I went with some friends on Sunday afternoon to see The Hunger Games. Waiting a couple of days was a nice way to skip the crowds (besides that this was the earliest I could go). Two of us had read the books, and one hadn't, and we all enjoyed the movie.
I really loved the books, although The Hunger Games was probably my least favorite of the three. Because of that, I was really worried that they were going to get it all wrong and the movie was going to be horrible. I just didn't know how they were going to go about having kids kill other kids and not make the movie rated R (because it has to be PG-13 for the teens). They somehow managed, and I was happily surprised. I thought they did a great job, and it may be because it's been quite awhile since I read the book, and so I couldn't remember all the details. So if they changed things (and I'm sure they did), I didn't notice and wasn't bothered.
All the actors did well, I thought. I was never really a Peeta fan, and I didn't really warm up to the actor playing Peeta, so that's about right there. Gale was as hot as he was supposed to be. And the actress who played Katniss was good. And I can't forget to mention Cinna, who I think I liked more in the movie than in the book (although he grew on me in the books).
Overall I think the movie makers got it right with this one. No, it's not perfect, but most movies based on books aren't, and to get a book like this on the big screen would take a lot of work. Definitely recommended if you haven't already seen it.
*Spoilers, be warned*
ReplyDeleteI never felt, in all 3 books, that Katniss ever loved Gale or Peeta romantically, so I'm not picking a "Team".
I was a bit disappointed that it was not made clear in the movie that Katniss was just acting with Peeta when it came to the kissing and lovey dovies.
I also liked Cinna, but I found it odd that he was normal looking compared to the rest of the Capitol people.
The only other thing that bothered me- the creatures at the end -the dogs- were supposed to have some recognizable features of the other tributes. That was not a factor in the movie and I feel it should have been.
Yes, like I said, I hadn't read the books for so long that I'd forgotten a lot, so the little details like that didn't bother me (like with the creatures). I probably would have been a lot more bothered if I remembered things better.
DeleteAnd I agree about making it clearer that Katniss was pretending. My friend, who hadn't read the books, obviously didn't get that at all until we told her. I think it would be hard to convey that since you can't do internal thoughts in a movie like you can in a book. I guess they figured most everyone would have read the books.