Hunger Games Review

So Friday night, I went to catch the Hunger Games with my friend at Silvercity Metropolis. By the way, we paid about 3 dollars extra for the UltraAVX auditorium. Totally worth it, you get to pre-select your seats (hello, no line up on opening night) and the seats are way more comfortable! More info in UltraAVX experience here. Spoiler alert ahead, so don't read if you don't want to know anything before watching the movie yourself!

Last warning...SPOILER!!!!
Ok down to the nitty gritty. I would give Hunger Games a 3.5 out of 5. It wasn't horrible but with all the hype around the movie, I really expected more. The crippling poverty of District 12, the sad grimness of the reaping is very well translated on screen. The juxtaposition of the poverty of District 12 and the Capitol makes for fantastic visuals.

However, overall I thought the movie felt rushed. Once Katniss gets on that train, it's like the audience is on a super sonic trip that tries to take the viewer to as many tourist destinations as possible (but it never gives you the time to enjoy each stop fully). I understand they had to book into a movie but some of the best parts felt very rushed, especially towards the end. There just wasn't enough time for suspense to build while Katniss was in the arena. It was like, oh, she's in the arena, oh she's in a tree, oh she and Peeta won. What? That's it? Another weakness of the movie was the CGI. The flames on Katniss and Peeta's outfits were cheesy and so were the mutts at the end. If you are going to invest that much money into a movie, why don't you spend a couple bucks more and just do it right?

My favourite scene in the entire movie was the one with Rue in the forest. I definitely shed a few tears! It was tastefully done and just sad over all.

Overall Jennifer Lawrence is well cast at Katniss and can carry the movie. While I give Josh Hutcherson the full benefit of trying to play Peeta, he just falls short (pardon the pun). He and Lawrence have more of a brother/sister chemistry than lovers. Sadly, the whole theatre giggled during 'the cave' scene. However, I was reflecting on this later and realized that Gary Ross, the director, may have deliberately made it extra cheesy since Katniss and Peeta were supposed to be pretending to be in love for the cameras.

Liam Hemsworth makes a decent Gale but he has so few lines and scenes, he really is interchangeable with any other young, rugged dark haired actor.  The male stars of the movie are really Lenny Kravitz, Donald Sutherland and Woody Harleson. Perfectly cast and exactly how I pictured them.

While I watch Catching Fire, when it comes out? Yes. Will I rush to it on opening night? Likely not.