HUB Movie Review: The Hunger Games
The Seventy-Fifth Hunger Games is on! And I will tell you right off the bat, the first Hunger Games movie cannot compare to the epic proportions the second movie has brought itself to.
Opening sequence…we are back in District 12 along with Katniss Everdeen (“it” girl Jennifer Lawrence) who is in her prime spot: the woods. Much like we saw with Tony Stark battling his trauma in Iron Man 3, so is Katniss. (Except she didn’t see aliens, she killed kids. Sad face. )
Ain’t no rest for the “wicked.”
So, President Snow (Donald Sutherland) shows up in District 12, threatening Katniss. Snow says she must make her suicidal stunt from the last games appear to have been for love, and not defiance. Snow’s plan is to quell the flame of the “Girl on Fire” from continuing to spark uprisings in the other districts. On the Victory Tour, Katniss sees the rebellion is as hot as ever; she tries to be the Capitol puppet, but she knows she’s failed. Snow will make her pay.
For the seventy-fifth hunger games, Snow and head game maker Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman) put all the previous winners (two from each district) back into the games. So in Katniss and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) go again, making their love affair seem more genuine than ever. However, they are now meeting the most lethal competitors they have ever seen: the charming Finnick, the brazen Johanna, and the clever Beetee. Oh, and we can’t forget that girl who has filed her teeth to look like fangs.
This movie not only has higher epicness, but it also has better actors and supporting actors. The plot of the second movie sticks more closely with the book. It was more intense, and a great deal more satisfying. Lawrence especially steps up her game (no pun intended) as the conflicted and scared teen that is thrust back into her worst nightmare.
Apart from paying attention to Lawrence, keep a close eye on Johanna, because she almost steals the show through her actions and words. She is the epitome of all the anger and hate toward the capitol. She says the things people in the districts wish to say. You may hate her at first, but give her time.
HGCF received very high reviews, racking in a 90 from RottenTomatoes’s top critics, an 8.0 from the general audience on IMDb, and 75 from Metacritic, the same score as Rush from last week.
On the Penn State Scale...
1—when Penn State loses a game,
2—an 8 a.m class (which are awful),
3—a canceled 8 a.m class,
4— free textbooks,
and 5—free Creamery ice cream for a whole year,
This movie deserves a 4.3, which is what it’s getting. The movie successfully pumps you up with its’ madness from start to finish. The story compels you to feel for, and with, the characters. You hear the panic through the intensity of the music and the cries of the characters. If nothing I’ve already said has convinced you that this movie is fantastic, then just wait until you see the MAJOR plot twists.
*This movie will only be showing on Friday and Saturday. The showing times are 8 p.m. and 11 p.m.
Sofia Westin is a freshman majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, email sgw5090@psu.edu.
