On the Hunger Games

Congratulations! I finally found a movie that did not butcher the book. Although, there were still some scenes that did not quite uphold to the standards that I was hoping. But all in all, the movie was good compared to Harry Potter 6, Percy Jackson and, don't get me started on Eragon. 

I watched the movie a week ago and found the need to blog just now because...I have nothing else to do so here goes.

The intro of the movie was visually stimulating. You'll see how hard life is at District 12 and how dangerous of a life Katniss is leading, sneaking outside the borders and importing illegal game. You'll also see the difference inside the District and outside the border. The inside is dull and gray while the outside is lush and green. The cameramen did a sweet job.

I also liked the way the atmosphere was driven when the townspeople were at the assembly. It felt as though it was the holocaust and the people needed only two sacrifices. Another good visual comparison was when the tributes mounted the train which had an interior covered in velvet and shiny ornaments. The lighting helped in exaggerating the tiny details so it was easy to compare the District from the train and then the Capitol. The Capitol looked as I expected it to be - chaotic and vibrant. So was the training grounds and the games ground. 

On to the acting... Jennifer Lawrence delivered a great performance. If the movie was salvaged in any way, they owe it to her. I held my breath when she came up to take her sister's place at the games and I got so worked up when she was having a hard time getting the tracker jackers. She delivered every scene impressively which made more sense now why she was offered the role. I will never question her acting prowess ever again. (^_^)

Josh was surprisingly great. When I heard that he was chosen for the role of Peeta, I quite disliked it because, first of all, I’ll be honest, the hair. He had brown hair and Peeta had blond (I know. Shallow, right?). But then, I thought, they can always change his hair. Look at what they did to Nicole Kidman’s nose at The Hours and she was perfect! So, I thought, he might be perfect for the role. And he proved me right. The scene in the car where Effie was talking to Katniss and Peeta was obscure from the scene but you can make out that he was crying, that is what I call presence. I also like the way he looked when he was called to be a tribute. Josh Hutcherson was Peeta but with brown hair.

The rest of the cast played their roles perfectly. I had Woody on my mind when I was reading the book and got around Haymitch. I thinking of Dakota Fanning or Elle Fanning when I was reading about Prim but Willow was brilliantly decided for the part. It was a good call because less fancy people, the less mainstream it will be (just a thought haha). Banks was best for Effie and so were Donald, Wes and Stanley for President Snow, Seneca Crane and Caesar Flickerman, respectively.

The movie was good. I enjoyed it but I won’t set high hopes on the second instalment. I do hope they do better. I really do.

This was the comment I posted at Rotten Tomatoes:

The movie was not bad but it was not also great. There were some instances where I found myself impressed by how the scenario was treated (the chaos at the beginning of the games and the death of Rue) but there were some scenes where I found myself looking for something that was missing (the two leads in the cave and the berries). Nonetheless, I enjoyed the movie and it pretty much salvaged all the important stuff from the book.

Until the next!  

http://www.thehungergamesmovie.com/