Movie Review: The Hunger Games

I didn’t get around to seeing The Hunger Games movie until this afternoon. I read the book last November after a recommendation from a work acquaintance. First off, I should admit I really liked the book. Secondly, I’m not a film critic, so I am more or less evaluating the movie compared to the book. Most of what I have to say is very nit-picky.

I thought the movie did a good job following the book. Some background and history was missing. I know this kinda stuff is hard to bring to the screen. Gale was probably forgotten by most movie-watchers. I thought they could have gone back to the districts a bit more during the games, considering they were watching it all on TV. There were a few moments in the actual game where it seemed to move slowly. The Capitol correlated well to the book, but I did not think the people did. Way more color than I visualized. Cinna was definitely one of my favorite characters in the movie.

I saw the movie with my brother (who if you know him obviously did not read the book). I wanted to share some of his thoughts because he's less biased than I am. He complained about the booms not going off all the time, and not being able to keep track of how many people were still alive. He also thought each kids’ skill level was too good. Aka how many 18 year olds can throw knives at a specific target? He was also disappointed in the action scenes and how you didn’t get to see much. His final review of the movie was that it was good, and he would definitely see the next one. I agree with all of this.

In closing, I really did like the movie. I'd give it 3 stars (movie scale is out of 4). I would recommend the movie even to those who did not read the book. The movie was good, but the book was better. Isn’t that how it always is?

P.S. If you saw the movie and/or read the book, let me know. I'd love to discuss!

P.S.S. Third largest opening weekend ever for any movie ($152.5 million). Wow.