The Hunger Games

[ijustworkhere]

I totally agree that Katniss/Peeta needed more groundwork before the actual games. If I hadn't read the book, I'd have thought her sudden rush to find him when the rule change was announced to be totally out of left field. Katniss and Peeta didn't spend enough time together, period.

A couple of my other small gripes, now that the post-viewing high has worn off:

1. The shaky cam and tweaked out editing annoyed me.
2. The climax with the berries should have had much more weight. It was over and done really quickly. The whole ending of the film felt pretty rushed.
3. No lamb stew! I saw it at the Alamo Drafthouse, where they had a themed menu and we were actually eating lamb and plum stew while watching, so I would have liked to see it.

All in all, very few complaints. It was just really solidly done. I think the weakest thing was probably the direction. And I completely agree that the first 15 minutes was probably the best part; not that the rest was sub-par at all, just that all the District 12 scenes and the Reaping were so utterly perfect.

ETA: Reading some more reviews and viewer reactions, I'm interested that there seems to be a wide scale of opinion when it comes to Hutcherson's performance. Some people say he's the weakest link, other people say he's one of the strongest. I, personally, thought he really nailed it. He made me feel an affection for Peeta I did not feel in the books at all.

[Deleted]

I liked Hutcherson as well. In the books Peeta was a big blond nothing for me, but I liked movie Peeta much better. I also find Josh Hutcherson attractive, which helps I guess.

I never thought Katniss was a POC. I just assumed District 12 were the Appalachians and she was Melungeon. The book makes it pretty clear that Rue is black, so I don't think that Suzanne Collins would have deliberately been vague about Katniss's ethnicity. I think it's just one of those things that there will always be debate over (and rightly so) unless the author comes out and says one way or another.

[bitca]

Mar 23, 2012 9:22:26 GMT -4 Neurochick said:

You know, I do want to see this movie. But then I read this article and I wonder if it's worth seeing.

I can't even take this article seriously when it says, "When casting decisions for The Hunger Games were released, an online outcry arose over Jennifer Lawrence being cast as Katniss Everdeen, who is generally accepted by readers to be a woman of color, described in the books as having olive skin and dark hair."

Maybe by "readers" that haven't read the books, or didn't pay attention, considering her mother and sister are blond haired, blue eyed with "light colored skin." Katniss was also described as having grey eyes and, well, I've never met an actual human with grey eyes. Thus a fictional character.

That article also completely ignored the fact that Lenny Kravitz was cast as Cinna, even though in the book he's totally non-descript racially. Just with "short brown hair" and "green eyes." They coulda went with a white dude. (Although, that woulda been a damn shame. Lenny's lookin' good.)

Josh what's-his-face. Awful! I didn't think he could act worth a damn, yet again (I've, unfortunately, seen him in other movies). When Katniss said he could throw 100 lb bags of flour, I lol'd. With those arms? Come on! He's supposed to be stocky and handsome, or something. Uh, no.

Loved everyone else, though. Some of the Tributes were damned psychotic in the arena. The "adults" were amazing. Woody's wig was awful, but he sold it, as usual. Elizabeth Banks was pretty funny when she was allowed to be. I didn't get the point of President Snow showing up in this one, either. I guess just to have ZOMG DONALD SUTHERLAND in it.

The best part about before the movie? Everyone in the theater laughed at the Breaking Dawn 2 teaser. Bahaha. (And there was, literally, only one empty seat in the entire theater. It was nuts.)

[Deleted]

IA, obviously whitewashing is a huge problem in Hollywood, but I wouldn't single this movie out as a big example of it. They never say Katniss's race in the books, but I think it's made pretty clear she's not black. When she meets black people for the first time, she remarks (in the narrative) on the color of their skin.

There's Lenny Kravitz cast as racially-ambiguous Cinna. And they kept Rue (who is quite an important character) and Thresh black, as they are in the book.

[ijustworkhere]

Like I said above, I thought Josh Hutcherson was great acting-wise, but his size was indeed a problem. He looked like Katniss's younger brother rather than a kid her age and a potential love interest.

[stina]

Really enjoyed it!

Excellent cast. Jennifer Lawrence was bad ass, and I loved Stanley Tucci as always. All the other tributes were perfect, although I would have liked to have seen Rue a little less doe-eyed. She was a child, true, but she did outlast a lot of the older opponents.

But I agree with the people who say that the movie didn't spend enough time setting up Peeta / Katniss. I didn't care as much about them as I did in the books. Also, they left out one moment that really choked me up in the books: District 11 sending Katniss bread.

I had a bunch of teenage girls behind me, who had obviously read the books. They gasped indignantly when Katniss bought the Mockingjay pin for Prim. I didn't mind the rewrite, but I liked the reaction.

[ElleCee]

I haven't read the books so I was going into this blind. It was nothing like I thought it was going to be, to be honest. The over the top fashions and tech from the Capitol surprised me. I was expecting a much gritter movie for some reason. This was very whitewashed.

I did like Jennifer Lawrence and Stanley Tucci was great.

Hutcherson seems miscast to me. Is his character supposed to the same age as Kantiss', he seemed really young and naive considering the desperation of District 12. Maybe because his family was a bit wealthier he wasn't as touched by the despair around him? I never for one minute got that she was attracted to him at all. Too many looks to the camera. Haymitches' note about the kiss was amusing, telling her to play to the camera.

I liked Gale and he seemed more to suit the character of Kantiss. There was subtle chemistry there but I liked it.

My favorite moment was Rue's death (boy, that sounds morbid) but I liked it when Kantiss turned to the camera with the salute. I have no idea what that means, if anything, but it was moving and I enjoyed the riot afterwards.

All in all, it was an okay movie for me. Not a great one. It felt a bit like the Harry Potter movies to me where they expected you to fill in all the blanks.

[Coffeecakes]

Saw it today and enjoyed it, but was really irritated by Peeta's casting. That little shit is supposed to be strong and handsome Peeta who is Gale's competition? Please. Katniss looked like she was his older sister who could throw him across the arena.

Effie was perfect and pretty much everyone except Peeta. I think the movie would've been better if it had been rated R and a little longer.

[FiggyPudding]

I did not read the books (so I could be surprised) and enjoyed this a great deal. Overall, it was engrossing and unconventional.

I have a fondness for Josh Hutcherson, so his height wasn't an issue for me. (Of course I often find shorter men just as attractive as taller ones, so there's that.) And I find his guy-next-door delivery to be relatable.

There were a few moments when their eyes met, I bought it. Yes, there wasn't much build up, but I expect some intense attachments during a near death experience. Jennifer Lawrence's acting certainly helps; I could easily picture her having a lot of intense feelings just underneath the surface.

Looking forward to the books.

[jynni]

I guess I don't get why this would need an R rating. I actually thought that for all the hype about teenagers killing each other the book itself was underwhelming in term of violence. Very little actually violence happens "on screen". Out of the tributes that die, less than half are witnessed and all are pretty tame in terms of gore. It's not like it's Gladiator or Braveheart. Showing more blood and killing would've just been gratuitous and wouldn't have added anything to the movie.

I thought this was one of the better book to movie adaptations I've seen - def better than any of the hack jobs they did with the Potter films. Jennifer Lawrence was perfectly cast and completely carried the movie. If they'd cast someone who couldn't act, the whole thing would've fallen apart.

My main gripes are the same ones I have with the book. The stupid love triangle thing is just annoying. Peeta is just pathetic as a character. He comes across as a pansy, clingy "nice guy". So if that's what they were going for, Hutcherson was perfect. Agree on the shaky cam and whiplash editing. Way over the top and distracting.