reading to catch up on….