enjoyed the movie and thought it covered all the bases. My biggest problem was that Katness was way too well fed for this- she even talks about seeing all her ribs in the book. In fact, none of the tributes looked like they missed a meal.
 |
All this is shown primarily through first-person narration in the novel -- the only way they could do the same in movies is via voiceovers, which the movie happily avoids, since it's invariably terrible. Jennifer Lawrence does a fantastic job conveying Kayniss' thoughts and feelings silently, but she's still limited into how much information/character she can convey by the medium. She's the best movie Katniss we could possibly have, and likewise, the movie is pretty much the best adaptation of the book we could likely get -- but the movie's strengths are primarily the book's, and the book is just stronger overall. Some assorted thoughts:
• The Hunger Games movie is two and a half hours long and just flies by; it still has to drop some bits, but nothing so integral as to cause a fan uproar.
• I was worried that the movie would play up the non-existent love triangle in order to bring in the Twilight fans, but they kept it exactly in the book -- her relationship with Gale is unspoken and unrealized before Katniss is whisked off to the Games, and her "relationship" with Peeta is a survival tactic first and foremost, even if Peeta actually means it. These two boys may be deeply in love with Katniss, but they don't spend their time taking off their shirts and strutting for her, and even if they did, Katniss has much more on her mind than boys -- specifically surviving.
• I didn't like the guys who played Gale or Peeta very much at first, but Peeta grew on me... exactly like he did in the book. I'd say that counts for something. Gale is just a slab of generic boy actor, but his character gets more defined in the later books, so I'll holding off judging the actor until then.
• I can't decide if Leny Kravitz's performance as Cinna was understated or actually kind of crappy. Honestly, I can't tell. All the other supporting actors were great, though. That girl who played Rue was very good.
• Speaking of, if you're one of the people who was actually upset to discover Rue was black in the movie, you are a terrible reader and a worse person. Case closed.
• I really liked the Capitol's white thug uniforms. They look like what soldiers in post-apocalyptic fascist dicatatorships were in '80s Italian flick. The simplicity worked for me.
• My biggest problem with the movie, in all honesty? Katniss' "fire" dress. That sucked. Guys, you knew this movie was going to make a billion dollars -- couldn't you have ponied up a but more for the CG here?
All said, I do recommend seeing the movie -- but I wholeheartedly recommend reading the book more.
More links from around the web!
117 comments
I loved the movie, and I'm an avid fan of the books. Taking the boyfriend to see it tonight. The one thing I wished was that Haymitch was drunker. He was like maybe buzzed on some Smirnoff Ices throughout the entire movie and he and Katniss didn't hate each other enough, I thought. But with only 2 hours of movies to work with, you can't exactly develop every subplot, I guess.
Just a comment on the Daily Mail Brigade here in jolly old Blighty complaining at the grueling psychological violence and dark themes this film depicts:
I can understand why you're upset that such a disturbing film is available for under 12's to watch if they have an adult with them. On the other hand; YOU PEOPLE ARE FUCKING TERRIBLE PARENTS!!! I know its hard to keep up with what your kids watch these days, but given the ever increasing amount of harmful material out there, would it kill you to check out whatever it is your kids are dragging you into?
Everytime I tried to get a videogame or film above my age limit, my parents would interrogate about the material it depicted or then ask a clerk for advice. THEY DIDN'T TAKE ME TO BATTLE ROYALE: THE TWILIGHT YEARS WITHOUT HAVING THE SENSE TO GOOGLE THE BLOODY FILM, OR AT LEAST READ A CHRISTING PLOT SYNOPSIS YOU ASS TURD MONKEY FUCKERS!!!
I heard a lady was taking her third-grader to see it and the kid had already read the books. I guess parents can do what they want, but I wouldn't take my young kids to see it. Not until age 15 at least.
I think they really went style over substance and cohesive storytelling. It felt more like a dream about the book, the disjointed mini-flashbacks were more confusing than explanatory, and if you hadn't read the books, it didn't make a helluva lot of sense. I had, and all I could see was important details being passed over in favor of another moody pan or spinning shot. Had no complaints about the actors... all of my ire is squarely in the lap of the screenplay and director.
Between this movie and The Avengers, we're gonna see a lot more kids take up Archery
* 2 cents*Never read the books. Am a big fan of Battle Royale, and Hunger Games impressed me. Took similar theme but went a tangential direction (likely a result with the decade plus between them). So not really a rip off nor homage, just a product of the same gestalt of ideas and themes that's been floating around since the Most Dangerous Game and the Running Man.Lawrence carried the film, hands down. Felt that the shaky cam was both an MPAA necessity and a clever way to not glamorize or overly stylize the violence. The cinematography was perfect. Props to the Director of Photography. I wonder if there's a director's cut, as it felt like Haymisch had a bigger role to play. Kravitz understated performance was great regardless if it was a ploy to hide his inexperience or how they decided to make the character.
