First Photo From The Hunger Games Movie

And the critics fall silent.

There was a lot of initial grumbling when Jennifer Lawrence was cast in the role of Katniss Everdeen for the Hunger Gamesfilm adaptation. No one argued that Lawrence couldn’t act (she was fresh off an Oscar nomination), but they went after the little things.

In casting one of the most anticipated book to movie female protagonists since Stieg Larsson’s TheGirl With The Dragon Tattoo or Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight, it was inevitable that people were going to nitpick this choice to death. She’s too old, she doesn’t have dark hair, she’s too tall, she’s never fired a bow before, she’s not my daughter that I pushed into acting at an early age despite her pleas that she just wanted to do gymnastics and hang out with friends (very specific, I know, but I guarantee some of the grumblers were grumbling this).

I myself thought Lawrence was a little too old at first. But having seen her in Winter’s Bone, a role that had her playing a scrappy, stubborn adolescent who must provide for her impoverished family after her father disappears (eerily similar to the role that she’ll take on in the Hunger Games), I’ve turned the corner. And now with this first photo of her in costume hitting the internet, you could say I’m convinced.

What about you? Are you one of the many diehard Hunger Games fans dissecting each bit of casting news? If so, how do you feel about the other roles? Would John C. Reilly or Hugh Laurie have made a better Haymitch than Woody Harrelson? Do you feel slighted that you were not cast as Katniss after sending in your audition tape of you in cosplay outfits in the park? Will this movie series be the next Harry Potter at the box office or the next Golden Compass?