The Hunger Games vs. Twilight – No Contest

I wasn’t exactly stoked to see The Hunger Games. I haven’t read any of the books, but I’m not exactly into young adult fiction. But many of my friends were over the moon excited for it, so I figured it was worth the shot. Still, I wasn’t excited. Up until recently, I’ve always been happy to hop aboard a recent fad or trend to see what all the hubbub is about – and if anything, it’s exciting, ya know? Who wouldn’t want to go to a midnight premiere with their friends to see a movie that’s all over every magazine and news program? After the major disappointments that were the Twilight movies, though, I wasn’t hopping on enthusiastically. My friends dragged me to not one, but TWO midnight premieres of these romantic trainwrecks, and I promised myself I would never waste another 12 bucks on a movie that was so obviously going to be bad. In other words, I was done giving things chances.

But I have to admit that The Hunger Games piqued my interest a bit. First of all, its rave reviews were basically exploding out of the press. Furthermore, what a great cast – Jennifer Lawrence is an Oscar nominee, and who doesn’t love Elizabeth Banks? Wes Bentley is one of the stars of my favorite movie of all time, American Beauty, and Joshua Hutchinson is charming beyond belief. I’ve liked him in virtually every film of his short yet exciting career. I didn’t go on opening weekend, but I did go a week later. To say the least, I was VERY impressed. Is it worthy of an Oscar? Probably not. Does the book seem as monumental as the Harry Potter series? Probably not. But I still very much enjoyed the ride, and I am definitely open to reading the novels. To sum it up, Jennifer Lawrence was stunning, and she was buoyed by the fact that she didn’t have to portray a selfish, annoying, typical teenager *cough* Kristen Stewart *cough*. Instead, she played the selfless, strong, and smart Katniss with poise, elegance, and style. Secondly, this story has some depth. It’s MUCH more than a love story. It’s in fact a social critique on politics, power, and mass media. Not many young adult books can boast a resume like that. What’s more, the movie didn’t shy away from the shock factor. It landed a PG-13 rating thanks to the perfect combination of daring, edginess, and violence. I’m not one to condone violence amongst children, but life is violent, and Suzanne Collins knows it. All in all, I was pretty satisfied when THG beat the gross of every Twilight movie ever released…I just hope it can hold on come this summer, when the final installation comes out. I definitely will NOT be present for that premiere.