Spoilers (obviously):I didn't read the books before seeing the movie Sunday, but after liking it so much, I went out and bought the first, finished it within 36 hours, and now I'm just in the beginning of Catching Fire. I know that with a book-to-film adaptation you're going to have a lot of missed bits and things. I think they did a fairly good job with it. One thing that I didn't like is how unlikable I found Peeta in the movie, when he was a little more easy-going in the book (making jokes with Katniss during the Games and things). I thought Cinna's appearance in the movie wasn't too far from the book, especially when he wasn't as over-the-top as the rest of those Capitol folk were. I know the uprisings didn't really start showing until the second book, but I thought the riot after Rue's death was a good addition. And Jennifer Lawrence is awesome and now I want to learn archery thanks to that badass Katniss.
Saw the movie, didn't read the books. I have to say what I enjoyed the most was the costumes, I definitely predict Judianna Makovsky to get an Oscar nomination for her work.
That being said (and again, having not read the books) the take-away message I got from the movie was "Reality TV is bad." Do ya have to kill 23 kids to make your point?
Still refuse to see this movie or read the books because of the ridiculous first names of the characters. They just sound so stupid, but I guess the same thing could be said about the names of the characters in most Gundam anime, which I happen to like. Maybe Hunger Games would be more appealing to me if Katniss like gets pissed off and awakens as a Newtype and overthrows the oppressive government with the help of her mobile suit. You know just saying, if that happened I would ignore the ridiculous naming of the characters.
That's a fucking stupid reason - especially if you're one of the many of us who didn't bat an eyelid when we first heard the names "Han" or "Chewbacca".
So, basically, if the battles in Gundam is fought with variants of conventional weapons instead of giant mecha with often impractical designs and ridiculous names, you'd give it a pass despite of the depth of political drama and personal struggles? That's...kinda shallow, isn't it?
Internet Serious Business...anyways I was being ridiculous on purpose, but still Mobile Suits in the The Hunger Games, could be on to something here. But no I mentioned Gundam, because as I was typing the thing about the stupid names in the The Hunger games, I was thinking "wait a second, Amuro, Bright, Fa, Char etc, dear god Gundam characters have stupid names too, and those don't bother me, goddamnit there goes my point about the stupid names in The Hunger Games" Posted it anyway, didn't care if it came off shallow.
Am I the only one who thought the whole "We'll explode their gear!" thing was kinda dumb, especially since they had NOTHING to explode the gear with until they found it was already mined?
the plan was to set it on fire, but with Foxface raiding and showing Katniss there were Mines, she then thought there was no way of mimicking the path she took, so she notices the bag of apples and figures they'll do the job.
I think I read somewhere that the Avox scene was cut for time, so I'm okay with seeing it on the Blu-rays eventually. I hated the way Katniss got the mockingjay pin; I hope they go more into it during the next movie.
I don't understand the people all upset about Rue. She was described as have brown skin in the book. What did they think she would look like??
I was it was more explicit in the end that Katniss was just playing a game at the end while Peeta has true feelings. I feel like what was obvious in the books was barely apparent in the movie.
Overall I loved it though!! Honest :)
When I read the book I actually thought of Rue as a Native American but Black fits the description as well
When I read the book I always assumed Cinna was black too, although that apparently was never mentioned. It's sad for the actress too who has to hear this; she's only 13.
(spoiler for Hunger Games movie)
So my biggest disappointment in the film is that there isn't any 'hunger' in the film, a major theme of the 1st book. Isn't District 12 living a hand-to-mouth existence? The old guy at the beginning of the film looked like he just polished off a 20 pc. KFC chicken bucket. Also, I think the director missed an opportunity to show just how close to starvation Katniss was, just after her father died, by not having a scene where she and Peeta might have gorged themselves while on the train ride to the Capitol.
Okay, I might sound like a wuss for saying this, but the book simply broke my heart upon the many accounts of the children dying pointless deaths. That scene Katniss lullabied a dying little girl especially wrecked me so much that I stayed away from the book for two weeks before manning up and continuing.
So, any caveat and or warning for me regarding that matter on screen if and when I finally decided to see spurting kids' blood in glorious widescreen for the movie version?
