Before attending the early screening of “The Hunger Games,” I had only a small pool of knowledge regarding the trilogy of books that the film was beginning to adapt to the big screen. I had of course seen the number of trailers that had been put out, and it looked very well made, but I didn’t know if I’d find any of it to be believable in the end.

I started reading the first book (with the second one on its way at this moment) just hours before I was going to watch the movie, and I really found it to be very engrossing and compelling, which struck me as odd considering I couldn’t pay attention when reading other material if my life depended on it. I took a fan to go see the movie, and when we walked out, we both had the same two thoughts: that the film was incredible, and true to the source material.

I can say that alongside “The Godfather” (please don’t stop reading quite yet), “The Shawshank Redemption” (seriously, don’t stop), and whatever other novels-to-film I can think of, “The Hunger Games” is one of the most perfect adaptations of a piece of literature that I’ve ever seen. The first-person narration present in Suzanne Collins’ book is captured effortlessly with a wild and frenetic cinematography, and the deep-seated complexities in Katniss Everdeen’s character are portrayed with grace by Jennifer Lawrence, who is an early Oscar contender in my books (no, I’m not kidding). Fans of “The Hunger Games” will not be disappointed in the slightest, and may even hold up a three-central fingered salute for Gary Ross’ wonderful adaptation of a wonderful story.

“The Hunger Games” follows Katniss Everdeen (played by Jennifer Lawrence), a 16-year-old resident of District 12, one of the twelve outlying districts of Panem, which is ruled over by the Capitol. Some have described the world that Katniss inhabits as a dystopian future, but considering that dystopian literally breaks down to mean “false utopia,” I contest that descriptor, as I don’t think anyone outside of the Capitol would say that it’s such, but I digress. The book also goes into more detail about how the Reaping works which the movie leaves out, but they don’t add much to the story in the end, so it’s a fair trade.

The love triangle between Katniss, Gale and Peeta that has purportedly been a large part of the books is thankfully underplayed in the film, given the fact that all three characters are never in contact all at once since Gale isn’t present for the actual Games themselves. It’s pretty clear, however, that it will play an important role in the sequel (which this film not so elegantly nods to, but it’s forgivable considering there’s little doubt about its creation).

Before the Games take place, Katniss and Peeta are introduced to Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks) and Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson), who intend to make them presentable enough to gain sponsors before the Games begin. Through this segment, our heroes also meet the host of the Hunger Games, Caesar, played with a remarkable flair by Stanley Tucci, who is easily the most likeable Capitol member of the lot.

Following their training and interviews with Caesar, Katniss and the other tributes are placed in the arena to fight to death, and this is where the film goes from being intriguing to downright awesome. The action takes full advantage of the shaky cam (to some pretty wild degrees, which blurs most, if not all of the extremely violent content and makes for some dizzying sequences), and they pretty perfectly mirror Katniss’ actual perception of the battles that play out around her. We don’t see everything that the people watching from their homes in the Districts or in the Capitol see; everything is presented from the perspective of Katniss, endearing us to her even more when we know she is being hunted but we, like her, can’t tell where from. It’s all very effective at taking the narrated elements from the book and translating them to the big screen where Katniss isn’t narrating her each and every thought to the viewer.

In addressing the hype, I’ll say that I’m glad that fans have latched on to this series nearly to the extent that they have with the dreadful “Twilight” series, but the hype is a little out of control. I’m glad that a genuinely entertaining and thought-provoking story with a captivating, believable and strong central heroine will be refilling the void left by Bella Swan and her equally empty love interests. I’m less okay with the fact that a particularly large portion of the audience is going just because of the “hunks” that are portraying Peeta and Gale, but if it means that “The Hunger Games” gets some attention because of it, then it’s justifiable.

What struck me the most about the film, however, were the performances.  I rightfully expected Stanley Tucci and Woody Harrelson to bring a pitch-perfect charisma to their roles, but even the understated Lenny Kravitz managed to make an impression on me as Katniss’ stylist Cinna. I’ve already stated how great Oscar-nominee Jennifer Lawrence was in the role, but Josh Hutcherson also did a good job of imbuing his character with the right amount of honesty and charm. For all of the buzz surrounding his part in the movie, Liam Hemsworth may have three to four minutes of screen time tops, and even less of that involves any dialogue, but I have a feeling he’ll make for a good Gale in the coming films.

As an attempt to adapt the original source material to film, Gary Ross’ “The Hunger Games” is phenomenal. It recaptures the essence of the book through impressive cinematography and an excellent lead performance by Jennifer Lawrence.