The Hunger Games: Grade, Review, Discuss, Sequel news **SPOILERS**

Agreed. I think that's the reason it wasn't a summer release. It's not as known a property as Harry Potter so it was smart not to open it during a busy summer movie season. Wouldn't be surprised if Catching Fire is a summer or holiday release.

 

Hypothetically it could make significant gains in the coming weeks if overseas word of mouth is similar to in North America. Or that may just wait until the sequel.

 

^^ Does word of mouth factor into a huge opening weekend? I could see it for the following weekends.

 

My review on Facebook ...

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Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Stanley Tucci, Donald Sutherland
Rated PG-13
Length: 2 Hours, 20 Minutes

I haven't written a movie review in a long time, so I really wanted to when I saw The Hunger Games yesterday. This sci-fi action-adventure movie, based on the first of three books written by Suzanne Collins (none of which I've read), is so different from other movies of its genre. It has a unique plot, which is engaging to the viewers, and memorable characters, and thus it's hugely popular among the younger generation but also has a broad appeal. It's bound to be the next biggest book-to-movie franchise following the Harry Potter and Twilight series.

So what makes this movie so different from the other sci-fi films I've seen over the years? As I said, it's got a unique story. It's set in a futuristic society in North America called Panem, where teenagers are chosen from each of 12 districts to compete in a fight-to-the-death tournament that's broadcast on national television.

Since I've never read any of the books, I found it a bit hard to "suspend my disbelief" at first. How could a society like Panem even exist, populated by people with unusual names (like Katniss, Cinna, Haymitch), weird hairdos and attires? For all the modern advances and technological marvels in its Capitol, the society is both futuristic and backwards, civilized yet barbaric, where poverty and social injustice pretty much exist while the wealthy upper crust thrive in a country under an oppressive totalitarian regime. In a lot of ways, it mirrors our modern culture and the issues we have, from our obsession with reality shows and glorified violence to the economic problems of the world.

Jennifer Lawrence kicks ass in this movie as Katniss Everdeen, the heroine who, along with her fellow District 12 companion, Peeta Mallark (J. Hutcherson), must compete to survive and to represent her home. She plays a brave teenaged girl who's very strong and heroic, and yet there's a bit of vulnerability about her. The way she salutes the people of all Districts is her own way of sticking a Middle Finger to the Capitol's administration. She's lived in less than modest conditions and with scarce resources all her life, and that has given her strong survival skills. At the end of the day, she's a lonesome heroine who misses her younger sister Primrose back home.

The story is fast-paced and the characters are well developed. I was just reading Hunger Games was filmed on location in various North Carolina sites. It's a great movie that's really story-driven and character-focused.

Overall Rating: A

 

I saw this with about 300 middle schoolers in a private showing. It was really, really good. So much so, that I wasn't left with my fallback of nitpicking the thing to death. I'm sure there's nits to pick, but I don't really care. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing and am debating whether or not to read the books and spoil the next 3 movies.

What was great about seeing it with so many of the target demo (boys and girls), was how they all laughed out loud at the funny bits, booed at the jerk moves pulled by bad guys, oohed at the romantic bits, got real quiet when heroes died and cheered at the climax.

I couldn't even get through the first Harry Potter flick or the first book, they felt so derivative, and I can only watch the Twilight movies for the rifftracks, but this movie actually got me interested in a new IP. Great work all around.

Also, the Games organizer's beard was the shit. All the boys in the theatre wanted his beard. Hell, I wanted his beard.

 

No matter how large the crowd is when I see the movie today, no-one will cheer, clap or boo and laughter will be muted. Tasmanians, even teenagers, are reasonably quiet when they are in the cinema. Most of the time that is a good thing but sometimes is dampens the atmosphere and it makes it hard to gage the audiences appreciation of the movie - for that I usually have to listen to comments made by people on their way out of the cinema.

 

I've seen it twice now and grade the film a high B/B+

They did a really good job of adapting the book into the screenplay and then putting that on film really well.

I'm having trouble grading it just as a movie vs grading it as an adaption. My mind keeps going to things, sometimes small, that they didn't include and ways the narration was different. Haymitch didn't fall of the stage at the Reaping like he did in the book(they could've at least had him standing there). Peeta's dad didn't bring Katniss a cookie during the goodbye sequences. I do feel Gale got shortchanged in the adaptaion as well.

The first person narrative of Katniss which clues in so much of her motivations is an aspect I feel keeps the grade down in the 'B' range. If I hadn't read the book would I just feel like Katniss and Peeta were a budding romance vs one that had several roadblocks before even a hint would enter Katniss' mind that Peeta was being genuine.

Regarding the discussion of her size/weight she does notice that compared to some of the other lower District Tributes she is in comparative good health. She attributes this to her hunting and having a more regular diet of meat and having the goat for cheese. Later, during the games, she mentions it good that she put on a few pounds at the Capitol when she is hungary.

I don't feel I need to see it again anytime soon though. Despite seeing it twice(cause I made a last minute descion to go when I got a call Sat night despite having Sunday plans) which I didn't intend to do, I don't know the movie will get lots of multiple viewings. I didn't find nuance in the film from a character perspective that might draw people back or stunning action moments either.

