I am sure you have heard of and maybe read or watched the $2.970 billion dollar blockbuster “The Hunger Games”. It is the first book of the classic dystopian trilogy written by Suzzane Collins. I read “The Hunger Games” back when I was younger, but I was never much of a movie fan. Therefore watching “The Hunger Games” wasn’t quite on my priority list back then, but after hearing about how all three film adaptations were streaming on Netflix—only during March—got me roped in. Now, all three movies are streaming on Amazon Prime Video and Peacock. 

 I certainly was not disappointed by the time I finished the movie. It was action-packed, intense, and captivating. “The Hunger Games” takes place in Panem, which consists of 12 districts built on an authoritarian government called the Capitol. Naturally, as a dystopian movie, Panem looks like it has a perfect society where there is absolute order and peace. In order to maintain this peace, every year they hold the Hunger Games to remind the districts that the Capitol has control over all of them and that they cannot rebel again. But once the main character Katniss is picked to participate in the 74th Hunger Games, her actions in the game became the catalyst that unraveled the illusion of perfection that the Capitol had created.

Although “The Hunger Games” was a typical dystopian movie, it still felt new and engaging. Since each district represents a specific industry, the tributes or the people participating in the Hunger Games are supposed to wear a costume that symbolizes their district’s industry. Katniss’ dress was able to light on fire because it represented her district’s industry, which was coal mining since coal is meant to combust. Collins was able to tie everything together with every little detail in the book, but I found that it was even better to watch it happen in the movie. One of my favorite parts about the movie is definitely Katniss’ dress because it was so appealing to watch it light up as she twirled around. 

There was a clear divide between the wealthy citizens of District 1 versus the poor citizens of District 12, impacting how each person dressed, acted, and fought—both in and out of the arena. 

The complexity of the arena made “The Hunger Games” much more interesting, and I found it cool to watch the gamemakers behind the scenes throw the characters off track, while giving them harder obstacles every so often. 

The visuals made the twists, turns, and jumpscares more fun, especially since as the viewer you also didn’t know what the characters were going up against. You had just as much knowledge as the main character, Katniss. This made it more exciting when a new challenge was thrown her way because the suspense was able to build up, leaving me engrossed in the movie. 

If the web of lies, corruption, and violence weren’t enough to keep you focused, the characters definitely brought you in. I easily felt for each of the characters as Jennifer Lawrence perfectly captured the raw emotion that Katniss Everdeen had. This was depicted when she volunteers as tribute for her sister Primrose, when Rue, her new friend, and ally in the game, dies, and when she is worried that Peeta, her love interest who is from the same district as her and also in the game, is dead.

The relationship between all the characters was portrayed very well. The dynamic between Haymitch, Katniss and Peeta’s funny alcoholic mentor for the 74th Hunger Games since he had won the games in the past, and Katniss was light-hearted and amusing. Effie, who is the other mentor for Katniss and Peeta, had a natural charm that was hard not to fall in love with along with her extravagant, colorful dresses and updos. 

I would rate this movie a 9/10 because Katniss was not the most agreeable when it came to her feelings about Peeta and Gale, her best friend and hunting partner who is also from District 12. It was frustrating how she toyed with both of their hearts back to back. However, I did love how they were able to keep the focus mainly on the games instead of turning it into a complete romance movie. I would highly recommend this movie to anyone who loves a good but twisty, disturbing dystopian movie or novel. Watching “The Hunger Games” will also lead you to the masterpiece that is the sequel, “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.”