What I'm Watching: Hunger Games

Okay, first thing is first.  I am not a teenaged girl, nor have I read the books.  My sole exposure to this fandom is pretty much the movie, and nothing more.

So it turns out, I *really* enjoyed the movie.  I can't compare it to the book, and how it differs and holds up though.

It was well made, the acting was almost across the board amazing, the directing was good...  My only real complaints come from the design.  I totally get what they were going for with the fancy, bright colours of the capitol and its people.  I get making everyone there look like an over the top fancy person.  But it really grated on me more often than not.  I wish it had just been toned down just a bit, and a little less theatrical.  But it was a good contrast to the worn down look of everyone else in the movie, so take it as you will.

They did a fair job building this new world, and things pretty much made sense and followed logically.  There were maybe a few stumbles, a few moments that needed a little more fleshing out, but that's not uncommon, and there is only so much time a movie can spend on exposition, when a book can really delve into that stuff.

The other tributes besides Katniss, Peeta, and a few others were terribly underutilised and under characterised.  Again, the limitations of the medium, really.  I wanted to care about all these kids as they died, but really the only ones you care about are like, three people.

The villains of the piece are maybe a little too clearly villains.  A little arch even.  The president especially.  But hey, he's Donald Sutherland, so we forgive that, because he's awesome and you totally buy his arch.  The tribute kids that were our main antagonists, again could have used a little more fleshing out.

But those admittedly small things aside, it was a very good ride, well told and well made.  One of the best scenes for me, that really touched me, was the riot in District 11 when the little girl died during the games.  That really struck a chord, and was handled exactly the way it should have been.

I heard a lot of complaints about the movie becoming Twilighty and romancy at the end, but I didn't get that impression at all.  Yes, the romance subplot did grow towards the climax, but it was a logical outgrowth of events, and did not overtake the larger plot, but instead complimented it.

I definitely recommend seeing this if you haven't yet, and I am tempted to actualyl read the books before the next movie comes out.

J
How could I not love a movie with a girl that gets set on fire and shows off phoenix-like burning wings??