Bringing in the spring season this year is the highly anticipated novel based movie, “The Hunger Games. “

For those familiar with the novel, you will be pleasantly surprised to find that the film version closely follows the book story.  Coming in at two and a half hours, you’re definitely in for a very comprehensive and exciting story to follow, even if it may seem to drag a little.

Director Gary Ross, “Seabiscuit,” is true to the plot of the book, picked an apt cast, and follows the story line in this PG-13 heart-racing thriller.  He was able to fit a proper back-story for the book fans all while serving up some fresh entertainment.

Jennifer Lawrence, Katniss Everdeen, is one of the co-stars on the big screen, next to Josh Hutcherso, Peeta Mellark, and Liam Hensworth, Gale Hawthorne.  Lawrence starred in “X-Men: First Class as Mystique” and Hutcherson broke out of his shell since his work in his last film “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island.”

To say that Lawrence has a top notch performance is an understatement.  Her scenes are filled with prime acting, complemented by the performance of her colleagues.

This is a well-balanced movie that appeals to not only the younger audience, but also to the older crowd looking for a good action flick.

The story that the movie entails is somewhat horrific, but Ross manages to tame the brutality of the content into somewhat of a family friendly version.  Ross let the romantic story blossom between Lawrence and Hutchinson in order to cut down on some of the violence.

The choreography of the action scenes are flawlessly executed, and minimize the violence that is actually on screen.  The frightening premise of the story is easy to digest through the execution of this paper to screen adaptation.

To say that this adaptation is perfect would not be accurate, since many side characters are underdeveloped, or completely ignored.  However, I would be hard-pressed to find a book-before-movie fan that would complain too much about accuracy.