Guys, The Hunger Games! It happened! It was epic! So much has already been said that I will not attempt to be coherent -- I just want to share my own opinions. I'll start with the negative because I want to end on a positive note. {SPOILERS follow}
Things I didn't like:
1. Peeta seemed kind of cheesy. Granted, I wasn't a huge Peeta fan in the first book, anyway. I mean, I liked him, I thought he was sweet, but I was Team Gale all the way at first. I can't tell if Peeta was portrayed as slightly less awesome than he really is, or if it is just the same thing I experienced with the first book, but he didn't quite wow me.
2. So much was left unexplained. I know, I know, it is a movie, and we don't have the privilege of being inside Katniss' head. And I think they did the best they could -- we can tell there is tension between Katniss and her mother, we can tell that Katniss is not quite all there in the cave with Peeta, etc. But I wondered if I could tell because I had read the books, or if the movie was really portraying it accurately, if that makes sense.
3. I wish that you could tell that the Mutts were made from the tributes. That was such a total piece of creepiness, and it is missing in the movie.
Things I liked:
1. Gale. I know he has been mocked as a mouth breather and a brooder, but I loved him. I was Team Gale for a long, long time, and Liam Hemsworth surpassed my expectations. When he is waiting for Katniss at the end, with Prim on his shoulders, I melted a little bit.
2. Effie Trinket was beyond amazing. Well done, Elizabeth Banks.
3. I was also a fan of Cinna. For some reason, I could never quite picture him in the books. I feel like Lenny Kravitz did a good job of portraying Cinna's tenderness toward Katniss, despite the limited screen time.
4. Katniss as the Girl Who Was On Fire. I loved the costumes. I also loved how the interview scene was portrayed.
5. In fact, Katniss in general. It is undeniable that Jennifer Lawrence is a stellar actress. There was not a single scene where she disappointed me. Even though so much is left unsaid in the movie, she does as well as anyone humanly could in conveying the unsaid sections.
6. The Rue scene. Sad, sad, sad, but well done.
7. The end near-suicide scene. This is the one scene that completely redeemed Peeta for me in this movie. The absolutely hopeless look on his face, the way he reaches out to tug Katniss' braid -- I loved him.
8. Seneca Crane was impeccable.
9. I know some people complained about this, but my brilliant husband, who has taken a film class, explained to me that the shaky camera, the way up close shots of Effie during the Reaping, and the ringing you hear after the Careers' food supply is blown up are all film techniques to help you be in the mind of the character. While I wouldn't have picked up on this on my own, being able to think about it made me really appreciate it. I think it was very effective.
What did you think of the movie?
