The Hunger Games Review
Mar. 25th, 2012 12:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elvenavariLast year for my Teaching High School English class we had to create a unit; a four month series of lessons that focused on a central theme. We had to pick this central theme from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Now, before this class I hadn’t had any urge to read this book but I did. In the beginning I was super bored, I’m not going to lie and say that I was hooked right off the bat because I wasn’t. It really took me to chapter 10 to get into it. After chapter 10 I was hooked. And when I got to the end I had to read the second and then the third. It’s a good book series and I recommend it but I won’t say it’s the best book series ever because it’s not.
Now, I was supposed to reread The Hunger Games for my Adolescent Lit class this semester. Of course, I didn’t and it didn’t really matter because we didn’t discuss it all that much. But! We knew the movie was coming out March 23rd so we arranged to go see it as a class on the 24th. I was super pumped to see the movie; I hadn’t heard a single bad review. In fact, most descriptions of it included “awesome”, “fantastic” and “amazing”.
This is my official rating of the movie: 3.5/5.
These are the things I liked about the movie:
• The casting was great, with a couple of exceptions. Jennifer Lawrence was a perfect Katniss (the scene before she goes in the tube to go up into the arena… amazing how absolutely terrified she was) and they couldn’t have gotten anyone better to play Rue.
• I loved seeing the upset/rebellion starting in District 11 after Rue’s death.
• The colors were perfect, dull in the districts and bright in the Capitol.
• Ending scene with Crane and the Nightlock was great.
• Loved how they captured Peeta’s ability to camouflage himself.
• The presentation outfits were cool.
• Stanley T. (played Casaer) was fantastic.
And there are the things I disliked about the movie:
• Haymitch was not drunk enough.
• Hated Peeta’s hair, and his eyes weren’t blue (though this may have been on purpose because it seemed like everyone’s eyes were blue).
• Lenny Kravtiz did not do it for me as Cinna. Let me be perfectly clear. I did not see Cinna has the flamboyantly “oh hunny” limp wristed gay type. I saw Cinna as the strong, quiet but still obviously gay type, like this. I enjoyed Kravtiz, but he was not up to par with my mental image.
• The cornucopia was all boxy and square, not rounded as it was described in the book. It really stuck out like a sore thumb.
• At the very beginning of the movie the camera shook noticeably. I get why it would shake when the characters are in the arena, because they’re running and fighting and stuff but not when it is a close up on someone’s face.
• The mutts were not cool enough. These were one of the cruelest points of the book and they were just kinda glossed over in the movie. In the book the mutts were supposed to resemble the dead tributes, including having their eyes, Katniss looked into one of them and she freaked out because she saw their eyes. In the movie all we saw was… big dogs, like a Rottweiler/pit bull combination.
• Rue should have explained the Nightlock berries as she did in the book.
• The interview dress was extremely…underwhelming. The interview dress I pictured in my head was white. It was off one shoulder and she had the jewels on her skin like she did but the bottom of the dress kinda flared out and had the fire designs about halfway up in the jewels. When she spun the jewels basically caught fire. I base my image on this description from the book: Where skin shimmers and eyes flash and apparently they make their clothes from jewels. Because my dress, oh, my dress is entirely covered in reflective precious gems, red and yellow and white with bits of blue that accent the tips of the flame design. The slightest movement gives the impression I am engulfed in tongues of fire. (Basically what it comes down to is that they are going to overuse the whole “girl on fire” thing).
• There was also a rather important line that was left out when Katniss first sees her interview dress. I am not pretty. I am not beautiful. I am as radiant as the sun. Instead we see Katniss in her dress arguing with Cinna about being likeable, which is a good point and was one in the book but her moment of awe over the dress was one of her likeable moments.
• Peeta didn’t lose his leg; this was a major point in the books.
• The end of the book: Katniss and Peeta had a thing going. For Peeta it was 100% real, for Katniss it was only about 50%. She had budding feelings for him but she was still very much against having a romantic relationship with anyone.
The end of the movie: Katniss and Peeta are talking but there is never any indication that their romance was anything but real. The feeling is there but unless you’ve read the books you have no idea.
Now… some may say that I’m being to nitpicky, that my points couldn’t have been captured in the movie but I would have to disagree. I think my points are very valid. Of course, this doesn’t mean that I won’t be going to see Catching Fire when it comes out. I can only hope they up the anity a bit.
