Film review: The Hunger Games (M)

Young Katniss Everdeen (Lawrence) volunteers to take the place of her younger sister at the annual televised Hunger Games, in which 24 teenagers are picked at random to survive in the wild and basically pick each other off until there is only one survivor.

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone), Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones), Woody Harrelson (Zombieland).

Director: Gary Ross (Seabiscuit).

Screening: Daily at 11.30am, 2.30pm, 5.30pm, 8.30pm.

3 Stars (out of 5).

The make-up and sets on the film are very effective, but what sets this movie apart from other teen-bait like the Twilight movie franchise are the performances and cast.

Donald Sutherland (Kiefer's dad), Wes Bentley (American Beauty), Stanley Tucci and Woody Harrelson give the movie much-needed gravitas.

Displaying the same feral qualities she showed in Winter's Bone, Jennifer Lawrence carries the movie very well.

And, once again, we get to see her hunt animals in the wild, something she is obviously very good at! With everyone looking like they just stepped out of a Flock of Seagulls pop video, and hairdressers of the future clearly making a fortune colouring hair, The Hunger Games is not the sort of film I normally go for.

But, as it's adapted for the movie by the author of the best-selling trilogy, die-hard fans should be happy with how the novels play out on screen, and this film should be a popular choice for the younger generation.