Who's seeing The Hunger Games this week???

[Glass Cowcatcher]

I saw it this weekend. After the stain on YA lit that was Twilight, and being well-versed enough in scifi to think of many future dystopias stories that just don't play out very well, I was pleasantly surprised.

(Disclaimer: I haven't read the book. I plan to but I like a few months before I watch a movie and read a book of the same thing.)

Good: I liked that the future Panem seemed to be an "organic" future--that is, it seems to have naturally evolved out of the present--and that the producers made the setting and characters seem to have an overall, consistent culture. I also liked the vast differences in technology between the different districts. Jennifer Lawrence was awesome and, overall, the acting wasn't too bad. The pacing was very good, and the movie didn't feel 2+ hours long.

Like others have said, it felt like it was missing something, but I can't put my finger on just what.

Bad: Shakeycam! Die! :evil:

The ending of the movie felt "crunched," like the editors suddenly realized they hit 2 hours and had to wrap up. Thatthe movie flinched away from showing (or, what would have been bonechilling IMO, not showing, but letting us listen to) the violence in the games. I didn't feel there was enough backstory into how the games were a form of social control and the police presence didn't seem any more heavy than what it is in daily life, so I couldn't believe the districts had been forced into the games for almost a century. Outside of Katniss' family and the other tributes, I had no idea who the other main characters were.

Overall I'd give it a 7 out of ten. Lack of shakeycam alone would have made it an 8. :lol:

[Patsy]

It wasn't that people "bitched" unfairly or trying to look for a problem that wasn't there. The book described Katniss as olive-skinned, and the casting call that went out and was published specified white. That is pretty much the definition of whitewashing.

Yeah, I was about to post this in another thread. I have no problem that the actor cast was white, but I do have a problem with the fact that the casting call was for a white person. Katniss didn't need to be white, she just could be, that's so messed up.

[Athena]

I just finished the book series and am dying to go see the movie. I may have to wait until it comes out on demand though (I just can't get away from my baby! ;) ) I found the last book a bit thrown together but I was happy with the conclusion. I'm just glad that the whole story will likely be put on film after my disappointment with The Golden Compass.