The Hunger Games (Movie)

Hooray!

(That pictures is from the movie’s Wikipedia page)

I took Mr. Pingwing to see this movie with me, based on the first book in The Hunger Games series. I had been excited about this all week, and when I woke up yesterday and realized it was the big day, I couldn’t contain myself. I was basically bouncing off the walls all morning, waiting until we could leave for the theatre.

Normally my expectations for film adaptations of books that I love are pretty low, but I’d read that Suzanne Collins, the author of the series, had co-written the screenplay for the movie, and that gave me some confidence that the story would stay true to the source material.

By the time I was in my seat in the theatre (half an hour before the start of the film), I was beyond excited. We went to a 1:30 show on Saturday afternoon, the earliest start time at that theatre, and while there was a good crowd, it wasn’t packed, and we had no problem finding good seats.

And then…the lights went down and the commercials and previews finally finished and the movie began…

I am trying to avoid spoilers but be warned that there may be some below…

I loved the movie. I thought the story stayed very true to the book,  and where things were changed, it was done in a way that made sense. I reminded myself that there were people in the theatre, like Mr. Pingwing, who have not read the book, and things need to  be condensed in a movie so that everying fits into a two hour time frame.

It doesn’t bother me when a film adaptation changes things from the book upon which it’s based, so long as it makes sense within the movie’s narrative. I thought that was the case here, so when I noticed things that were different from the novel, it didn’t upset me.

Also, so much of what happens in the book takes place in Katniss’s head, and the movie had to find a way to convey those things. This is where I valued Mr. Pingwing’s opinion the most, because I was so familiar with the book that my mind could fill in any blanks during the movie, but I wanted to know if everything was clear to someone who only knew the movie, not the book.

He liked the movie, and based on the conversations we had, it seemed that things were laid out very well for people who didn’t know anything about the story going in to the movie.

I also loved the casting. Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss was just fabulous, and I loved Josh Hutcherson as Peeta. Woody Harrelson as Haymitch, Lenny Kravitz as Cinna, Elizabeth Banks as Effie, and Donald Sutherland as President Snow were also great.

The first part of the movie that leads up to the Games, with the Reaping and then the training for the tributes, was awesome. Even though I knew what was going to happen, it still managed to create tension and suspense, and then when Katniss was being lifted up to the arena, my heart was pounding! It was great!

The action was well-done, considering the film’s rating and the violence of the novel. It wasn’t as action-packed as I thought the movie would be, but that’s okay. I obviously loved it and will definitely buy the blu-ray release when the time comes!