The Hunger Games (film series) 2". Lionsgate released a statement stating that, since the majority of Hoffman’s scenes were completed, the release date for "Part 2" would not be affected. Every year, in the ruins of what was once North America, the Capitol of the nation of Panem forces each of its 12 districts to send a teenage boy and girl, between the ages of 12 and 18, to compete in the Hunger Games: a nationally televised event in which 'tributes' fight each other within an arena, until one survivor remains. When Primrose Everdeen is 'reaped', her older sister Katniss Everdeen volunteers in her place
The Hunger Games (film) pulse-racing entertainment value". Reynolds also spoke highly of Lawrence's performance and director Gary Ross, whose "rough and ready handheld camerawork" meant that viewers were "with Katniss for every blood-flecked moment of her ordeal in the combat arena". However, film critic David Thomson of the magazine "The New Republic" called it a "terrible movie", criticizing it for a lack of character development and unclear presentation of the violence, describing the latter as "un-American". Eric Goldman of IGN awarded the film four out of five stars, stating that director Gary Ross "gets the tone of The Hunger Games right. This is a