Gale: “Listen to me. You’re stronger than they are… they just want a good show. That’s all they want.”

I don’t normally feel inclined to get pulled into stories too deeply (sagas like Harry Potter served as minor fantasy runs, and Twilight has never laid a glimpse upon my eyes), but there’s something extremely chilling about The Hunger Games. Thank you to all you who are obsessed about this series for forewarning me about the gruesomeness in it…! But, this story has one heck of a strong main character with so much depth in her, you’d be silly not to be drawn to her natural inborn wit, virtuosity, and motherly instincts–even to her own enemies.

The story emits a haunting truth about corrupt totalitarian governments randomly selecting young teens up for blood-slaughter, all for a TV show. Its gruesome in detail, and the high-budgeted and -publicized film seemed to match that intensity. From an unbiased perspective, this film did its job in having me sit still in my seat with my hands clasped in fear as I was taken into the world of the games, scared for my own darn life as well. There was one moment where I threw my hands up in defeat (not literally) because the scene was just plain too dramatic for me. Did they really have to go there?, I thought to myself. I can definitely see why people are keeping their attention glued to this series. It’s definitely one hell of a ride.

And I must add, the soundtrack given this film is surprisingly wonderful. It may have been the soundtrack period that made me grow a million times more respect for the film, but artists ranging from Taylor Swift to The Civil Wars, to both mainstream artists Kid Cudi and Maroon 5 testing out their vocals on a darker, more folksier tone (which I loved), add depth to the film. Don’t forget the wonderful The Decemberists and Arcade Fire (whom I saw last summer at OL 2011) who set the bar for its haunting ‘indie-ness’. For a mainstream film, I love how they’ve added a country folk element to their music and, although most of these songs, I believe, don’t appear in the film, it is a wonderful supplement to the film and evokes the same sort of chilling, racy, and melodic lullabies we all felt when watching the movie.