The Hunger Games Movie Review

In a dystopian future, the totalitarian nation of Panem is divided into 12 districts and the Capitol. Each year two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal retribution for a past rebellion, the televised games are broadcast throughout Panem. The 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors while the citizens of Panem are required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss’ young sister, Prim, is selected as District 12’s female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart, Peeta, are pitted against bigger, stronger representatives, some of whom have trained for this their whole lives.^[1]

I love The Hunger Games; it’s a dystopian movie adapted from the 2008 novel of the same title by Suzanne Collins. She said in an interview once how she got the idea for her novel by flipping through reality TV channels and Iraq war coverage, noting the extreme contrast in priorities. which led to an unsettling blur of lines between entertainment and violence. She combines this with inspiration from classical myths, specifically Roman Gladiator games, and Theseus and the Minotaur, a Greek myth where people had to send tributes of young people to be sacrificed to the “Minotaur.”

This move is the first in a series of 5, soon to be 6. Unlike the last 4, which were directed by Francis Lawrence, The Hunger Games was directed by Gary Ross. As much as I love Francis Lawrence’s movies, Gary Ross really showed the feeling of fear in the districts and the horror of the games: the low quality shaky camera made it slightly uncomfortable to watch at times, and you really felt like you were there in the arena.

The Hunger Games highlights the distinction between the Capitol and the districts early on, with the beginning scene of the movie making the difference between them clear. Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, who are used to living off scraps and stale food, enter a world of luxury far greater than they have ever seen, only a few days before their most certain death. They see people living in the Capitol who have never had to worry about money or food, and the difference in personality and priorities is distinct; the people of the Capitol see the people of the districts as barbaric or inhuman, while they themselves watch children fight to the death annually and are desensitized to the horror of it. The blatant hypocrisy is clear. The scenes set in the Capitol and around the Capitol citizens also have a completely different tone than the scenes in the districts and the arena; the Capitol citizens are dressed in extravagant outfits and bright colors, while the people of the districts and the tributes are seen in neutral tones and scrappy clothing.

Something that this movie is lacking compared to the book is Katniss’s first-person perspective. Katniss’s identity as an unreliable, or at least biased, narrator is a main part of the novel, and without it, we lack the context for the connections she makes in her mind, which are crucial to understanding her motivation for doing what she does. The movie partly makes up for this with the notes written by Haymitch that arrive with sponsorship gifts to Katniss, which helps the viewers understand the reasoning behind some of her decisions. They also include scenes of President Snow and the inner workings of the Capitol, which gives the viewers context into how the games work and the justification behind them included in the novel.

The Hunger Games movie is missing lots of details that are included in the book, most likely to save time. It doesn’t even mention Madge Undersee, the District 12 mayor’s daughter and Katniss’ friend. Madge is the person who gave Katniss the mockingjay pin in the novel when she was in the justice building, saying goodbye to Katniss; Katniss never gave the pin to Prim in the book. This also directly affects the plot of the new novel that just came out in March of 2025, where Maysille Donner, the aunt of Madge Undersee, is reaped in the 50^th Hunger Games with Haymitch. It is revealed in that novel that the mockingjay pin belonged to Maysille before being passed to Merrilee, Madge’s mom, and then to Madge. I wonder how Francis Lawrence will write around the fact that Maysille owned the mockingjay pin, or if he’s just going to drop that plotline altogether.

The movie also leaves out characters that strengthen the plot, like Gale’s family; he’s the oldest of 4 with a widowed mother, Hazelle Hawthorn; and Peeta’s family; his mother was mentioned, but his father and 2 brothers never were, despite playing a role in the novel. I understand why they were cut from the movie, but it would have been really cool to see their families on screen. They also cut most of Cato’s death in the film to keep it PG-13; it was an extremely gruesome death spanning hours in the novel, and I actually appreciate this change.

What I found ironic about the marketing of the movie is how heavily it resembled the marketing for the games themselves. Suzanne Collins based Panem’s propaganda on the marketing and propaganda techniques of the US, and that reveals itself when you look at the posters and commercials for the 2012 movie. They used the “love triangle” between Katniss, Gale, and Peeta to bring in a larger audience just like the gamemakers did to increase ratings, and they highlight the action in the movie, with the “fight to the death” aspect of the movie drawing in people for the wrong reasons.

Overall, The Hunger Games is a great movie; it has an engaging plotline, memorable characters, and a good message of resistance that is explored deeper in the next couple of movies and books. I strongly suggest you both read and watch the whole Hunger Games franchise, especially since there will be a new movie releasing in November of 2026.

1. Collins, Suzanne on The Hunger Games, 2012