Redbox Review: "The Hunger Games"

If you haven’t seen "The Hunger Games" by now I’m going to assume you’ve been living under a rock. This is where my weird obsession with Jennifer Lawrence began. At least I can admit that I have a problem, that’s the first step right?

"The Hunger Games" has been out at Redbox for quite some time now, but they just added it to Netflix and Amazon Prime, so I’ve been hearing a lot about it again and I decided to watch it ... again. I mean, "Catching Fire" comes out in November, so it’s never too soon to start mentally preparing to delve back into the story.

I’m going to keep my summary short because I assume most people, even those who haven’t seen it, know the general plot of the story. The movie takes place in the country of Panem, which is where the United States had been. The movie takes place in a post-apocalyptic world of sorts. Panem is split up into 12 districts and The Capitol. Every year two tributes, a boy and a girl, are chosen to represent their district in the annual Hunger Games.

The Hunger Games are a punishment to the districts for “the dark days.” The districts tried to rebel and rise against The Capitol. There was a 13th district that The Capitol wiped off the map because of the rebellions. Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) are the tributes in this years games. Originally it was Prim, Katniss’ little sister, who was chosen to compete, but Katniss volunteered as tribute to keep her little sister safe.

I definitely recommend this movie. I loved the book series, and I think the movie followed the story well. If you haven’t seen it yet, here are a few reasons why you should.

1. The eye candy—Jennifer Lawrence is beautiful, Josh Hutcherson is absolutely adorable, and Liam Hemsworth, who plays Katniss’ childhood friend Gale, is just plain sexy. If only he had his real life Australian accent in this movie...

2. "Catching Fire" comes out in November—The sequel is said to be even better. They had more money to spend this time around and the storyline only thickens. In the meantime, read the books. They’re great.

3. Katniss is a total badass—I love it when girls are independent and kick butt. Katniss is exactly that. She’s a hunter and takes care of her family. She also saves Peeta’s ass more than once during the games (he does, however, return the favor).

4. Woody Harrelson and Elizabeth Banks are hilarious—Harrelson plays Haymitch, Peeta and Katniss’ mentor. Banks plays Effie Trinket, district 12’s escort from The Capitol. The banter between their characters is probably my favorite.

Long story short, if you are in the minority here it’s time to jump on "The Hunger Games" bandwagon. It doesn’t look like this craze is going to die off anytime soon.

This article is part of Samantha Latting's weekly entertainment column, "Redbox Review," which provides reviews about movies available at Redbox.

By: Samantha Latting | Image: Source