Movie Review: The Hunger Games
I have given this review enough time for everyone to calm down, for the moment to pass when everybody was fresh from the theaters with varying opinions and the movie was trending in just about everywhere. So here’s my two cents worth: I enjoyed the movie. I think it fairly stayed faithful to the book. Yes, there were lapses, there were scenes from the book that were altered but it’s always expected in a film adaptation and ultimately, they were all forgivable to me. This review is not to instigate debate, a certain friend of mine “attacked” me on my praises for the movie, saying that the movie was inaccurate. Yes, Madge was the one who gave Katniss the mockingjay, and she had to move stars and moon to get water during the games and yet in the movie, it was different. Peeta‘s leg was replaced during the last parts of the book and yet it was never shown and there was no mention of the Avox at all. And Seneca Crane’s death was pure assumption. May I reiterate that lapses are somehow expected, because really, 34 chapters in 2 hours? I don’t think so. I just want to stress this out that almost always, the book is better than the movie version. A very big DUH there.
And yes, it was very PG 13. But I still loved it. I liked the execution of the story. It stayed true to the premise of the book. There were scenes that stood out and gave me goosebumps. It is also equally difficult to watch the deaths on the screen. I think the horror of The Hunger Games was depicted clearly. Although I wish that they’ve made the Katniss and Peeta’s romance more interesting, just like in the book. I mean, the cave scene was utterly lacking of the connection they had. The betrayal that Peeta felt towards Katniss when she tricked him into drinking the syrup was not even tackled. Sorry to be sounding like a mere teen here, but the cave scene was kinda one of my favorites. And I must say that Peeta’s confession scene was not what I imagined. That was totally bland. Seriously, the boy with the bread just dropped a bomb and that was it? Josh Hutcherson only uttered “Because she came here with me”, where was the emphasized stammering? where was the blushing of the cheeks? where?!
Moving on to the casting. How awesome was Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen? she was great! I also like Lenny Kravitz as Cinna and Stanley Tucci as Ceasar Flickerman. I was a bit surprised with the tributes, they were also good, especially the one playing Clove and Cato. As a fan of the book, I was satisfied with the adaptation. I think Gary Ross did a good job. It certainly was not a disappointment.
There you go, the next wait is for the 3 more film adaptations of the series. I was hesitant to believe that they would actually make 2 films out of The Mockigjay, I just thought that it didn’t really merit a two part movie, oh well, I’ll save that for another review then. Needless to say, go see the movie if you haven’t yet. Seriously.
lovelifelipsticks 