Thursday 22 March 2012

The Movie Was Awesomesauce: The Hunger Games


Warning: This post contains a lot of fangirling and CAPS and not a lot of coherence because ALL THE EMOTIONS.
 


You guys. YOU GUYS. The Hunger Games movie is HERE! And it is AMAZING. It's everything you expect it to be. I think I love it as much as the book. Well, almost.

The cast is perfect. Jennifer Lawrence is brilliant, as expected. As soon as you see her pull back that arrow for the first time, it's like, "Oh hey there, Katniss." Liam is fine as Gale - he doesn't get a massive amount of screen time, to be honest - but Josh Hutcherson, oh my goodness, JOSH HUTCHERSON! He blew me away as Peeta. I'm not gonna lie, I had my doubts about him - mostly superficial, it's true - but he nailed it. His Peeta is full of depth, emotion, humour and charm - gah he's just so great.


The supporting cast are also fantastic. Elizabeth Banks is hilarious as Effie, Lenny Kravitz is fah-bulous as Cinna, Stanley Tucci is PERFECTION as Caesar, Wes Bentley is chilling yet surprisingly sympathetic as Seneca, Woody Harrelson IS Haymitch (and the wig isn't even distracting), Donald Sutherland is eviltastic as Snow, Willow Shields is adorably helpless as Prim and Amandla Stenberg is completely heartbreaking as Rue.

The sets are wonderful and really bring to life the world of the book, and the costumes are truly spectacular. There was clearly so much attention to detail, and the Capitol costumes in particular are standouts. As for Cinna's creations, let's just say that those who were disappointed by Katniss' fire dress in the trailer will be pleasantly surprised in the movie. The filmmakers definitely kept some secrets hidden. The one thing I didn't really like was the shaky camera movements, especially at the start, but it wasn't a major problem.

As for the story, it was remarkably faithful to the book. Some things are cut, of course, but for the most part I didn't miss anything. There were also a few changes or additions that I thought were really effective. I'll outline them below - beware, there'll be some spoilers.

Changes that worked
  • I really liked the "behind the scenes" aspect of the movie, with the frequent cuts to the gamemaker's room, as well as Caesar's commentary. It definitely strengthened the realism of the world. I particularly enjoyed the fleshing out of Seneca's story, and I actually felt really sorry for him by the end. The insight into Snow's motivations was also great.
  • Even though it was kinda sad - but understandable - to have no Madge, I thought the way the Mockingjay pin was exchanged between Katniss and Prim made the whole thing more meaningful than it was in the book.
  • The cut away to District 11's reaction to Rue's death was powerful and gave a hint at things to come.
  • Rue's death was slightly different and not quite as gruesome as in the book - it was kind of a relief not to have to see that on screen. As it is, it's still quite brutal.
  • The muttations didn't have the Tribute's features (I didn't really get that in the book, TBH).

Changes that didn't work (for me)
  • I wish the importance of the bakery scene was made a little clearer, as well as Katniss' feelings for Peeta. I wanted MORE KISSING in the cave scene, especially the kiss where Katniss realises she does feel something for him. I also missed Peeta's realisation at the end that Katniss was playing the game. A friend of mine who hasn't read the books was totally confused about the fact that one second Katniss is angry at him, and the next she's all affectionate. They do develop the idea that if they're a couple, people will like them, but perhaps the reasoning behind Katniss' actions wasn't as obvious if you haven't read the books.
  • There were a few cuts to Gale in key parts, but I wish they'd bulked his part up a little more, and shown him looking after Katniss' family and/or being interviewed by the TV crew. Again, my friend who hasn't read the books was like, "Gale is barely a character! Why is he made to look like one of the main three?!" And I kinda agree.

Changes that had no major impact
  • The Avox story was missing.
  • Peeta injures his leg, but doesn't lose it.
  • Jennifer Lawrence's singing voice isn't amazing, like Katniss' is supposed to be, but it's really only a superficial difference.

Rating: 4/5

Have you seen the movie yet? What did you think? 

16 comments:

  1. AWESOME review.
    I can't believe it released there first.
    You lucky duck!
    Thanks for listing what didn't work. I'll be on the look out for that.
    Side note: I had my doubts about Peeta too. SO glad to hear he rocks it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha, one of the advantages of being ahead of most of the world in time!

      Delete
  2. I'm so jelly you got to see this movie already! I can't wait to see it! One day left for us.

    ReplyDelete
  3. OMG Belle, you evil and glorious woman. I didn't think I could want to see this film any more than I already do.
    I'm so jealous of you but now so so soooo excited after reading this post.

    I'm going to see it multiple times next week because it's my aim to spend as much of my money on The Hunger Games this year. ;)

    YAYAYAY.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm totally going to see it again this weekend :D

      Delete
  4. So lucky to have watched it already and I am SO ready for this movie already...BUT starting to read the book today. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Just got back from watching it, holy crap it was good!!

    I was a little disappointed that they rushed through the pre-games scenes but I do get that there simply wasn't enough time to fit it all in.

    As for the muttations, the way I read it was that they had the colouring (i.e. black fur for black hair) and the eyes of the tributes, not the entire features...but they didn't have either in the film (probably too hard to make that clear considering how fast the action was).

    But yeah, Hunger Games, YEEEEEE!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah I was pretty happy with the pace overall - I really wish the bakery scene was more fleshed out! Yeah I think the muttations wuold have just been confusing if they'd been as they were in the book. YAY so glad you enjoyed it!

      Delete
    2. I'm so glad I liked it too! I thought it looked pretty good from the trailers, and early reviews were really positive but I still had that moment just before it started where I panicked!

      Delete
  6. I'm hearing great things about the film, so I'm going to suck it up and head along (yay for movie ticket vouchers :) )

    ReplyDelete
  7. Great analysis! I pretty much thought all the same things. And I was wary about Woody as Haymitch at first because I always pictured him as kinda fat in the books (did anyone else think that?), but he rocked it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I read the books when Woody had already been cast so I kinda pictured him automatically. I think he'd surely have a beer belly though!

      Delete
    2. I did! I also imagined him kind of grizzled, like Mad Eye Moody in Harry Potter.

      Delete
  8. Don't hate me, but I still wasn't convinced for Josh as my Peeta. Maybe it's because those scenes that should have made more of an impact, like the bread thing and the kissing in the cave, didn't. Like you mentioned, I wish it would have been more clear. But I still went to watch it twice, and loved it overall!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh no! I know what you mean - I was disappointed with the bread and cave scenes. But I still liked his performance overall. Maybe he'll bring it for you in Catching Fire!

      Delete