How have I not jumped on the Hunger Games bandwagon until just now?
I finished the first book on Sunday and saw the movie last night.
Books are always better than the movie (with the exception of The Notebook), but I thought this movie was pretty decent.
I have NOT read the second or third book, so if anyone drops a spoiler comment I will be forced to hunt you down...with my bow and arrow, Katniss style. Please don't pull a James (my brother). When The Sixth Sense was released he told me that Bruce Willis' character was dead (which is the biggest twist to the story) before I even saw it. Thanks for that.
MOVIE LIKES:
*Rue: Oh my goodness. Could they have chosen a better Rue? No, definitely not. She was spot on. Adorable and so lovable.
*Caesar and his welcome smile. If you've seen the movie, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Laugh out loud funny. (Even though they should have only done it once)
*Scene where Cinna is sending Katniss off to start the Games. I don't think I have ever been that nervous in a movie in a really long time. I knew exactly what was going to happen and my heart was still beating out of my chest. That was acted and directed perfectly.
*The uprising from District 11 after Rue died. I don't remember this happening in the book, but I loved that they had Rue's father go nuts after she died.
*Gale: Yes! The only downfall of this guy is that he dates Miley Cyrus. ???? It's the Josh Duhamel thing...he's so, so, so good looking until you find out he's married to Fergie and that information just ruins everything.
MOVIE DISLIKES
*Peeta: How could I not start with this? What were the directors thinking?!?!?! In no part of my imagination did I see this actor playing Peeta. He was whiney and weak in the movie, and I imagined him as handsome and brave (and taller) in the book. The only reason I didn't throw my Coke at the movie screen was because he had crazy, beautiful eyes....and I didn't want to waste my Coke. The scene where Katniss thinks he's dead from eating the poisonous berries was the only scene that showed chemistry between the two of them. I've even googled "why was josh hutcherson chosen to play peeta" (Noel says I always have the longest google searches) and NOTHING! In Josh H's defense, he is a cutie (but just not Peeta cute and I actually liked him more as the movie went on...but still!!)
*The camera shots were insane. In the worst way possible. I kept wondering if the lady at the snack station had poisoned my drink. The dizziness was out of control.
*The opening hunt scene with Katniss. This needed to be about 100% fiercer. This scene was supposed to set the tone of the entire movie and I felt like it could have been executed better. More hard core.
*Mixed feelings about this one: Katniss herself. She is a GORGEOUS actress. No doubt about that. But with beautiful, lush lips and a nice, juicy booty? Not exactly "Katniss starving in the wilderness" look. I did like her for the most part.
What were some of your thoughts about the movie compared to the book (just the FIRST book, remember)?
16 comments :
I've seen the movie twice already and loved it both times. Totally agree about Rue; the actress was spot on. Like you, I have a hard time seeing how Katniss will choose Peeta over Gale, but Josh Hutcherson is a good actor and he will be older when the next movies are filmed ... hopefully a little taller, too.
Donald Sutherland was excellent as Pres. Snow; in fact, most of the actors were just right for the role.
I would like to have seen more in-the-cave bonding time between Katniss & Peeta.
The dizzying shots were explained to me this way: the director wanted the "real life" scenes to be much rougher and grittier than the "TV show" scenes. He did manage that! The jerky camera work didn't bother me the first time, but when I saw it on Imax, it was much more noticeable.
All in all, they did an excellent job and did the book justice, thank goodness.
I also think there should of been more KatPee (hilarious huh?) bonding in the cave. The books had them in there for a few days and really told about how at first she was just playing it up for the camera to get sponsors but then really started to care for him. The movie just made it seem like they were in there for an hour or so and that everything was fake. Overall I LOVED the movie and I have read all 3 books so I won't spoil it for you but it definitely gets even better and crazier!
You are so spot on with Katniss. Great acting beautiful girl just a little too "healthy".
Loved that since having Katniss narrate would have been dumb they did out through commentators.
Understand that things have to be changed when making a movie but having Katniss go before Peeta for during with the game makers was just dumb and will create a problem for the next movie as the order its kind of important.
Did not like that they skipped Katniss tricking Peeta with the sleep syrum as its major fire shadowing for the next movie. Sorry for the tease spoiler.
But over all best book to movie adaptation I've seem yet.
You are so spot on with Katniss. Great acting beautiful girl just a little too "healthy".
