‘The Hunger Games’ is on track to dethrone the Twilight saga. Advance ticket sales have soared up to third place behind ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2’ ($169.2 million) and ‘Twilight: New Moon’ ($120 million). Midnight showings packed theaters and international numbers are good. According to Deadline the film “scored a huge $1.8 million (USD) in Australia.”
Theaters are adding screenings were they can. Currently, 4,127 locations are running the movie and gaining momentum. As for reviews… ‘The Hunger Games’ is sitting on an 87% fresh rating from critics while the audience has given it a 95% approval rating. (As of this moment.)
USA Today – “Like the select participants of its savage sport, The Hunger Games stands triumphant, if scarred and a bit wobbly from the contest.”
Film.com – “Measured against its downright subversive subtext, you have to come away impressed by the level of achievement.”
New York Times – “Again and again Katniss rescues herself with resourcefulness, guts and true aim, a combination that makes her insistently watchable, despite Mr. Ross’s soft touch and Ms. Lawrence’s bland performance.”
Rolling Stone – “The Hunger Games has epic spectacle, yearning romance, suspense that won’t quit and a shining star in Jennifer Lawrence.”
Some critics didn’t find the same enjoyment out of the movie as their critical counterparts…
Wall Street Journal – “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.”
New York Magazine – “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.”
Time – Can The Hunger Games, in the movie version directed by Gary Ross, successfully navigate the crossing from page to screen? Our answer: Eh.
