oh, monsters get created every day
So fleurdeleo and I went to see The Hunger Games tonight. I thought it was good, a reasonably faithful adaptation that could have been better, but which mostly gave me what I wanted out of it, which was KATNISS being awesome, and also CINNA.
So I guess Peeta was less annoying here, but still kind of a big blah. I don't get why everybody loves him so much. He really irritated me in the second book. Is it the frosting thing? He does frost like a boss.
ANYWAY.
Jennifer Lawrence is fantastic as Katniss, though I think she looks older than 16 and older than the kid who plays Peeta. I loved her interactions with Cinna, of course, and thought Lenny Kravitz was lovely given how little he had to do (I am still Team Cinna Isn't Dead, Dammit!), and I didn't mind the changes made for the movie (getting rid of Madge, avoiding the Avoxes), but I do feel like it was a little sanitized, which I guess was for the PG-13 rating. It wasn't horrifying ENOUGH, and I don't mean in terms of gore, but just... I feel like it didn't have the emotional impact it could have had.
And possibly that ties into my next discontent, which is that I also don't think they did enough with the reality TV setting - I wanted more of us, the movie-going audience, as complicit in the games, just like all those people in the capitol cheering were. I thought the scenes with Seneca and the crew were a good addition, but I feel like there could have been more done with that, especially considering how the media management becomes so important over the course of the series.
Otoh, I did cry at Rue's death - she was adorable and perfectly cast - and I liked that they gave Cato a moment of humanity at the end.
I feel like not having the muttations have the other tributes' faces was kind of pulling punches, but I bet that was something sacrificed for the PG-13 rating.
Woody Harrelson did a fine job as Haymitch, a character I never expected to like who I ended up loving in the books, and while he's less repulsive and quicker to warm to Katniss here, I expect that's a function of the limited time the movie has to tell the story.
Also, and maybe this makes me a terrible person, but I thought the flashback to Peeta tossing Katniss the burnt bread was hilarious and not at all touching, and I wonder if anyone who hadn't read the books understood what the hell that was about.
Anyway, I'm glad I saw it, though I don't know that I necessarily enjoyed it, and I remain, as ever, on Team Katniss above all.
*
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/449269.html.
people have commented there.
So I guess Peeta was less annoying here, but still kind of a big blah. I don't get why everybody loves him so much. He really irritated me in the second book. Is it the frosting thing? He does frost like a boss.
ANYWAY.
Jennifer Lawrence is fantastic as Katniss, though I think she looks older than 16 and older than the kid who plays Peeta. I loved her interactions with Cinna, of course, and thought Lenny Kravitz was lovely given how little he had to do (I am still Team Cinna Isn't Dead, Dammit!), and I didn't mind the changes made for the movie (getting rid of Madge, avoiding the Avoxes), but I do feel like it was a little sanitized, which I guess was for the PG-13 rating. It wasn't horrifying ENOUGH, and I don't mean in terms of gore, but just... I feel like it didn't have the emotional impact it could have had.
And possibly that ties into my next discontent, which is that I also don't think they did enough with the reality TV setting - I wanted more of us, the movie-going audience, as complicit in the games, just like all those people in the capitol cheering were. I thought the scenes with Seneca and the crew were a good addition, but I feel like there could have been more done with that, especially considering how the media management becomes so important over the course of the series.
Otoh, I did cry at Rue's death - she was adorable and perfectly cast - and I liked that they gave Cato a moment of humanity at the end.
I feel like not having the muttations have the other tributes' faces was kind of pulling punches, but I bet that was something sacrificed for the PG-13 rating.
Woody Harrelson did a fine job as Haymitch, a character I never expected to like who I ended up loving in the books, and while he's less repulsive and quicker to warm to Katniss here, I expect that's a function of the limited time the movie has to tell the story.
Also, and maybe this makes me a terrible person, but I thought the flashback to Peeta tossing Katniss the burnt bread was hilarious and not at all touching, and I wonder if anyone who hadn't read the books understood what the hell that was about.
Anyway, I'm glad I saw it, though I don't know that I necessarily enjoyed it, and I remain, as ever, on Team Katniss above all.
*
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/449269.html.
people have commented there.