7.6/10

This is my first time being introduced to the world of "The Hunger Games" and I will say that I was pleasantly entertained. I don't know what to expect from here on out, but I hope to be as entertained, if not more, by the original movies of the series.

The story was engaging and separated into three parts that made it enjoyable. Everything from the introduction of the Games to evasions to conclusions were well executed. Despite the film being violent prone it still comes across as tense and deadly without showing anything too gruesome to maintain its PG rating.

The acting was strong. The actors were well suited for their roles, and only based on trailers, I found the young Snow builds well for the original movies, but unknown for certain. I loved the chemistry between Rachel Zegler and Tom Blyth.

The music was terrific. Zegler has an amazing voice, and her songs obviously work well into the film. The visuals are mostly incredible. There's a few spots where it's very obviously screen acting. Part of me hopes they did have physical sets cause there were portions that felt genuine.

Overall, you don't need to have seen the previous films to understand what's going on, but it may help to better understand who the characters are. Acting is strong, music is great, and the story is amazing enough to make me want to see the rest of "The Hunger Games".

That's all for now. Thank you for taking the time to read my review. Until next time.... Enjoy the show!

Funny people in the comments not expecting songs from a movie that starts with the name THE BALLAD OF.

The whole point of the movie was to show how Snow starting rising to power and also how the Capitol started being manipulated into start liking and watching the games.

It was a great adaptation, the most faithful one since Catching Fire. Rachel Zegler is a great singer and a great actress. The songs are very important to the story, every song contains an important part of the movie ESPECIALLY the one she sings laying down by the lake.

People need to actually pay attention to what they're watching.

I will start by saying I don't think it's an 8, maybe a 7.5-7.7 so I rounded up.

However, I went in with low expectations, expecting a big budget movie with a poor storyline but otherwise reasonably watchable. Well, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself hooked! And I daresay it was one of the better Hunger Games movies.

The bad reviews I've read seem to miss the point. This is not a story about the origin of the games, it is not a story about 'Lucy Gray" (even though her name is said about 1000 times)... It is a story about Snow and why he became the psychopath we know from the original stories. I found the not-so-happy ending refreshing and if you enjoy and understand social economic/philosophical dilemmas in terms of human psychology then it adds a notch of appreciation.

Viola, Tom and Peter were excellent in their portrayals. Zegler was fine, a little theatrical but given her background I suppose understandable.

I don't understand the hate. Especially the 1-3* reviews. Like, what were you watching!?