Now, I was supposed to reread The Hunger Games for my Adolescent Lit class this semester. Of course, I didn’t and it didn’t really matter because we didn’t discuss it all that much. But! We knew the movie was coming out March 23rd so we arranged to go see it as a class on the 24th. I was super pumped to see the movie; I hadn’t heard a single bad review. In fact, most descriptions of it included “awesome”, “fantastic” and “amazing”.
This is my official rating of the movie: 3.5/5.
These are the things I liked about the movie:
• The casting was great, with a couple of exceptions. Jennifer Lawrence was a perfect Katniss (the scene before she goes in the tube to go up into the arena… amazing how absolutely terrified she was) and they couldn’t have gotten anyone better to play Rue.
• I loved seeing the upset/rebellion starting in District 11 after Rue’s death.
• The colors were perfect, dull in the districts and bright in the Capitol.
• Ending scene with Crane and the Nightlock was great.
• Loved how they captured Peeta’s ability to camouflage himself.
• The presentation outfits were cool.
• Stanley T. (played Casaer) was fantastic.
And there are the things I disliked about the movie:
• Haymitch was not drunk enough.
• Hated Peeta’s hair, and his eyes weren’t blue (though this may have been on purpose because it seemed like everyone’s eyes were blue).
• Lenny Kravtiz did not do it for me as Cinna. Let me be perfectly clear. I did not see Cinna has the flamboyantly “oh hunny” limp wristed gay type. I saw Cinna as the strong, quiet but still obviously gay type, like this. I enjoyed Kravtiz, but he was not up to par with my mental image.
• The cornucopia was all boxy and square, not rounded as it was described in the book. It really stuck out like a sore thumb.
• At the very beginning of the movie the camera shook noticeably. I get why it would shake when the characters are in the arena, because they’re running and fighting and stuff but not when it is a close up on someone’s face.
• The mutts were not cool enough. These were one of the cruelest points of the book and they were just kinda glossed over in the movie. In the book the mutts were supposed to resemble the dead tributes, including having their eyes, Katniss looked into one of them and she freaked out because she saw their eyes. In the movie all we saw was… big dogs, like a Rottweiler/pit bull combination.
• Rue should have explained the Nightlock berries as she did in the book.
• The interview dress was extremely…underwhelming. The interview dress I pictured in my head was white. It was off one shoulder and she had the jewels on her skin like she did but the bottom of the dress kinda flared out and had the fire designs about halfway up in the jewels. When she spun the jewels basically caught fire. I base my image on this description from the book: Where skin shimmers and eyes flash and apparently they make their clothes from jewels. Because my dress, oh, my dress is entirely covered in reflective precious gems, red and yellow and white with bits of blue that accent the tips of the flame design. The slightest movement gives the impression I am engulfed in tongues of fire. (Basically what it comes down to is that they are going to overuse the whole “girl on fire” thing).
• There was also a rather important line that was left out when Katniss first sees her interview dress. I am not pretty. I am not beautiful. I am as radiant as the sun. Instead we see Katniss in her dress arguing with Cinna about being likeable, which is a good point and was one in the book but her moment of awe over the dress was one of her likeable moments.
• Peeta didn’t lose his leg; this was a major point in the books.
• The end of the book: Katniss and Peeta had a thing going. For Peeta it was 100% real, for Katniss it was only about 50%. She had budding feelings for him but she was still very much against having a romantic relationship with anyone.
The end of the movie: Katniss and Peeta are talking but there is never any indication that their romance was anything but real. The feeling is there but unless you’ve read the books you have no idea.
Now… some may say that I’m being to nitpicky, that my points couldn’t have been captured in the movie but I would have to disagree. I think my points are very valid. Of course, this doesn’t mean that I won’t be going to see Catching Fire when it comes out. I can only hope they up the anity a bit.
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no subject
Date: 2012-03-25 05:05 pm (UTC)...during the final confrontation in the arena with the mutts, Katniss recongized Rue's eyes.
As I said last night, I agree with you about Haymitch even though I was expecting what we were given (I read an article about some of the characters and their movie designs -- Cinna was included in this article).
I don't want to say his drinking played a huge role in the book, but oftentimes it provided some much needed comic relief and gave us a nice, interesting dymantic between Peeta, Katniss and Haymitch (I mean, he's supposed to be taking care of them and whatnot, and yet they're making sure he isn't shitfaced for half the series).
That and his drinking shows the long term effects of a victor's time spent in the arena, the same can be said for the morphlings and I hope they don't gloss over them because it's important to show that things are roses after you've won.
no subject
Date: 2012-03-25 05:15 pm (UTC)