The Hunger Games
Lionsgate | Release Date: March 23, 2012
7.0
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Generally favorable reviews based on 1990 Ratings
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Negative:
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User Reviews

User scoreBy dateMost helpful
5
Mosh603Nov 12, 2014
What really bums me out about this movie is that is had incredible potential. The storyline was primed to be a great blockbuster with tons of action and great moments. The writers never got this to perdition. The "climax" in the movie isWhat really bums me out about this movie is that is had incredible potential. The storyline was primed to be a great blockbuster with tons of action and great moments. The writers never got this to perdition. The "climax" in the movie is basically nonexistent with the ending being equally crappy.… Expand
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6
FilmwritingmindJan 3, 2015
I loved the film on its initial release. Rewatching it,, the plot is straightfoward. It's 21st century "Running Man", for the teens. Unreality television being parodied. What makes the film interesting in the world, Jennifer Lawrence as theI loved the film on its initial release. Rewatching it,, the plot is straightfoward. It's 21st century "Running Man", for the teens. Unreality television being parodied. What makes the film interesting in the world, Jennifer Lawrence as the " rising star."… Expand
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6
HotelCentralDec 30, 2017
The first hour of the film is preamble to the actual "games" and the costumes we're treated to at "The Capital" seem straight out of Terry Gilliam's comic dystopian film Brazil. There's nothing in the movie to indicate that anyone involvedThe first hour of the film is preamble to the actual "games" and the costumes we're treated to at "The Capital" seem straight out of Terry Gilliam's comic dystopian film Brazil. There's nothing in the movie to indicate that anyone involved in the production knows the first thing about bushcraft. Heck, it isn't even clear if the action in the woods is real or the creation of some "Matrix"-like computer system which permits the show-runners of the Games to call up beasts and fireworks at the touch of a console key.

Then there's the matter of the justification for holding the games. Is it a punishment for a rebellion or a patriotic exercise? What exactly is the motivation for the participants? Maybe you have to read the books to get it.

All in all, the film struck me as a young adult production and in contrast to many reviews I thought it slow, superficial, and short on story. The acting was fine but the cast had so little to work with I wouldn't recommend the film to any except diehard fans of the novels and to them I would say don't expect much.… Expand
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6
gameguardian21Sep 26, 2016
The hunger games is not a bad movie, but it's just not for me. To me, it's just like twilight, but with more action, and a ton of shaky, and less vampires.
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4
mrdr4gonFeb 9, 2018
A rather botched and plain adaptation of a book that, while not particularly great in as of itself was ripe ground for an intense thriller much better than what this is. It isn't helped by Jennifer Lawrence's rather uncaring performance and aA rather botched and plain adaptation of a book that, while not particularly great in as of itself was ripe ground for an intense thriller much better than what this is. It isn't helped by Jennifer Lawrence's rather uncaring performance and a prevalent visual plainness.… Expand
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5
GoodReviewerTVMar 9, 2018
Saw this movie when it first came out. I was around 11-12 at the time. After having read the books I expected the movies to be great. However, they were never really fantastic. The visuals look so ugly. It seems like someone out a dark orangeSaw this movie when it first came out. I was around 11-12 at the time. After having read the books I expected the movies to be great. However, they were never really fantastic. The visuals look so ugly. It seems like someone out a dark orange filter on the whole movie and kind of just forgot about it. When it come to a performance that I think should have gotten high praise, it should have been that woman in the pink dress that says "May the odds be ever in your favor" as she seems to really be the inky character next to that long black hair done guy that basically is what I call the owner of Katniss and Peta. It's funny that all the good characters are evil or they're the one black girl that Katniss befriends. Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutchinson both kind of suck in this movie, but because they are the ones that share the screen time the most I guess it makes sense. They're both equally mediocre in this movie that it kind of works. It's not necessarily bad acting, so much as it seems they're taking themselves too seriously at times. Elizabeth Banks seems to kind of take it a lot less seriously than everyone else, and it makes her preformance so much more enjoyable to me. Amandla Stenberg also does a good job for her scenes and I remember really enjoying her screen time. I understand that you can't read a book and then go to the movies expecting it to be exactly how it played out and looked in your head, but there were some things I would have changed if I were working on it. Can we please get end of this dark filter that in the woods makes it look like you covered the camera lens with a bunch of skin from green peas? The also very gritty look is laughably bad and distracted me the whole movie. Another thing I wished the movie had built on was Katniss and her sister's relationship which I felt could have been more wholesome than it really was. They had like 2 scenes together where they seemed lukewarm on each other and then bam Katniss is going into a death trap for her. Again it's little things that distracted me that could have used a little more work. Not a bad movie, but I wouldn't call it great, and I wouldn't say it lived up to the hype. I would say this movie did its job and brought a book to a different audience. To an audience that doesn't read books. That's what it was meant to do. And in terms of story, from what I remember they missed two or three plotlines that really upset me, but other than that it was okay. I'm giving this movie a 5/10 because it's not great, but it isn't bad either.… Expand
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4
DedgertonJul 4, 2018
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Finally saw this movie since I insisted on reading the book first. Very glad I did, since doing so in quick succession highlighted the differences between the two works and therefore the not-so-subtle negative racial profiling advanced by the filmmakers. In the book, there was no rioting in the districts, yet the screenwriters and/or director chose to add one. Interesting choice to have it started by a black man in the only district depicted as having people of color in any significant numbers. Very disappointing that a film that goes so far towards advancing gender equity would veer off into promoting negative stereotypes about people of color. While I will read the rest of the books in the series, I will not be watching the rest of the films.… Expand
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4
PippJun 15, 2019
I loved all of Suzanne Collins' novels in this series, The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay. The films are also very well produced. For fans that gravitate toward film franchises that are precisely complimentary to their sourceI loved all of Suzanne Collins' novels in this series, The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay. The films are also very well produced. For fans that gravitate toward film franchises that are precisely complimentary to their source material (e.g. the Harry Potter and Millenium [Stieg Larsson] book and film series', amongst others), you may enjoy The Hunger Games film franchise. Indeed, most aspects of these four films faithfully follow the details of Collins' novels, except (primarily) for the portrayal of Katniss Everdeen. According to Collins, Katniss is small is stature (smaller than Clove, much smaller than Cato), thin but strong for her age, with an olive complexion, long black straight hair, and grey eyes. Whilst Jennifer Lawrence is an excellent performer, she was just so ill-suited to the role of Katniss, if indeed narrative accuracy was of any concern to Lionsgate.

