The Hunger Games

I said I would tell you what I thought of the movie.  So here goes.

Way back on Easter (doesn't that seem like forever ago?) my cousin told me that she thought it was good. But not amazing. And she told me I wouldn't like it.  And... what do you know? She was totally right.

The cast was pretty good.  I didn't think I would like Josh Hutcherson as Peeta but he turned out to be a pretty good fit.  I did not like Liam at all for Gale.  Prim wasn't how I pictured her, Caesar wasn't as I pictured him, Snow wasn't as I pictured him.  But my biggest problems with the movie weren't the cast but...

The pace.  That movie should have been 3 hours long.  Everything went too fast. They went from action scene to action scene to action scene.  No taking time to develop the characters.  They needed to have scenes where you see how important Katniss's wood skills are.  They needed to get you attached to Rue, not just 'oh, they're allies now; oh, now she's dead.'  The movie never really drew you in. They didn't spend enough time developing the characters.  You knew so much more about Peeta, Katniss, Rue, even Effie and Haymitch and Katniss's mom and Prim in the book than was ever shown in the movie.

The mood.  It was too light.  Be shocked, yes, but I really think it was.  Part of this was the soundtrack (some pieces were just... strange) but I think it had more to do with how it was filmed.  With the constant flashing between Katniss and the game makers you never get that trapped feeling that Katniss had to go through.  Because there was no way for her to contact anyone outside the arena.

And lastly, the thing that I always have to say about movies.  Why dost thou changeth things for the sake of changing things? Why does 11 rebel?  Why couldn't they just send bread? Why did she get her pin at the hob?  Do you really think it likely that Katniss could have secretly worn anything anywhere?  Why can Haymitch send her notes... since he can, why couldn't he just send her notes about parts of the arena or where the others are? Why do they make it seem much less dire after the games?

So overall, I'd have to say it was one of the poorer book-to-movie adaptations I've seen.  Definitely not the worst (cough-PrinceCaspian-cough), but bad nonetheless.

But on a much happier note...

I assume, since you read my blog, that you like fantasy stories about epic journeys and heroes and battles.  If you don't, I really don't know how you put up with me since that's one of the only things I talk about.  And so, I think you should read this book, which is written by a family friend and is all about the common themes in fantasy and how you can read it using a Christian worldview. You can get it here as an eBook or a paperback.  And you can read a free excerpt and read more about it there too.  So go, check it out. :)