It's a credit to the filmmakers/marketers etc for the audience they pulled OW. Will it maintain that or see big drops the next few weekends though?

 

The moviegoers I was with yesterday were unusually restrained as well.

I found it funny when I was there, sitting through all the upcoming movie trailers for The Avengers, The Amazing Spider-Man, Snow White and the Huntsman, Prometheus--wanting to yell "Booyah!" and gushing with nerdgasm!!! But the audience was so awfully quiet throughout the movie--no applause, no laughter, no cheers.

 

This is a genuine question: is the added nuance of Katniss and Peeta's romance being manufactured and that detail being made expressly explicit that important to the trilogy's narrative? I personally thought that particular aspect of things was spelled out sufficiently enough by and through Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Woody Harrelson's performances and characterization, but I'm curious as to whether it's such a bad thing if general audiences miss the subtle signs and buy into the romance as a genuine thing.

 

I was thoroughly entertained that after the Breaking Dawn trailer, there was a substantial amount of derisive laughter in the theater. It gives me hope for my fellow man.

There were definitely moments throughout the movie - usually Effie and Haymitch moments - that provoked chuckles in my theater. For how full the room was, though, I thought the crowd was very respectful of each other and the themes in their behavior. Very good experience.

 

Oh my word, she's so corny.

 

Really loved this film.
It's one of those movies that is pitch perfect in almost every aspect of production.
The audience was noticeably quiet, but this is also one of the most immersive and engrossing films I've seen in many, many years
Just one nitpick:
If I were in the games and I found my companions asleep around me...lets just say I would have taken advantage of the moment.

 

The Hunger Games (2012) - B+


Before this last week, I didn't know what the Hunger Games were. When I found out it was based on books much in the same vain as Twilight and Harry Potter, I wondered why I didn't know much about it before and why was I out of the loop on this stuff. Going in, I honestly didn't know what the plot of the movie was, and didn't know what kind of expectations to have for something like this.

Well, I went to this movie this morning and tonight I'm still thinking about it. I think I need to see Winter's Bone again because the highlight of this movie for me was Jennifer Lawrence. I'm really starting to like her as an actress but for some reason I didn't grab onto Winter's Bone like others seemed to. As for the movie, there were a lot of things that made me feel uncomfortable, and I think that was the movie's point. I didn't feel this uncomfortable since 127 hours when the boulder comes crashing down on the guys arm but that's a different movie. Here, the thought of this dystopian world is terrifying, and to have kids killing each other for ratings is painful, emotionally. I was surprised this movie and books were aimed towards the younger generation because watching some of this movie made me feel a bit quesey. That's not to say I didn't enjoy it because I did, and the quesiness feeling added to it. People are complaining that we didn't see a lot of the deaths in the movie and I think maybe that had a greater impact. You can kill anytime anywhere and make it look greusome. Here, what worked was the movie played on your emotions, how you feel for these characters, and just the idea of kids being forced to kill other kids. There was a line in this movie that I really liked and pretty much summarized the movie really well. "The only emotion greater than fear is hope. Give them a little hope". (Maybe that's not the line verbatim, but the idea remains.

I think if there was a problem I had with the movie was that I wished some of the other tributes were a little fleshed out, and Gale apparently has a major role in the next few movies. Maybe a lot of the backstory will be brought to the table in the next movie because this one felt kind of on the straight and narrow. Other than that, very good film.

 

i'm still watching the movie, but i'm thinking that in the world that was, before the war, the Hunger arena... That's probably where they filmed the Truman Show

 

I went to see The Hunger Games this morning and thought it wa great.

I was very hesitant when I first heard that it was being adapted as I thought it would be dumbed down to suit the teenaged girl market. I was very pleased to see that it wasn't.

I was surprised to see how much it was like the book despite the fact that the book was from from a first person perspective. The scenes that took place away from Katniss added to the story.

I would have liked to see Katniss get the Mockingjay pin from Madge like she did in the book but I can see why Madge wasnt a neccessary character in the film. I also was slightly disappointed that Rue telling Katniss about District 11 wasn't in the movie. Apart from those two scenes I can't find much to complain about.

I give the movie a solid A.

 

I loved the books, but I've been hearing a lot of mixed reviews on this movie like http://thecelebritycafe.com/reviews/2012/03/satisfying-not-filling-hunger-games-review. It still had one of the largest opening weekend sales in history though. Guess I'll find out this Saturday and see if the movie lives up to the books!

 

Its scoring over 85% on Rottentomatoes, which is pretty good.

 

I thought the movie lost a little something in not letting us wonder along with Katniss about what frightening, crazy-ass thing was coming for her next. Or wondering what the different motivations might be for what was happening.

But obviously there was a LOT of stuff that needed explaining to the audience, and the operation center and Snow/Seneca scenes were probably the best way to go about it.

 

A question for the book readers:

Spoiler: Book spoilers

In the movie, it showed that Katniss was totally playing it up for the game, until there was a moment where peeta was applying the salve to Katniss head wound, it looked like they share a moment (Where maybe it just wasn't all fake/game). Is this also true in the books? Or in the books was Katniss just all about the game and didn't have a 'moment' with peeta?