Hatchet reporter Morgan Viehman shares her latest movie experience.

“The Hunger Games” (2012)

The screen adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ dystopian trilogy is masterfully executed in “The Hunger Games.” Directed by Gary Ross and with contributing screenwriting from the author, the film will leave both movie lovers and super fans of the books anxiously awaiting the next installment.

The story is set in a fictional future of North America known as Panem, in which 12 laboring districts surround the shining Capitol. The Capitol, to entertain its gluttonous citizens and to keep the people of the districts subordinate, select a boy and girl from each district to compete in an elaborate, highly televised annual fight to the death known as the Hunger Games.

Jennifer Lawrence stars as protagonist Katniss Everdeen, a passionately protective teenager toughened by hard times. After her father’s death and her mother’s resulting emotional detachment, Katniss supports her family by hunting illegally for food. On the day of “the reaping,” her sister’s name is called and a panicked Katniss volunteers to take her place as District 12’s female tribute.

Katniss, along with District 12’s male tribute, is thrust into a blood bath where only one of 24 can survive. The two play the cameras and vie for supporters as a teenage couple desperately in love. Whether the romance is just an act or something more is a question both Katniss and the filmmakers leave unanswered at the end of the film.

While the entire supporting cast is spectacular – namely Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket, Lenny Kravitz as Cinna, and Woody Harrelson as Haymitch Abernathy – it is Lawrence who truly carries the film. Nominated for an Academy Award for her role in 2010’s “Winter’s Bone,” Lawrence has the astonishing ability to portray a number of emotions with just a look. It’s a credit to the entire production that the role of Katniss was not played by the traditional “action movie” type but by a skilled actress with a clear understanding of the character.

In addition to the outstanding cast, it is the costume and set design, by Judianna Makovsky and Larry Dias respectively, that make the many worlds of “The Hunger Games” come to life. The starkly barren scenes of District 12 with its outdated plains-people garb stand in gratifying opposition to the Capitol.

As with any film based on a novel, some avid followers will find problems with continuity and a romance that is significantly less steamy than as portrayed by the books. But it is clear that everyone involved in the film respected the story and spent the time and energy into making it a spectacular piece both on its own and as a realization of the novel.

Genre: Action, Drama
Director: Gary Ross
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Woody Harrelson
Release date: March 23