Hope. It is the only thing stronger than fear.

Date: Sunday 4th November
Film: The Hunger Games (2012)
Director: Gary Ross
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Laim Hemsworth
Running Time: 2 hours 22 minutes
Rating: 8.5/10

After reading the books earlier this year, I was a little torn on whether I would like the first movie in The Hunger Games trilogy, mainly because whilst I enjoyed the premise of the books, I found the Katniss character to be weak and whiny, something I struggled to tolerate.

However, friends who had seen the film but hadn't read the books advised me that Jennifer Lawrence plays Katniss differently to how she is written. Instead of being this girl who puts herself into situations then complains that she doesn't like the way things are going, in the film Katniss is a strong girl who fights for the people she cares about.

The subject matter is dark, in the future Panem (the remains of North America) is controlled by The Capitol, who suppress the 12 poorer districts. Annually, in an effort to exert their control, the Capitol run the Hunger Games, a nationally televised event in which a male and female tribute, aged between 12 and 18, from each district must go into an arena and fight until only one person remains standing, having helped kill the other 23 tributes.

As with all book adaptations, I had ideas in my mind of what I expected characters, scene and environments to look like and, ever since the soul crushing disappointment of the adaptation of The Time Traveler's Wife (way to ruin a great book), I went into this with low expectations. I was pleased to be proved wrong.

Considering that for a large section of the story Katniss is alone, the filmmakers have worked well to show her struggle without resorting to cheesy voice overs. Considering the manner in which some tributes meet their demise, the fight scenes weren't overly graphic and were balanced well with the relationships forming in the arena and views of the nation outside watching the games.

Backed by a strong supporting cast, made up of many a familiar face, The Hunger Games is a great film.

Challenge Day: 42
Challenge Time: 2 days, 3 hours, 42 minutes
Challenge Film Total: 29