The Hunger Games - Movie

Movies show you how. Books show you why.  With any movie adaptation of a widely popular book, the filmmakers will inevitably not please every movie-goer.  But this movie-goer was very impressed and thoroughly enjoyed the movie adaptation of The Hunger Games.  The movie hit 95% of the major points in the book so it flowed very well and kept me watching and wondering what was going to happen next.  Even though I knew what was going to happen next, it was exciting to see it happen on screen and see my imagination come to life. The 5% that did not match with the book I will get into later. For now, let’s dwell on the positive and exciting parts of the movie.

Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson were wonderful. Lawrence looked as if she had been studying the book intently to before Katniss.  Hutcherson has grown as an actor. In this movie, he was able to change from the boy-next door to the one people should watch out for in the arena in a split second. He made me believe in him both as an actor and as the character. That is a sign of a very good actor.  Lawrence was just as equally good if not better.  Katniss is not an easy character to become. You have to find the balance between being strong and letting all of your feelings show in order to keep going.  She handles that like a veteran.  As the movies progress into Mockingjay, I am excited to see the change in Katniss and Lawrence; the wall she has built in front of her gets torn down and her not being able to hold anything back.

I found that The Hunger Games movie was more in tune with the book than any of the Twilight or Harry Potter movies.  There wasn’t anything added in the movie that was not in the book and the writers and director did not change the progression of events.  It would have been difficult considering that every scene had something to do with the scenes before it. That might seem like an obvious observation but as a person who enjoys movies and sees a good number of them that is not an easy thing to accomplish. In Harry Potter I remember some of the not so important scenes were taken out of context and I was left wondering why did they do that and to what purpose?  It might have made sense to the people who saw the movie and didn’t read the book but to the Harry Potter book fans, it left us confused.  Getting back to The Hunger Games, I wasn’t confused about the storyline. What I was confused about were the things that were left out and more importantly downplayed.

The number one thing I did not like about the movie was how the relationship between Peeta and Katniss was downplayed. There is so much more of that in the book that sets up a lot of what happens in the other two books. I feel like the movie didn’t give the relationship any chance. The readers know that Peeta’s feelings are true but in the movie, you have no idea if they are true or false. You don’t get an inkling either way until the end when Peeta asks Katniss what do they do now and she answers we forget and he answers back but I don’t want to forget and looks at her longingly.  Other than that, it looked as if Peeta was just playing the part of the star-crossed lover and not actually feeling it. Everything else about the movie I enjoyed. As a movie-goer, I knew that not everything in the book could be portrayed on screen unless the director wanted to make a 3-4 hour movie.  That might have worked for Titanic back in 1997 but not for today’s entertainment savvy population.  2.5 hours is even pushing it but then again with movies like Harry Potter and Twilight going 2.5 hours each, The Hunger Games is simply following suit with regards to the length.

As with most books to movies, I enjoyed the book better than the movie. But when looking back at the last 3 big book-to-movie franchises – Harry Potter, Twilight, and The Hunger Games – I loved The Hunger Games the best. It was more true to the book than any of the other book to movies. It was harsh and direct and it wasn’t afraid to be either of those things.  That is something that is lacking in today’s great movies.  The producers and directors are so worried about offending anyone so they play it safe most of the time.  Not Hunger Games.  They didn’t get the memo. And good thing, otherwise the movie would have been shelved on the “it’s OK” shelf and probably never seen again.  It made a big impression. Now the wait is on to see if Catching Fire will create as much spark and excitement as its predecessor.