It wasn't bad, could have been better. This is how most movies based on novels are seen, but this was no ordinary novel for me, so I am bothering to offer my subjective ramblings on it.
The Plot: with a little over two hours of film and a lot of material to cover, I was blown away by how all the major plot points were covered, and then some (speaking mainly of scenes not from the perspective of the heroine, but certainly hinted-at in the novel). While this was a treat to watch, I think the film barley touched on the underlying theme. It wasn't until the extra shot of District 11's uprising did I breathe a sigh of relief that this might actually be hinting at the spark of a district rebellion the way the novel did.
Having to stuff so many pinnacle scenes within the film sort of took away from the weight of a few of them. Namely, the building of Katniss' relationships with both Rue and Peeta, as well as Rue's death. Ross just simply didn't have the time to give Rue a bit more of a backstory and a connection to Katniss. He also didn't make the time to let the audience understand Katniss reasons behind the cave scenes with Peeta. Sure, the whole "you call that a kiss?" thing was placed in there, showing her that a reward system is based on her starcrosed- lover interaction with Peeta, but there was so much going on in her head and so much delicious juicy puppylove comments Peeta was spouting during those few chapters of the book that Ross didn't find the time to get in there, so it left me wanting a little more. (The reason that is partly because the setup took up half the movie. In my extremely subjective opinion, it could have been cut by a few minutes to give the actually Hunger Games themselves more emotional juice, but Ross obviously found the first half involving the reaping and the event at the Capitol just as important, and I can't really fault him for that ) I guess I'm the type of person who thrives on the emotional connections just as much as the action. The first half of the movie was excellent, especially the the reaping and the interviews. Well done.
The Setting: could the setting be any better? I honestly have no complaints about the fact the film was shot in Shelby, Asheville and Charlotte, NC. This might be completely bias, but District 12 IS located in Appalachia in the novel, so why not? Thanks to whoever created the N.C. tax incentive, because our state has lost a lot of great filming opportunities int eh past because of cost. This movie will do for NC what fucking Twilight did for Forks. Yay for us, we got the better movie :)
Visuals- I found the shaky camera movements were uneccessary in the first part of the film. I thought that was better preserved for the games, to give them more of a reality show feel. Besides that, I really did enjoy the glossy outfits of the Capitol and the portrayal of their lavish lifestyles. Every scene with Ceasar Flickman reminded me of Ryan Seacrest if he became a crack addict or something. I worked well in my opinion.
The Acting: Jennifer Lawrence, Stanley Tucci, Woody Harrelson, Lenny Kravitz (surprisingly). Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Banks and Wes Bentley could not have been better choices to play their respective roles. Each embodies their character and without them, this film would have been a flop. Speaking of flop, the other notable tributes were completely laughable to me. With MAYBE the exception of Alexander Ludwig as Cato and Amandla Stenberg as Rue, the others' performances looked ridiculous and forced to me and not the least bit unnerving. I don't know, maybe the casting director got tired negotiating the more prominent roles and just picked some kids at random, but they sort of make the games laughable from my standpoint. Thank goodness for Lawrence, and thank goodness they didn't go with Emma Roberts or any other actress. That would have been a bad move.
I need to be a shallow silly girl for a second: Liam Hemsworth was fine, I can't complain, the boy is just a gorgeous piece of manhunk and I will enjoy watching him the in subsequent films and pretty much anything else he is in. I just have to forget who he dates in real life lest I am prone to vomiting.
Setup for the Next Two Films: What I am anxious about is both the message and the violence that are present the second two novels, ESPECIALLY Mockingjay, and how those themes will translate in the film sequels. So much of these books are Katniss' thoughts, and her actions are mostly resulting from those thoughts, thoughts that are also revealing and poignant. Can Ross pull off a PG-13 with those storylines and events without ruining their significance? He came close to missing the mark with the first film. I almost don't want him to make the next films as easy to watch as he did the first one. Collins really amped up everything disturbing and heartbreaking and violent in the rest of the series and I for one wouldn't want that challenge on my hands. Guess that's why I'm not a director..
OVERALL: I give it a 6.9 / 10. This is obviously just my opinion, so I'm curious as to everyone else's thoughts :)
