24 go in.  1 comes out.  The Hunger Games is a harsh look at an even harsher post-apocalyptic world where the winner of a civil war uses the lives of children from the losing areas as a yearly reminder that the losers have truly lost everything.  Throwing children into a pit to fight it out may seem a harsh topic for Young Adult Fiction — and it is — but it’s a topic that has caused the Hunger Games trilogy (The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay) to skyrocket up the bestseller charts.  Fans of all ages love the book, so it’s only natural that there would be a movie in the works.  And now the first book of the series gets it’s close-up with The Hunger Games.

I won’t lie; I’m an unabashed fan of the books.  I read them all in one weekend, the benefit of being late to the party, and I have my ship all ready (Team Peeta!), my nails painted for “my District” (Agro, for 11!), and my favorite secondary characters (Rue!  Cinna!  Caesar!  Finnick!  Oops, jumping ahead a bit….)

This movie is good; real or not real?  Most definitely real.

It’s many, many years after a devastating apocalypse that reduced North America to ruins.  Out of the ashes rose Panem; a nation of thirteen Districts and a Capitol.  Civil war erupted in the nation (the “Dark Days”), and after the dust cleared the Capitol came out as the clear winner.  The twelve surviving Districts were left with a yearly lottery; one boy and one girl from every District must compete in the annual Hunger Games, 24 children fighting in an ever changing Capitol-created arena until only one survivor is left.  Panem is class system times ten; if you’re not lucky enough to be born in The Capitol, you stand a chance of being slaughtered before you’re eighteen.  And you thought being in the 99% sucked.

Director Gary Ross has experience in creating other worlds that feel as real as our own; in Pleasantville he made a boy and his sister who are sucked into a black-and-white tv show feel real, and the identity-swapping-with-the-President movie Dave (Ross’ screenplay) made me believe that a switcheroo like that could actually be pulled off.  Ross takes his ability to take fantasy and inject it with just enough realism to keep viewers truly invested.  From the ramshackle shanty town of coal-mining District 12 to the camerawork and sound mixing that delivers a point-of-view feel to certain scenes, Ross creates a living world, then he draws viewers in by getting them into the action.  Sometimes it’s a bit much — the shakey-cam moments when there’s a lot of running about can be a bit much, folks who are motion-sick be aware — but the payoff is big.  Kudos to Ross for working with series novelist Suzanne Collins on the screenplay.  There are lots of things fans of the books want to see on screen, and this screenplay gets almost every single one up there.  Yes, one scene I was hoping for didn’t make the cut, but as this film isn’t a first-person account from Katniss I accept that.  I also gratefully accept the scenes that don’t have Katniss in them, like the view of the games from Head Gamemaker Seneca Crane’s (Wes Bentley, Gone) studio, and interactions between Seneca and the evil President Snow (played with a devastating low-simmer by Donald Sutherland).

And I have a new inappropriate crush: Josh Hutcherson (The Kids Are Alright) brings a sweetness to Peeta Mellark, the lovelorn baker from District 12,  that isn’t as obvious in the book.  Unfortunately, that kind of kills the love triangle aspect of the story.  Yes, Liam Hemsworth’s (The Last Song) Gale is a good lookin’ dude, and Gale gets extra points for being Katniss’ BFF.  But one look at Peeta’s face when the chips are down and he’s got nothing left to lose?  No way to beat that, folks.  Oh, and there’s that thin electric wire of chemistry that connects Peeta and Katniss anytime they’re onscreen together.  Hemsworth may get a chance to up the ante in the next film, but with Hutcherson’s brilliant turn in this film I’m thinking the deck is already stacked.

Now, about Katniss.  There are fans who were absolutely up in arms about the casting of Jennifer Lawrence as Mockingjay-to-be Katniss Everdeen.  I wasn’t one of ‘em.  I’ve seen her amazing performance as a young girl trying to keep herself and her siblings alive in Winter’s Bone, so when the news broke that she was cast as Katniss, I couldn’t have been more pleased.  People that complain that a blonde is chosen for a brunette role (or vice-versa) drive me crazy.  Hair dye, people.  Does wonders.  And Lawrence does wonders with this role, lifting Katniss body and soul out of the novel and onto the screen.  She’s a girl who has had to be tough in order to live in the rough world of District 12, yet Lawrence is able to portray a youthful innocence and naïveté that makes you root for her, and that keeps your eyes firmly on the screen.  It’s an impressive performance for a young actor, and it gives me hope that the rest of the series can and will be successful.

It’s difficult to discuss the acting that stood out, as this is a tour-de-force from all involved.  Bentley’s Seneca Crane and Stanley Tucci’s Caesar Flickerman feel like they’ve lept off the page and come to life.  The same can be said of gleeful tributes Cato and Glimmer, with their over-inflated sense of self and deadly instincts.  But it’s Rue that steals the show anytime she’s on screen.  Played by Amandla Stenberg (Columbiana), she’s a windsome little girl who is much smarter than other tributes give her credit for.  Stenberg is wonderful in the role, and the camaraderie between Rue and Katniss feels genuine.

Not that everything is unicorns and rainbows.  There’s not enough Haymitch in the film, or at least not enough turn-around with his character.  In the books the man is a human wreck soaked in alcohol, not surprisingly since he’s a survivor of the Games from years before.  Getting Haymitch to come around and fight for the tributes is a turning point in the books, but it’s not touched on here.  Woody Harrelson does a lovely job with the character, but since there’s not much development of Haymitch, there’s not much of a connection.  And if you haven’t read the books you’ll do just fine, but you won’t understand some of the smaller points in the film, like the three-finger salute or how Katniss has no fear of the electric fence.  Minor quibbles with so much awesome onscreen, but to be fair I’ve gotta mention ‘em.

The Hunger Games is a faithful version of Panem that is serious without getting self-serving or maudlin.  It even manages to get a bit radical on the down-low, without rubbing viewer’s noses in it.  Two Agro-painted thumbs up.