The Hunger Games
Release Date: March 23, 2012
Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that will weigh survival against humanity and life against love.
Review: Holy freaking Hunger Games. This was AMAZING! Seriously, I'm so happy right now that I can't even sleep (it's 3am and I have class at 9:30 in the morning....). I loved absolutely everything about this book, which is really saying something.
Let's start with the actors. Jennifer Lawrence was honestly the best choice I could have ever chosen as someone to play Katniss. She had Katniss's attitude, emotion, look, and bravery, and she never embarrassed the very idea of Katniss's character (like Kristen Stewart did for Bella...). I wasn't that big of a fan of Josh Hutchinson playing Peeta, but in the movie he really held his own. He actually portrayed Peeta as he was in the book; he was vulnerable, yet strong and determined to help Katniss win. Liam Hemsworth was a PERFECT Gale and every time they showed him (which was sadly not very often) I wanted to climb into the movie and eat him right up. The people who played Cinna, Haymitch, Prim, Snow, and Caesar were all perfect too! They were all really great actors and were exactly how I imagined them to be in the book. I couldn't have asked for a better cast!
Onto the movie...it held the perfect combination between action, emotion, and strategy. The games were so intense and I swear there were at least five times I got goosebumps from being so drawn into the story. When the countdown is going on and Katniss is about to enter the games, my stomach dropped and my heart was beating so hard, like I was actually there. I felt like I was actually in the games and I'm still high off of the adrenaline I felt through Katniss and the entire feeling of being in the games. Nothing major was changed, so I'm extremely happy they stayed so true to the book.
What really brought everything together was how they built the entire world of the Capitol and the districts. District 12 was just how I imagined it in the book; it was drab, dreary, and just plain sad. When Katniss and Peeta went to the Capitol, it was as if they entered an entirely new world. Everyone was dressed in insane outfits with weird yet cool makeup/accessories. The control room for the games was crazy and perfect, showing people dressed in white working with touch, futuristic technology to control the games in their favor. It was just awesome. But my favorite part had to be when Caesar was announcing the games and would host the interviews. You couldn't help but be entranced by what he says and the audience was insane, in both how they looked and how many people were there to watch people kill each other. Everything embodied the book and really brought The Hunger Games to life.
All in all, I really can't complain. Yeah, there were some small details I wish were changed, but nothing could ever be perfect. I have to say this was probably as perfect as you're going to get for fans of the book. The movie makes you feel so much emotion (even shed a tear or two) and really brings you deep into the heart of the games. And now I encourage ALL of you to go see this movie! Happy Hunger Games and may the odds be ever in your favor.
Great review! I actually got up early this morning to see the 9:15 showing at my theater. They did an awesome job with it. I love how they portrayed such real emotions, like how dumbstruck Peeta looked when he was picked. They were both in shock. And when Ceasar hosted the show it so real it's like I'm there and so similar to how those shows are here in real life. The atmosphere was great. Well, I could go on and on but your review pretty much nailed it!
ReplyDeleteNing @ Reading by Kindle Fire
I was so thrilled with the movie! My kids loved it, too! And it was amazing to me how the audience in the movie theater was glued to the screen the entire time. And there were obviously people in my theater that had not read the book. And after the movie ended, it was like everyone was in a trance. Took awhile for people to get up and move! That to me says it all!
ReplyDeleteHappy Hunger Games!
I completely agree with you! I think that the producers and directors did a perfect job of sticking to the details of the book to please the lovers of the books but still adding the extras (gamemakers, etc) to allow those who haven't read the books to understand fully what was going on. Because they did this, they left out some small details of the story, but like you said, I am not really sad or annoyed with what they left out.
ReplyDeleteAnd I think the best thing that this movie did was the use of effective silence. the lack of soundtrack behind such crucially emotional scenes actually added to the emotion of that moment. It was brilliant cinamatography and sound editing. And I also love how the violent bloodbath at the beginning of the games was included but not shown in great detail to avoid a lot of kid on kid killing. Absolutely brilliant. =D
glad you liked it too!
Jennifer @ A Librarian's Library