Hunger Games Movie Review

I went with my book club to see The Hunger Games movie.

I thought I would share with you my thoughts on it.........There will be spoilers so if you haven't seen the movie please hop over to Stacey's blog or something and come back after you go see the movie.

I will assume that everyone has read the book.

I believe the screenwriter, director and producer of the film assumed the same.

If you have not read the book then I think you will be confused and a little disappointed. 

I would like to start off by saying whoever was in charge of casting did a wonderful job. 

I did not have a problem with any of their choices and thought each actor was well suited for the role they played.

Here are my problems with the film.

I hated the in your face camera work.

I don't like it.

It makes me dizzy.

Jennifer Lawrence has beautiful poreless skin.......lucky her because if she didn't we would know. Thats how close the camera was to her face.

I heard some complaints that you did not get the full effect that district 12 is very poor.

I disagree. I think seeing the man sucking the marrow from the plate of meatless bone was enough to tell me that they were poor. I consider myself to be pretty observant and I don't need you to spell it out for me. 

And no the fact that Katniss was not grossly thin did not bother me.

What did bother me were her perfectly waxed eyebrows.

I think the makeup artist or whoever is in charge of that could have added some fact bushy eyebrows.

In the book the go into detail about the grooming of her leg hair and eyebrows because hello obviously if you can't afford food you can't afford a razor.

I needed more train scenes.

On the train (in the book) we began to see the feelings and budding connection between Katniss and Peeta so when he declared his love in his interview we were not surprised.

They did not do this in the movie so when he says it your kind of like......huh???

I can only imagine if you did not read the book what you were thinking. 

At least I had the knowledge about their backstory.

I did not like the way that the Mockingjay pin was introduced.

In the book it was given to her by the Mayor's Daughter whom she had a sort of awkward we are from a different social class friendship with.

We also learned more about the rebel meaning of the Mockingjay and why the pin would be looked at negatively by The Capital.

In the movie she randomly buys it and gives it to her sister who then gives it back before Katniss leaves for the games.

I did not like the fact that the left out the Avox. If you did not read the book then you do not know what that is and that is a shame because their story is interesting.

I did not like the fact that you did not see the budding affection between Katniss and her prep team.

If they make movies for the other books this will be a problem.

I don't think they spent enough time on what was happening inside the game. 

They showed too much of the people controlling the game and you never got a feel for fear, pain and torture of the games.

In the book she is very close to dehydration.

They dry out all of the water in order to move the remaining tributes to where they want them to be.

You don't get any of that survival feel from the movie.

You don't understand how important it is that she knows how to trap and hunt.

Some of the other tributes who do not have this skill are starving.

In fact that reminds me that I was disappointed that they did not go into the detail of how and why she was so good at hunting in the first place.

I was also bothered they should could not sing very well.

In the book her voice, like her father's, is so beautiful that even the birds stop singing.

Am I being nit-picky?? 

Sorry

I was upset with the ending as they did not touch on the fact that Peeta's leg is completely replaced with a new high tech leg.

The fact that they use this special super awesome medicine that literally removes any scar or cut or wound on the winning tribute was completely left out.

Lastly when they arrive back home.....because you have not been given the impression that anything is going on between Gale and Katniss you don't really understand the look on her face when she sees him or the look on Peeta's face when he sees her looking at him.

Which brings up Gale.

I know that in the first book we really don't learn about him much but the movie ignores him completely.....except for those awful quick shots of him during the Katniss/Peeta kissing scenes.

Awkward.........

Here is what I liked.

The acting

Seneca Crane's beard

Seeing the technology used for the games....although maybe shown a bit too much.

All of the scenes about Rue. Loved her in the book. Loved her in the movie.

Well folks that is about all I have to say about that.

If you like the series I say go and see it.

But be prepared as with any book to movie scenario to be a little disappointed.