"The Hunger Games"

The first of many:
The Hunger Games: A Review 
Hello everyone, let me preface this short review by stating that I have in fact read through the Hunger Games trilogy and enjoyed the books immensely. The forthcoming type will illustrate my opinion of the movie itself, the acting, the quality of adaptation and various directorial points that struck me as I watched this film, enjoy.

Katniss makes her first kill

1) First, the quality of adaptation.(20/25) This motion picture was fairly similar to the book and contained the same plot points, major events, characters and retained the gripping drama from the printed version. However the book is still superior. Key plot elements, such as the depravity of the empire (the mutated dogs,mutts, bearing the likeness of the fallen tributes) or a several major minor characters, such as Portia, and Madge (who eventually would become a symbol of friendship to Katniss throughout the series, were completely written out of the film. However, all of this aside the books still cannot, and shall not possess the talents of Josh Hutcherson which leads me to
2) Acting: (50/50) The level of acting ability in this movie was absolutely incredible. With a combined ensemble of Stanley Tucci, Lenny Kravitz, Donald Sutherland, Wes Bentely, Elizabeth Banks and the scene-stealing Woody Harrelson, thsi movie was already destined to be well portrayed however Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson run away with the show. Very deep acting for such a young actor and actress however my one gripe was that some of the dialog felt very forced and unbelievable.
3) Directorial Points: (5/25) This is where my love of this movie gets shot right in the face. From director Gary Ross (Seabiscuit, Big, Pleasantville) came a cinematographic pile of excrement. From a critically acclaimed and innovative director came blinding glare, beautiful camera shots that were wasted in the scene and enough shaky cam to make me forget that I was watching the Hunger Games and instead made me believe that I was watching the Bourne Ultimatum....on speed. I could count on my hand the number of times I saw a steady shot in this film. and the resulting effect left me disorientated and nauseous. The camera work was atrocious and nearly ruined a touching and exciting flick.
Closing: Despite the gripes which I touched on in section three, by all means see this movie for the acting alone, which again was excellent. Out of a hundred points this earns 75/100 (good film)
Rotton Tomatoes: 85/100
IMDB: 80/100
Leonard Maltin: 65/100
Metacritic: 60/100
Roger Ebert: Three Stars