Critics on Jennifer Lawrence: “Lawrence gives a performance of stoic, solemn intensity as Katniss”

All “The Hunger Games” fans around the world are getting excited about its premiere and we’re just dying to see the film on the big screen. We see the faces of the trio in the magazines, television, the Internet, on the bus stops, literally everywhere. But everyone asks: “Will the film be good enough?”. It seems that the answer is: YES, because the critics are giving the film generally favorable reviews (on RottenTomatoes.com, “The Hunger Games” has 100% of positive reviews). And here are some excerpts:

You can?t take your eyes off Jennifer Lawrence as the ox-hearted, mud-freckled Katniss, who volunteers as her district?s female Games contestant to save her younger sister from the draft. She?s even more compelling here than she was in the 2010 indie Winter?s Bone, a strikingly similar role for which she was nominated for an Oscar. (…) The Hunger Games is an essential science fiction film for our times; perhaps the essential science fiction film of our times. Whatever your age, it demands to be devoured.
The Telegraph, rated: 5/5

As thrilling and smart as it is terrifying. There have been a number of big-gun literary series brought to screen over the past decade. This slays them all.
Empire, rated: 4/5

A thrilling, intelligent, deeply-felt movie that does not play by the typical rules of franchise building in modern Hollywood.
HitFlix, rated: A

As she did in her breakthrough film Winter’s Bone, Jennifer Lawrence anchors this futuristic and politicized elaboration of The Most Dangerous Game with impressive gravity and presence, while director Gary Ross gets enough of what matters in the book up on the screen to satisfy its legions of fans worldwide.
The Hollywood Reporter, rated: 70/100

Rarely does a blockbuster live up to its overheated hype, but The Hunger Games proved to be an exception. Lawrence and this franchise will go far.
Times (UK)

The Hunger Games is that rarest of beasts: a Hollywood action blockbuster that is smart, taut and knotty. Ably filleted from the Suzanne Collins bestseller, it’s a compelling, lightly satirical tale. (…) Riffing off her recent role in Winter’s Bone, Jennifer Lawrence gives a performance of stoic, solemn intensity as Katniss.
The Guardian, rated: 4/5

Still, the camera does mostly cling to Katniss, requiring a Herculean amount of heavy lifting from Lawrence. She bears the load. Stoical or heart-on-sleeve, afraid or defiant, the starlet hits the mark. Factor in archery skills to make Robin Hood soil his Lincoln greens and you have Katniss as Collins intended. (…) What’s remarkable is the lack of cheese. Tacky effects, corny dialogue and creaky performances are all shown the door. We repeat: not the new “Twilight”.
Total Film, rated: 80/100

As action, as allegory, as cinema, The Hunger Games is the best American science-fiction film since “The Matrix,” and if Ross and his crew stay with the series for the next two books, we may get that rarest of things: a blockbuster franchise that earns our money through craft, emotion and execution, not merely marketing and effects.
Boxoffice Magazine, 4,5/5

For more, visit RottenTomatoes and Metacritic.