Saturday, March 24, 2012

The Hunger Games Movie Review

The Hunger Games Midnight showing
 SPOILER WARNING!!
So the long awaited Hunger Games premier was on Friday.  I went to see the midnight showing at Dole.  It was my first time going to a midnight showing, so we got there early at about 8:00.  We were closer to the front of the line, so we were able to get good seats.  We saw it in IMAX which I highly recommend!
Overall, I thought the movie was really good.  Like I've heard from a lot of people, they left out a lot of important details from the book.  However, being that the screenplay was adapted from the book, I thought it was well done despite some missing details.  These types of films are never as good as the book, since movies do have time constraints they can't include every detail.  I did notice a lack of character development, and the movie felt rushed overall, even though it was almost 2 1/2 hours.  I felt like some parts moved really slow, and others were very fast.  Up until the actual scenes in the arena, I thought it was quite slow, but once the games start, I felt it was too rushed.  For example, in the cave scene with Peeta and Katniss, or when Cato dies.  I felt those parts in the book were really long and drawn out, but in the movie it was so short.  I didn't like how they changed the story behind the Mockingjay pin, and they left out some important details about the hovercraft, and the Avox (although I think these were mentioned, but not explained).  The story behind the Mockingjay was important though, so I wonder how the next movies will progress.  Also, in the books, they were told from Katniss's point of view.  You get a lot of flashbacks and back stories from her, which you don't really get in the movie.
The visuals for this movie definitely did not disappoint!  My favorite was the scenes in the capitol.  It was amazing to see how they brought those images to life.  I loved the makeup and fashion, and just the overall depiction of Capitol life.  The food and their living space looked amazing, and the train was exactly how I pictured it looking.  I loved their costumes at the parade and the interviews.  I think the acting was also well done.  Jennifer Lawrence did an awesome job as Katniss!  Some of my favorite scenes were the start of the games, Rue's death, the tracker jacker scene, as well as the ending with Seneca Crane. There were a lot of dramatic and emotional scenes that were very good.  As far as being true to the book, despite leaving out a couple of details, I thought the movie was spot on.
I think this movie was great.  Honestly, not as amazing as the previews made it seem, but I think I have much higher expectations after reading the books.  If you haven't read the books, this will definitely be entertaining and I think you will like it.  If you're like me and have read the books, you may be a little disappointed, but like I said it's so hard to live up to the book.  I really liked the movie overall and would definitely see it again!  For those who have seen the movie, what are your thoughts?

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