[Rue's] presence gave the heart to the whole movie.

| Aug 31, 2021

The Hunger Games is undeniably progressive in making its protagonist so plucky, independent, and self-actualizing a young woman.

| Feb 25, 2019

The film shows precious little hunger and no sense of game.

| Jun 17, 2013

[Ross'] version of The Hunger Games, while not perfect, is probably as magnificent I ever my wildest dreams could have hoped for it to be.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Apr 14, 2012

If you've never read Collins' novels, the odds that you'll enjoy the film are not in your favor.

| Original Score: 5/10 | Apr 5, 2012

Lawrence proved her ability to carry a character's heavy burden in Winter's Bone. As Katniss Everdeen, a teenage girl who is both physically and morally strong, she has gravitas, rarely breaking into a smile, but reveals no sign of self-seriousness.

| Mar 30, 2012

A triumph of restraint - but had the film been more visceral and less sanitised it might have better implicated viewers in the voyeuristic bloodlust of its entertainment.

| Mar 29, 2012

Even when two people are just talking calmly, Ross jerks the camera around. Why? As the sense of danger increases, he has nothing to build toward.

| Mar 26, 2012

Ross manages to keep the pacing remarkably swift, given that the games themselves don't start until halfway through the 144-minute running time.

| Original Score: B | Mar 23, 2012

[Katniss is] perhaps the most engaging action-movie protagonist in recent years … Am I glad I saw The Hunger Games? Yes. But I'm not eager to see it again.

| Original Score: B- | Mar 23, 2012

Lawrence is terrific, but the film is a sleek, competent example of a big-budget, sure-fire commercial hit without much soul or style.

| Mar 23, 2012

The Hunger Games absolutely delivers for its target audience: younger teenagers. To them, it can be highly recommended.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 23, 2012

The Hunger Games just about manages to remain within the family enclosure. Little blood is spilt, but seasoned action fiends will not feel themselves overly short-changed.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 22, 2012

Like the select participants of its savage sport, The Hunger Games stands triumphant, if scarred and a bit wobbly from the contest.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 22, 2012

I know we're supposed to tut-tut about levels of cinematic violence, but this seems to me one of the rare occasions when the film needed to be bolder, and nastier.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Mar 22, 2012

It features a functioning creative imagination and lots of honest-to-goodness acting by its star, Jennifer Lawrence, who brings her usual toughness and emotional transparency to the archer-heroine Katniss.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 22, 2012

Watching The Hunger Games, I was struck both by how slickly Ross hit his marks and how many opportunities he was missing to take the film to the next level -- to make it more shocking, lyrical, crazy, daring.

| Mar 22, 2012

The Hunger Games is first and foremost an adventure/survival story, and director Ross keeps things moving with nary a moment of downtime.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Mar 22, 2012

The Hunger Games' pacing is brisk, its stakes as high as stakes get, and its leading lady engaging enough that the odds - at the box office at least - will be ever in its favor.

| Mar 22, 2012

The movie is undeniably a rich fantasy adventure, with plenty of narrative wiggle-room for the two books/movies to follow.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Mar 22, 2012