Movie Review: The Hunger Games
So I went to see The Hunger Games last night. Here's my non-spoilery review, with a more spoilery one with gifs under the cut:
I really enjoyed it. I feel that maybe I didn't get as much out of it as I would have if I had read the books first, like maybe there were moments of significance that didn't seem well... significant to me, because I'm out of the loop, but all in all I still really enjoyed it. I thought all of the actors did a wonderful job. The costumes were fabulous. I really enjoyed the rather subversive social commentary. The special effects were also really great. I think I will read the book now, so I can understand a bit more what was going on. I feel like this was a bit like Harry Potter - if you watch the movie, you'll get the surface story, but you're going to miss out on a hundred more levels of depth.
Now, more spoilery thoughts:
"May the odds be ever in your favor" works really well as a theme of repetition. I enjoy how the first time Katniss says it, it's a bit mocking (appropriate for the mockingjay, amirite?) and then it gathers more and more meaning as the film goes on.
When I first saw the official lady at the Reaping, I was immediately reminded of this incarnation of Umbridge.
Peeta looks like Marshall from How I Met Your Mother to me. Which might have made it a little hard for me to take him seriously, because I kept expecting him to sing nonsense and call Katniss "Lily Pad."
The host guy who interviewed the tributes was a trip. I loved him, and not just because he was a symbol of corporate America and celebrity culture taken too far.
I love Haymitch and Cinna, and I think they're dating. Nothing you can say will convince me otherwise. Haymitch tries to drown his sorrows and hide that he really cares for his tributes, and then Cinna puts him to bed and tells him that one of them will win, at least one of them will come back, he knows it, because if he could bet, he would bet on their tributes. /Stops myself from writing slash fic for a series I know next to nothing about.
Speaking of Cinna, he just looks fabulous. As do his clothing designs. He is just one fabulous individual, and I think he's my favorite.
Rue was a delightful little trickster. I was sad when she died, though up until that point I was expecting her and Katniss to be the only ones left, and Katniss to be all "I won't kill this little girl" and Rue is all *eats Katniss' face off*. Because. Evil child, right? But no, she dies and it was sad, though her actual death isn't what tore my heart out.
No, what got me was Katniss gathering the flowers and giving Rue a sort of grave, and then the thing with the fingers, and District 11 did it back, and then they rioted and I just, I can't asldkfjsadfsdfs.
But once we got to the point where you see the nightlock berries, I kind of saw the ending coming in so far as the they're going to change the rules and Katniss and Peeta are going to use the nightlock to commit suicide. I was surprised though, that they didn't actually eat the nightlock. That's how I would have ended it. I would have had them commit suicide because the game master didn't stop them, and then it's this big statement to the nation because there is no victor, and what does it all mean now? I mean, I know there's two more books, but I thought maybe this one ends with us thinking they're dead, and the next one opens with them waking up because the game masters descended in their air ship and revived them.
Also I wonder if Peeta meant to be playing the other tributes all along when he seemed to be helping them hunt Katniss, and I wonder if he realizes that Katniss is at least halfway faking her interest in him in order to get sponsors.
Oh, and I think I actually really like the president, in the way that a good villain is delicious. I don't want him to prevail in the story, but I just want to see what that devious mofo is going to do.
The overall impression I got of the series was a sort of combination of Uglies and V for Vendetta.
In conclusion, I really enjoyed it, and I will probably read the books once law school and modly duties aren't interfering with me having any time to read for pleasure. When I first left the theatre I was thinking that I liked it, but it wasn't the best movie ever, but I'm finding I keep thinking about it, and the more I think about it, the more I like it. So yeah, it is a really great movie/story, but it's a greatness that sneaks up on you.
I really enjoyed it. I feel that maybe I didn't get as much out of it as I would have if I had read the books first, like maybe there were moments of significance that didn't seem well... significant to me, because I'm out of the loop, but all in all I still really enjoyed it. I thought all of the actors did a wonderful job. The costumes were fabulous. I really enjoyed the rather subversive social commentary. The special effects were also really great. I think I will read the book now, so I can understand a bit more what was going on. I feel like this was a bit like Harry Potter - if you watch the movie, you'll get the surface story, but you're going to miss out on a hundred more levels of depth.
Now, more spoilery thoughts:
"May the odds be ever in your favor" works really well as a theme of repetition. I enjoy how the first time Katniss says it, it's a bit mocking (appropriate for the mockingjay, amirite?) and then it gathers more and more meaning as the film goes on.
When I first saw the official lady at the Reaping, I was immediately reminded of this incarnation of Umbridge.
Peeta looks like Marshall from How I Met Your Mother to me. Which might have made it a little hard for me to take him seriously, because I kept expecting him to sing nonsense and call Katniss "Lily Pad."
The host guy who interviewed the tributes was a trip. I loved him, and not just because he was a symbol of corporate America and celebrity culture taken too far.
I love Haymitch and Cinna, and I think they're dating. Nothing you can say will convince me otherwise. Haymitch tries to drown his sorrows and hide that he really cares for his tributes, and then Cinna puts him to bed and tells him that one of them will win, at least one of them will come back, he knows it, because if he could bet, he would bet on their tributes. /Stops myself from writing slash fic for a series I know next to nothing about.
Speaking of Cinna, he just looks fabulous. As do his clothing designs. He is just one fabulous individual, and I think he's my favorite.
Rue was a delightful little trickster. I was sad when she died, though up until that point I was expecting her and Katniss to be the only ones left, and Katniss to be all "I won't kill this little girl" and Rue is all *eats Katniss' face off*. Because. Evil child, right? But no, she dies and it was sad, though her actual death isn't what tore my heart out.
No, what got me was Katniss gathering the flowers and giving Rue a sort of grave, and then the thing with the fingers, and District 11 did it back, and then they rioted and I just, I can't asldkfjsadfsdfs.
But once we got to the point where you see the nightlock berries, I kind of saw the ending coming in so far as the they're going to change the rules and Katniss and Peeta are going to use the nightlock to commit suicide. I was surprised though, that they didn't actually eat the nightlock. That's how I would have ended it. I would have had them commit suicide because the game master didn't stop them, and then it's this big statement to the nation because there is no victor, and what does it all mean now? I mean, I know there's two more books, but I thought maybe this one ends with us thinking they're dead, and the next one opens with them waking up because the game masters descended in their air ship and revived them.
Also I wonder if Peeta meant to be playing the other tributes all along when he seemed to be helping them hunt Katniss, and I wonder if he realizes that Katniss is at least halfway faking her interest in him in order to get sponsors.
Oh, and I think I actually really like the president, in the way that a good villain is delicious. I don't want him to prevail in the story, but I just want to see what that devious mofo is going to do.
The overall impression I got of the series was a sort of combination of Uglies and V for Vendetta.
In conclusion, I really enjoyed it, and I will probably read the books once law school and modly duties aren't interfering with me having any time to read for pleasure. When I first left the theatre I was thinking that I liked it, but it wasn't the best movie ever, but I'm finding I keep thinking about it, and the more I think about it, the more I like it. So yeah, it is a really great movie/story, but it's a greatness that sneaks up on you.