The Hunger Games - Os Jogos da Fome

Like the select participants of its savage sport, The Hunger Games stands triumphant, if scarred and a bit wobbly from the contest.

It features a functioning creative imagination and lots of honest-to-goodness acting by its star, Jennifer Lawrence, who brings her usual toughness and emotional transparency to the archer-heroine Katniss.

Ross manages to keep the pacing remarkably swift, given that the games themselves don't start until halfway through the 144-minute running time.

[Ross'] version of The Hunger Games, while not perfect, is probably as magnificent I ever my wildest dreams could have hoped for it to be.

[Katniss is] perhaps the most engaging action-movie protagonist in recent years … Am I glad I saw The Hunger Games? Yes. But I'm not eager to see it again.

If you've never read Collins' novels, the odds that you'll enjoy the film are not in your favor.

The Hunger Games is first and foremost an adventure/survival story, and director Ross keeps things moving with nary a moment of downtime.

[Rue's] presence gave the heart to the whole movie.

The Hunger Games is undeniably progressive in making its protagonist so plucky, independent, and self-actualizing a young woman.

The film shows precious little hunger and no sense of game.

Lawrence proved her ability to carry a character's heavy burden in Winter's Bone. As Katniss Everdeen, a teenage girl who is both physically and morally strong, she has gravitas, rarely breaking into a smile, but reveals no sign of self-seriousness.

Even when two people are just talking calmly, Ross jerks the camera around. Why? As the sense of danger increases, he has nothing to build toward.

Lawrence is terrific, but the film is a sleek, competent example of a big-budget, sure-fire commercial hit without much soul or style.

Watching The Hunger Games, I was struck both by how slickly Ross hit his marks and how many opportunities he was missing to take the film to the next level -- to make it more shocking, lyrical, crazy, daring.

The Hunger Games' pacing is brisk, its stakes as high as stakes get, and its leading lady engaging enough that the odds - at the box office at least - will be ever in its favor.

Measured against its downright subversive subtext, you have to come away impressed by the level of achievement.

Director Gary Ross generally avoids the elaborate exterior shots and special effects that dominate high-concept blockbusters.

Director Gary Ross' adaptation, co-scripted by Collins herself, isn't quite as crackingly paced as the novel, but it will more than satisfy existing fans of the trilogy and likely create many new ones.

Well-paced, well-directed and extremely well acted entertainment.

The first book of Suzanne Collins's prodigiously popular trilogy has been brought to the screen with a Jumbotron sensibility, a shaky camera to emphasize the action and a shakier grip on the subject's emotional core.