Man, my first movie review of 2012. I'm glad I picked The Hunger Games. It lived up to my expectations. It was a nice visual reference for the book. Basically they cast the very people I saw in my head. Except for Peta. I envisioned someone a little more tubby. I don't know why. Probably because he was the son of a baker.
The real gem of the movie is Jennifer Lawrence. She really displays her acting chops. More so than in X-Men: First Class. That's not to say her acting was bad in X-Men. It's just to say that she was not the focal piece of that movie. What a hit she's been? That's two big movie franchises in less than a year. I bet she's skipping all the way to the bank. I'll keep following her to the theater as long as she continues making quality movies.
Even though he wasn't prevalent in the movie I thought Woody Harrelson was great. I've always been a big fan of the guy. For as far back as I can remember anyway. I remember enjoying his character in Cheers as a kid. Why I was watching Cheers as a kid I'm not sure of. It was probably on tv, and my parents weren't around to tell me to change the channel. I turned out all right so I guess that makes Cheers harmless. I think my love for Woody was revitalized when he was in Zombieland. That was his best bit since White Men Can't Jump. Ha. Now, Haymitch. Honestly, the look was not exactly what I had in mind, but that doesn't matter. It was the person that Woody created. He made Haymitch feel real. The movie doesn't delve into Haymitch's flaws the way the book does. The book is pretty heavy. Suzanne Collins deals with weighty material for young adults. You have a dystopian world, teenagers fighting to the death, an alcoholic, and a slew of other things.
Since I'm on the subject of the heavy subject material I might as well opine further. I've seen so many posts on Facebook of parents warning other parents not to take their children to see this movie. Duh! Have they read the synopsis, the books, or done even an iota of research? These freakin books are about teenagers that kill one another for sport. Of course the movie is going to be violent. It should be violent. If it hadn't of been violent I would have felt they compromised the subject material. The most important thing when adapting a piece of art is to stay true to it. Violence is apart of the world that Suzanne Collins created. It must be incorporated into visual form. Furthermore, neither the novels nor the movie is intended for children. The books were written for young adults. Wikipedia defines a young adult as anyone from 20-40. I think it's generally accepted that young adult books are written for kids between the ages of 13-19. I don't believe in censorship of any form. I do believe in common sense and being smart. The movie is PG-13 for a reason. Don't be shocked when people get killed. It's apart of the movie's premise. Besides I found people's criticism of the violence to be exaggerated.
Do I recommend this movie? Yes. For a few reasons.
1. The strong female lead. I enjoy literature and movies with strong female characters that aren't manly. Katniss is strong while remaining feminine. If my wife and I have a daughter one day I'll put these books in her hand before she has a chance to read Twilight. I'd prefer my daughter be apart of team Katniss rather than team Bella.
2. Good writing and good movie making. I thought the script and movie making justified the adaptation. My only complaint was the shaky cam during the action scenes. I don't attend movies for motion sickness. I want to see everything that happens. Shaky cam is a poor excuse for failing to shoot a good action scene.
3. Costume and set design. The movie did a better job than the book of brining these things to life. I'm not going to elaborate. You need to see it.
This is a good film to start the 2012 spring/summer movie season with.
Check it out, folks.
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