Wednesday, April 04, 2012

Thoughts on the Hunger Games movie

So I finally went to go see the Hunger Games movie last night.  While I'm going to do a whole review, I have to say if you like the book it's probably worth seeing, and if you're interested in the concept but haven't read the books yet, then it's probably still worth seeing. 

So below are a few of my random, scattered thoughts about the movie.  There may be spoilers below, so if you haven't read the book/movie, read at your own risk. 

Overall impression: Not bad.  My coworkers who hadn't read the books and saw the movie liked it, and those who had read the book and saw it didn't like it because they left out things. Its been almost a year since I've read the book, but I thought the movie followed it pretty closely.  So not sure what all that was about. 

The shaky camera work at the beginning was making me sick.  I can understand why they did it, it was an artistic decision.  I think it's supposed to heighten the chaotic and gritty feel of District 12.  But really for about 20 minutes there I had a bad headache.  I don't think I will be seeing it on the big screen again. 

Loved Rue.  She was so cute.  Actually, I've heard a lot of people complain because she's black.  I actually pictured her as Asian for some reason when reading the book, but really, does it matter that much? 

Stanley Tucci cast as Flickerman was pretty much dead on.  But I did notice the line of his wig in one closeup (oops!).  Haymitch was right on as well. 

Was it just me, or did Peeta's wound not look that much worse than Katniss' burn? 

Kaito is about the scariest thing ever.  And the group of careers cheering each other on?  Like it was football or something.  That was disturbing. 

I loved, loved, loved Katniss' hair during the parade.  Wish I could do that with my hair.  I would have liked to see more of the other tributes' costumes though.  But that's just the costume fanatic in me. 

I've heard complaints that everyone thought Peeta and Katniss looked too old.  I didn't think so.  I could totally believe they were 16 years old.  Hey, they live in District 12, they've had a hard life, and that makes everyone act older than their age. 

I really liked the addition of the scenes from the Capitol's point of view.  I kept staring at Seneca Crane because I was fascinated by the way his beard was cut.   But President Snow wasn't all that menacing.  He just trimmed his roses the whole movie.  I have a hard time seeing him as a bad guy, since I think of him as Mr. Bennet. 

And that concludes my random list of thoughts.  :)  For those of you who've seen the movie, what did you think of it?

1 comment:

Haiku Amy said...

Ok your comments about Pres Snow totally cracking me up here. I pretty much agree with all your comments. I think the scary thing about pres snow is how much he controls the games and the power he has over the districts. Great review.