I saw the film at midnight on opening night and to be honest, I'm still recovering. Like a lot of readers of the series as well as the cast and production team, I was worried that it would suck, but it was amazing. It didn't disappoint at all. Check out my review after the cut and warning there might be some spoilers!
The film clocks in at 2 hours and 22 minutes of epic intensity. I'm gonna start this out by saying that I did read the books and I'm one of those people who gets annoyed when films stray from the text they're given. The book is 384 pages in its paperback incarnation and I understand that it's tough to cut it down so much, but I get annoyed at when films add things in that aren't in the text when they make cuts of the source material. Once I put this aside and took the film as an independent piece of the franchise, I loved it!
The marketing campaign for this film was incredible. They teased audiences with photos, clips, twitter contests, interviews and tons of other stuff that you can find with a quick google search. They did all of this without revealing much about the film beyond the first few minutes building suspense, excitement, and hype on which they delivered. I actually caved and entered a contest and tweeted a bit too much about the series myself. Jennifer Lawrence is at the top of her game in the press and IMDB's star meter with her portrayal of Katniss Everdeen and Liam Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson are becoming bigger stars by the day.
The film itself is honestly better than many other film adaptations of popular young adult literature. It takes the subject matter of a disturbing future in which reality television means the death of children and makes an appropriately dark film. A lot of the film is shot handheld or at least it appears so and the visuals in the woods are dark and earthy as they should be. The film left me almost catatonic thinking about the world of the film, its characters, and honestly with an intense hope for success for this film.
The changes were supposedly approved by Suzanne Collins so I trust that she imagined they fit the narrative well and that they were welcome additions to the ever complicating text. I didn't love the focus on Seneca Crane, the head gamemaker, but the extra scenes were pretty short and almost a welcome break from the craziness inside the games. The character development was great and the reactions shots had as much to say as the lines in many instances. If you have the chance and haven't yet, get out to see the film and grab some popcorn because once it starts, you'll be glued to your seat!
And never forget the original Hunger Games!
Take away the hullabaloo surrounding the film adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ best-selling young adult book and what you have is an absorbing film with a dire premise that stands pretty much on its own. Lawrence is also the stand-out here as Katniss and makes her seem like a real person rather than just another book character brought to life on film. Good review John.
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