I would have bawled my eyes out during Rue's death, had I not been in public. I'm sure when it gets to DVD, I'm going to need some time to myself and a box of tissues to get through it.
It's pretty brutally sad. I'm not much of a cryer, but I was tearing up over the scene. In regards to the gore, it was actually pretty discretely handled. It's there, they don't try to hide it, but it's not gratuitous.
I have yet to the read the books-- they're in the pile on my nightstand. Having said that, I enjoyed the movie. The plot was pretty clear. Were there a few holes (perhaps explained in the books)? Yes. But for goodness sake, can you tell me of any movie or book that covers every possibly question and plot loophole? What the hell has happened to our imaginations and the ability to suspend disbelief and go along for the ride?
I particularly liked some of the costuming and sets. I'm not sure if it reflects themes in the book, but the Depression era clothing reminded me of Grapes of Wrath. This let me immediately know how very destitute and desperate for food these people were. The Art Deco inspired train and city sets provided all kinds of political overtones and messages to the story. The presidential podium and seal would have been right at home in WW II era Germany.
I did not read the books, and went into this knowing nothing more than what the trailer "told" me. I feel the movie did a poor job of making me "fee;" anything for any of the dramatic elements. I felt no connection to any person enough for me to grab a hanky or feel any sort of emotion towards the characters plight. Im usually pretty on board with those moments, so I guess this one just didnt work for me.
as i watch this week unfold, let me put my 2cents in for contest. nerd games, take an ordinarily every day thing, I.E, hunger, pooping, what have you, and make that into a brutal and bloody sport. make up the rules, scoring, trophies and mostly the history of the sport
Call me crazy, but I actually think I liked this movie better than Battle Royale. I haven't read either book so I'm not comparing those. Now I thought Battle Royale was a pretty entertaining exploitation-type flick, but I didn't really care about what was going on (I've heard the book is far superior in this regard). However, here I thought they did a great job making me care about Katniss and making me root for her. The whole thing pretty much rests on Jennifer Lawrence's shoulders and I thought she did a great job. Didn't love it, but I enjoyed it.
That said, seeing as this thing made a fortune, I sure hope they can afford to buy a tripod for the other two flicks. Or at least a proper chair for the cameraman instead of the used mechanical bull he was clearly riding on top of.
Forget Battle Royale (1999), forget Running Man (1987), Where the fuck is Mojo-world (1985)? I want to see that fat bastard in a movie yesterday.
Your biggest problem was the fire dress? Really? Not the terrible shaky cam action scenes that hid all the action making it all but impossible to tell what was happening or who was even in the action? Or the almost unwatchable opening 15 minutes of shaky hand held footage out of some art student hack film with bizarre "art" angles and extreme close ups on mouths and eyes? For me this was a good movie but it could have been so much better if someone would have introduced a tripod to the camera man. The big climactic fight was so shaken and disorienting that I was getting dizzy watching it and I couldn't tell who was winning until they pulled back for the air shot.
You essentially just want a rated R version (like most of us), since that's the only reason they did all that crap.
The shaky cam was worst in the beginning, which has nothing to do with obscuring violence. It's just a shitty trick to try turn something boring into something exciting or interesting.
I haven't read the books yet, but the film left a few things feeling a bit off for me. (By the way, we're cleared for spoilers here, right?)First: Is nobody supposed to notice that the two tributes from Coal Country ride into the arena dressed as flaming pieces of coal? Does anybody say anything about that?Katniss seems to be a master archer, and Peeta seems to be super strong. But why does Peeta's super-strength never become a part of his character is the arena? Virtually every other character gets some trait exposition during training, which is subsequently in the arena (Rue being the quiet mischievous thief, for example). All Peeta got was his make-up skills (which didn't help him from getting stabbed, so didn't seem to help much. If he can fling a 100lb bag of flower around, why couldn't he break that chokehold?). Also, was the guy helping the District 1 gang track Katniss not Peeta? Because I spent all that part of the film thinking the dude with the spear had sold her out, and hating him for being a dick. Everybody spent the Games getting the shit kicked out of them, but Jennifer Lawrence - despite acting like she was suffering quite a lot - always comes out looking fresh and clean. Why no dirt and grime?They were warned that a lot of tributes die from exposure, hunger, infection, and general lack of survival skills. None of the tributes actually die from this except the redhead with no lines, and (maybe?) one other off-screen. Everybody else dies in combat. We see some shots of Katniss making traps on two separate occasions, but she never uses those, or any of her other hunting skills, in actual combat.