If Katniss/Jennifer were not the protagonist, instrumental to virtually every scene of the four films, such character inconsistency would not be so significant. Yet, she is and it is, which - for myself - ultimately detracted from the ability to be absorbed by the story.

In conclusion, the films are very good, provided one has not read the books previously.… Expand
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6
BruterakeApr 11, 2022
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Olha na minha cabeça esse filme era muito melhor, eu vi ele recentemente e notei que a maioria das coisas no filme não tem muito peso, ou por ser muito rápido ou pelo filme ter tirado a própria credibilidade. Tem diversos momentos no filme que você fica tipo ué pq que não mataram ele ou porque você ta falando com ela ao invés de só matar. Exceto pela cena do cara batendo a cabeça da mina até ela morrer, aquela ali mesmo alguém podendo ter matado ele foi legal então fds. É um filme no geral ok da pra assistir.… Expand
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6
Deadshot159Dec 11, 2021
Its a good movie with amazing idea, but it didnt work out as I expected. Story is great and main characters personality is fascinating. But other characters are not as well made. Actors were meh and many times their reactions didnt makeIts a good movie with amazing idea, but it didnt work out as I expected. Story is great and main characters personality is fascinating. But other characters are not as well made. Actors were meh and many times their reactions didnt make sense. Relationships between characters is amazingly done, showing how someone gains trust in someone, loses it, makes friendships etc. Hunger games just once excels at one thing and then messes it up. For example already mentioned actors, some were amazing some were bad.… Expand
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5
Sosmooth1982Dec 28, 2022
Not a big fan of this movie. It's a good storyline, but just not made good. Not much action and kind of boring.
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5
jurifmJul 23, 2021
This movie is a big meh. I just like very much Peter's way to look into the camera, espacially in the car scene, where he looks just straight to the film direction so it's a 5 and no 2. And this because the book is just so much better.
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6
JJ2FAS4UDec 30, 2021
----------------------------------6.4/10-----------------------------------
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5
AvmOnOct 22, 2022
Compared to the book... it is weak adaptation... The rest of the movies were better adapted, unlike this one.
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