Loved that since having Katniss narrate would have been dumb they did out through commentators.
Understand that things have to be changed when making a movie but having Katniss go before Peeta for during with the game makers was just dumb and will create a problem for the next movie as the order its kind of important.
Did not like that they skipped Katniss tricking Peeta with the sleep syrum as its major fire shadowing for the next movie. Sorry for the tease spoiler.
But over all best book to movie adaptation I've seem yet.
I had some of the exact same thoughts! Katniss did not look starved and Peeta was waaaaay too small.
You're going to love the last 2 books! The uprising in District 11 was a spoiler for the future books/movies...it's the movie's fault, not mine!!
Can we get some Effie love up in here? Elizabeth Banks nailed it! "that's mahogany!" lol
great points. i loved the movie and am seeing it for the second time tomorrow (yep, geeky..i know). :)
i agree on the peeta choice...him, seriously??
I feel like I'm the only one in this world who has not yet read the books/is not really super excited about the movie! I definitely should get around to reading it, it must be good! xo
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Oh my gosh, I couldn't have written my comments about this movie any better! Seriously, I agree with every single point that you made, isn't that crazy?!
Also, you should sooo read Books 2 and 3 because it just gets better! ;)
Honestly?
I thought the movie was a poor and disappointing version of the book.
Bad acting. Bad casting choices to begin with. Shaky camera. Poor budgeting. No chemistry.
It was flat. Period.
Yikes.. I sound kind of mean. Err...
Ok~ I'm about to get "ALL UP IN THIS REVIEW" Hahah.
I've seen the movie twice now (gotta do that with heavily aniticipated movies) and now that i've seen it for the second time, I feel like I've got some solid opinions.
First of all, Rue. She was great~ until her dying scene. Tears don't make great acting, and although she had the tears, I was distracted by her lack of pain after having been shot by a spear in the chest. Just saying...
Other casting in general~ I thought everyone else was spot on, including Peeta. I read an article with the director and he said that Josh Hutchinson's audition was SO PERFECT he could have come in the room with purple wings on, and they would have found a way to make it work. Although he is a bit short (and I was surprised they didn't fix that through movie magic) he was still fantastic. And Ash! You prove my point by saying you weren't his biggest fan at first but started to like him as the movie went on. That's exactly who Peeta is. He's the underdog who is always overlooked but ends up being most loved. Gale is supposed to be the tall dark handsome obvious choice, and Peeta is suppossed to be the nice guy that everyone ends up rooting for.
Also, the director had to be INSANELY careful with what he showed, and how he approached the movie, cause this sucker could have easily been rated R. Since it is a Young adult book series they wanted to keep it PG 13. The shaky camera allows them to show violence without showing too much of it. It also keep the 'action movie' feel to the film.
I seriously dont know how anyone can say that the movie had bad acting... they all did a fantastic job. The actors had chemistry, great timing and fantastic realistic emotional work. There was nothing flat about the film... I thought it stayed quite true to the book~ one of the better film adaptations i've seen in a while that can actually stand on it's own as a good movie.
:)
I REALLY like the movie!
You were right that the uprising didn't happen until book 2, but I think the movie actually did a BETTER job foreshadowing what is to come then the book did. I thought it was a great tie-in.
Peeta wasn't my favorite, but I don't think I pictured him as super cute in the book either, so the casting was "eh" for me, but not super disappointing.
I LOVE Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss. I see what you're saying about her looking too healthy, but you know if she were any thinner because would be bitching that she was too skinny to be a role model yada yada yada. I thought she was great.
Love Courtney's comments- and so so glad you are reading/seeing it!
I always picture Peeta a little more chubby and baby faced-- he is the baker's son after all.
I wish they would have brought food- or the lack of it- into the movie more. When Katniss and Gale are talking it is briefly mentioned that he has put his name in the pool a bunch- but how much District 12 is destitute and they are all starving isn't really shown enough. And They could have had Katnis say how much she was starving when Peeta threw her the bread as it is explained more in the book.
The shakey camera work did bug me during the reaping- but during the fighting scenes it was perfect to help the violence not be as extreme.
Loved how great the costumes were, how the people in the Capitol looked, all of that was so good.
Obviously a lot of the side characters got cut quite a bit- but you have to cut somewhere.
I loved it and want to see it and read all of the books again.
LOVED all of your comments!!!
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