One last thing: I get that this was made to fit a PG-13 rating, but the whole film feels like a fairly watered-down version of Apocalypto (minus Gibson's bizarre obsessions with Judeo-Christian imperialism). Think about it: a poor village living under an oppressive regime is culled, with a young character taken to the decadent capitol full of weirdly made-up nobility to be sacrificed. Instead of being easy prey, s/he runs off into the woods, and uses basic hunting/tracking/survival skills to defeat his/her pursuers. In the process, s/he is the harbinger of that regime's collapse. The premise for the sacrifices is both one of tribute, and spectacle. Hell, there's even a scene where the protagonist flings a hive of wasps at the opponents, runs from wild animals, and builds spring-loaded spear traps out of branches.Obviously, a lot of that is tropes, but I feel like a lot of it was more riffing on a theme that was better portrayed (if you ignore the Gibson part) in Apocalypto.
Most of that is clearer in the book. (Which I hate having to say, the movie, any movie, should make complete sense on it's own)
PS, none of this is to suggest that I think Jennifer Lawrence didn't do a good job in her role. She's a phenomenally good actress (watch her do understated desperation and determination in Winter's Bone to get an idea), who did a really good job portraying Katniss without much dialogue.
When I saw those white uniforms on the Capitol Cops all I could think of was the hockey players in Strange Brew..........http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
Was foxface the readhead with no lines? She seemed okay, but I didn't really get anything about her character from the film.
She's sneaky, that's really it. She pretty much keeps to herself during the book, even, and I ended up forgetting about her when reading.
Having read all 3 books I did enjoy the movie but there were several things that I was disappointed in:
1: The Dialogue, there could of definitely been more. examples being the scene with Thresh, he just kind of knew Rue was dead and that Katniss helped her without actually having the short confrontation, which I thought was a highlight of the book. Another being the very end scene, they took all of the emotion out of it for me, by taking away Peeta being angry at Katniss over the sham feelings.
2: The Mutts, didn't see the point in having them there if you're just going to turn them into random dogs, the whole genetically modified to resemble the fallen tributes was something that showed you just how bad the capitol can be, plus it introduces you to the whole Mutt thing which plays a larger part in the rest of the story.
3: Where was Madge? and the Avox girl?. They seem to of removed all the scenes that would make you hate the Capitol even more.
I loved how Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson captured Katniss and Peeta, and Rue,Effie and Haymitch were all good, a bit up in the air about Kravitz as Cinna but I did warm to him a lot.
Overall one of the best Book>Film conversions i've seen, just lacking a bit of the heart the book had ofc.
He knew Rue was dead because of the cannon and them flashing her face in the sky after she died. He knew Katniss helped her because Clove taunted her about it while he was within earshot. idk, I thought that part was pretty well laid out.
Why does everyone keep saying the mutts were made to resemble the tributes? They weren't - they just had the dead kids' eyes which is infinitely more creepy.A huge hulking dog with Rue's face would just be fucking stupid.
I had only a few nitpicks, one was the notes that Haymitch left in the packages - I understand that it had to happen in order to take what was in Katniss's head in the book to the audience, but with the omnipresent cameras the fake romance ploy would have been obvious to everyone watching. I also wish they had explained the 3 finger salute, it would have given a little more punch to those scenes. And maybe a bit more on the mockingjays, just to set that up for the next 2.
I think that having the wolves looking like tributes wouldn't have worked very well, you only really got to see a few of them for any length of time, so that part didn't bother me. Having Haymitch fall off the stage would have added humor to a scene that didn't need it...in the book it works because it's told from her POV and you don't find it funny because she has explained he's been a drunk her whole life, but in the movie it would break the tension.
I thought Cinna was great in the movie, he was understated compared to the rest of the Capitol kids and compassionate, exactly as he's supposed to be.
Overall I thought it was incredibly faithful to the movie, much of what was removed wasn't really missed, and what was added I think added to the experience. Too bad the next 2 books aren't as good as the first.
If the books is anything like the movie it will be a book i rather not read.My problems was not only the characters but also the cinematography. The shaky cam bull crap needs to stop and I really hate it when they cut the sound off to add "tension" every time there is an action sequence. Also at what point in the future can they design something in a 3d graphics program and then it pops up as flesh and blood, not only that but it can think and hunt. At that point in the move I got up said " I am done" and got my money back. I call BS on the move and the books.
The characters where so one sided, even though I really like Jennifer Lawrence I could not feel any less about her character. Granted it was not as bad as Belle Swan but still bad enough for me not to care if she lived or died or just sat there like a lump tell the end of the movie.
