This weekend, PChad & I went & saw Hunger Games. We had both read the books, & were eager to see how they adapted them for the movie. While I was reading the book, I was interested in what the people of Panem would have seen on the televised version of the Games. I went to the movie with that in mind.
I was quite pleased with how well they stayed with the book. There were some parts (like how Katniss gets the Mocking Jay pin) that were different, but it was understandable that it would take too long to show how it came about in the book. The cornucopia was not gold (as it was in the book), & I’m not sure why they wouldn’t have made it gold, but I could look past that as well.
I was a bit confused about some of the casting as well. I thought they did a pretty good job with Katniss, Peeta, & Gale. Katniss’ Mum, & Prim, & Rue were all excellent along with the other tributes. I’m not sure why they felt they needed to put Lenny Kravitz in as Cinna, & Woody Harrelson seemed an odd choice for Haymitch. I think the movie itself was strong enough that they didn’t have to go with big named people for these roles, as long as they got good actors, as was demonstrated with the three main characters.
There were a few scenes from the movie that I wish had been longer. The part where Peeta is down by the river hiding in camouflage, we barely get a glimpse of him, & in the next scene he has removed most of his camouflage. I wonder how many hours make-up worked on him, for a 5 second shot in the film. I understand the movie was already 2.5 hours, but I was a bit disappointed with that scene.
All in all, I was very impressed with the movie, & I’d love to see it again. It will definitely be added to my list of movies to buy!
We saw it yesterday too. I actually thought Woody Harrelson was a perfect Haymitch, although I think I imagined him a little older when I was reading the book. I wonder if they will do the other two books?
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