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David Mumpower: I fall somewhere between Edwin and Tom. I am totally satisfied by The Hunger Games as a theatrical adaptation. I do not expect it to wind up in my top 10 for the year yet I very much enjoyed the time spent watching it. In fact, I had wanted to see a second time already. My perception is that director Gary Ross made many of the correct determinations with regards to which aspects of the book deserve to be in the movie. Yes, I would have liked to see more of Gale, Cinna and Rue. I understand that a tight 140 minute movie is a better decision than an overstuffed 180 minute movie. Such excess is a key reason why the Lord of the Rings trilogy never did much for me.

Instead of making such a mistake, The Hunger Games is offered as a bare bones largely first person perspective of Katniss, and one that overcomes the problem of the book, the limited knowledge of the protagonist. In the book, she behaves too much like a teen girl, which is great to other teen girls but impossibly self-indulgent to those of us who couldn't care less (roughly 98% of the population). Rather than ineffectively include monologue by having Katniss speak her thoughts, we are instead treated to the visual equivalent of exposition. Correctly, silence is utilized to reinforce how much her thoughts are oftentimes drowned out by surrounding events. This is particularly true when she is asked a question by Caesar Flickman but she doesn't hear it due to being amazed by the size of the onlooking crowd. Simply put, I am diametrically opposed to Max's statement that thumping tech music would have been the better decision. That would have been a mistake.

What works for me about The Hunger Games is that the event itself is the spectacle as well as the focus of the movie, which is as it should be. The other stuff that was only hinted at that will occur in the later novels should not have been jammed into the first film. In the Harry Potter parlance, the first Quidditch match was an imperative. Introducing Voldemort, on the other hand, would have been rushing the proceedings. There is impressive patience shown with The Hunger Games in this regard. Less is more and that philosophy permeates throughout the film. I am particularly pleased by the decision to blur the acts of brutality from the story. Americans have a reputation for glorifying violence yet The Hunger Games is respectful of the deaths of its characters. This is in stark contract to Battle Royale, a brilliant flick that is whacked beyond all description.

I do not view The Hunger Games as a best case scenario as, say, Iron Man or How to Train Your Dragon were. It is, however, one of the strongest book adaptations of the 2000s. I am thoroughly pleased with it and think it's an easy A.

Kim Hollis: I was surprised by how much I liked it. Having read the books, I would say that my expectations were quite high, and the film really came through for me in almost every way. I have a couple of very minor disappointments and nitpicks, but nothing even worth discussing, as far as I'm concerned. The film has an excellent pace, and moves along nicely even though it's somewhat long. I agree with David that silence is used extremely effectively, as is the score. I would not have enjoyed a pulsating rock soundtrack or a bunch of indie music so that it could be hip. Jennifer Lawrence is simply amazing, and while I had been skeptical about Josh Hutcherson in the role of Peeta, I really thought he was terrific. He was more or less exactly what I had envisioned for the character without realizing it. Other great performances are turned in by Woody Harrelson and Stanley Tucci. As far as the shaky cam goes, it didn't bother me at all, and that technique is generally very much an issue for me. I wonder if it might not have been a little better on IMAX screens (which is how I saw the film).

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