As I had mentioned in an earlier blog post, a good friend of mine (shout out to Lyndse!) graciously offered me admit tickets to an early screening preview of The Hunger Games on Wednesday at the Alamo Quarry. I can only vaguely describe how excited I was when I got her text. Let's just say I screamed like a little girl. Not only was I given an to opportunity to see this movie which I had been anticipating for a good while for free, I also get to see it before anyone else (or at least, in this case the mass public). With the insistence of my sister who had read it way before its rise to popularity, I finished the series this past winter break when I had nothing else to do back home in Houston.
...Fast forward after the movie.....
To put it shortly, I was a bit disappointed, for various reasons:
1. The movie presents itself in third person. I had a problem with this. The book goes into deep detail about the atrocities of Panem and its Hunger Games through the eyes of Katniss, and (for me at least) this connected me to her and to the story. Through Katniss' eyes you understand the poverty of District 12 and the hypocrisies of the Capitol. Katniss' developing relationships with several main characters were also vague. I wish I had seen more of the team: Cinna, Haymitch, Effie.
2. Incredibly fast paced for quite a long movie (2 1/2 hours?!). The movie started at 7:30 (mind you, there were no previews) and we got out at 10! Not to mention I had to wait in a line to get my cell phone back. Before entering the theatre we all had to give up any device that had videotaping capabilities.
3. Shaky camera effects. I just got dizzy instead. I understand that unsteadiness gives a raw and more intimate effect to films, but it just did not fit.
4. Katniss and Peeta's Fire Costumes were NOT as grand as I had expected to be. It was more like a fire cape. The book describes them being engulfed by these flames.
5. Not enough love action between Katniss and Peeta! Instead of days spending in the cave, it was more like overnight. The ending was so vague, and no mention of Katniss breaking Peeta's heart.
Overall, as epic as the literature was, the movie just did not do this book justice. What I did like about it though is that the movie barely ever strayed from the plot of the book. The actors were great, I thought Jennifer Lawrence portrayed Katniss well.
Will I see the movie again? Sure! As a matter of fact, my sister and I originally had tickets for a Friday showing at the Palladium IMAX. But was it all that I had expected, or did it reach some sort of expectation? Unfortunately, no. The Hunger Games is such a incredible story, any adaptation to film would be hard to execute, but I still think filmmakers did a good job here.
....Either that or I'm just too picky. Let me know what you think!
God bless!
Jacq
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