My thoughts on Hunger Games:
If you liked (or loved) the first book, you will enjoy the movie.
All changes they made to the story made perfect sense. Kudos to the screenwriters (note: Suzanne Collins, the author of the books was given 1/3 of the credit).
I cried twice (at the reaping and Rue).
I was startled almost out of my seat once (at the "finale").
The action sequences and fights were so hacked to pieces it was liked watching a subliminal fight. The clips had to be less than a second long, my eye couldn't even focus fast enough! Twice I got dizzy from the splicing and dicing (which was probably necessary to secure a PG-13 rating) and had to look away from the screen to keep from getting nauseous.
Not-so-steady cam. Hold still, I can't see a thing!
So, though I loved the acting (kudos to Jennifer Lawrence, I thought she did a wonderful job, and hats off to Woody Harrelson who I was prepared to hate and ended up liking in the role of Haymitch) and I liked the story changes (well done!), the music was spot on (good enough to create emotion, but not so distracting that you notice there is even music in the movie), and the special effects were stellar (fantastic fire effects!), I was not a fan of the editing.
Chop, chop, hack, hack = dizzy me
I've been home a half hour and I still have a headache.
But other than that - I'm a fan!
If you liked (or loved) the first book, you will enjoy the movie.
All changes they made to the story made perfect sense. Kudos to the screenwriters (note: Suzanne Collins, the author of the books was given 1/3 of the credit).
I cried twice (at the reaping and Rue).
I was startled almost out of my seat once (at the "finale").
The action sequences and fights were so hacked to pieces it was liked watching a subliminal fight. The clips had to be less than a second long, my eye couldn't even focus fast enough! Twice I got dizzy from the splicing and dicing (which was probably necessary to secure a PG-13 rating) and had to look away from the screen to keep from getting nauseous.
Not-so-steady cam. Hold still, I can't see a thing!
So, though I loved the acting (kudos to Jennifer Lawrence, I thought she did a wonderful job, and hats off to Woody Harrelson who I was prepared to hate and ended up liking in the role of Haymitch) and I liked the story changes (well done!), the music was spot on (good enough to create emotion, but not so distracting that you notice there is even music in the movie), and the special effects were stellar (fantastic fire effects!), I was not a fan of the editing.
Chop, chop, hack, hack = dizzy me
I've been home a half hour and I still have a headache.
But other than that - I'm a fan!
I just saw it today, too, and I have to agree. I am not a fan of the hand-held-camera effect. You can't focus on anything. And I mean, come on - a 10-year old can hold a video camera more steady.
ReplyDeleteOther than that, I thought it was great. Good casting, they didn't "overdo" anything except maybe the capitol hair & costuming.
The only thing that was missing, for me, was Katnis's voice. Since the books are taken from her point of view, mostly within her own thoughts, it would have been a nice touch to have part of the movie narrated by the character Katniss. It would have been more personal, and would have brough the audience - especially those who hadn't read the book - into her mindset, although Jennifer Lawrence showed excellent subtext.
Heidi, that was exactly my daughter's "constructive criticism"... what she loved most about the books was Katniss' POV. But, apart from that, she enjoyed the big screen version, just differently.
DeleteThat's funny! The funky camera movement didn't bother me at all... But as a make-up & costume designer I REALLY thought that they didn't go far enough with the capitol citizens. Especially glaring was the lack of dyed skin & tattoos. I'm just glad that I read about it ahead of time & had a whole, "Really? Mr. Designer? You wimp!!!" moment in my head BEFORE the movie so it didn't distract me.
ReplyDeleteNow I'm just trying to decide how long until I see it again...
Wasn't the TV show host supposed to be completely blue? Yes - I thought they were conservative with the costumes too. Perhaps the producers of the movie was worried it would put off viewers if they went full-on book wardrobe. It didn't bother me though that they were careful with that.
ReplyDeleteAnd I don't vote for Voice Over at anytime. I have a personal dislike of V.O. - in my book, it's screenwriter cheating. But that's just me. :)
I loved your comments. I was prepared to hate the movie and ended up really liking it. Jennifer Lawrence was truly exceptional, with her dead stare and visible fright, visceral emotion and desire to just survive the games... Kinda can't wait for the next one...
ReplyDelete