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MattM89
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- Review count1
- Helpfulness votes0
- First reviewMarch 23, 2012
- Last reviewMarch 23, 2012
- Featured reviews0
- Average rating4
MattM89's Reviews
Overall rating
4
/
5
Initial Reaction
PostedMarch 23, 2012
MattM89
from Richmond, VA
Initial reaction to The Hunger Games: It was better than I expected, but didn't fully deliver. Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss is really the saving grace of the movie. Her portrayal of a very introverted, yet emotionally powerful female lead is superb. She captured some of the more subtle essences of Katniss' struggle masterfully. Some standout supporting roles were provided by Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket, Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickman, Woody Harrelson as Haymitch Abernathy, and an excellent portrayal of President Snow by Donald Sutherland. On the other hand, Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark was very okay. Considering how essential his character is and the fact that he is the second most emotionally powerful character in the story, that was disappointing. To be fair, this may have been primarily due to the pacing of the movie, which felt at times like a sprint through the forest of The Hunger Games arena. There was not much time for emotional connectivity with any of the characters (especially the connection between Peeta and Katniss) and the brief moments of pause were at times awkward. Liam Hemsworth who played Gale pretty much looked like a generic douche straight out of the Twilight movies: he was completely unmemorable. However, Amandla Stemsberg as Rue was excellent. Overall, most of the younger supporting actors were weak (other the one mentioned above), but luckily this didn't completely drag the movie down considering Katniss comprised 85% or more of the screen-time and most of the adult actors were strong. The screenplay did a great job of condensing the story into a two and a half hour movie, without really sacrificing important plot details (although one character that was not as largely present in the book was given practically a leading role in the screenplay), but did a shoddy job of character development and an even shoddier job of overall thematic delivery. For a novel was that dark, ominous and honestly as disturbing as The Lord of the Flies was the first time I read it, I just didn't get the same emotional impact. I realize most of this seems like criticism, but as I said, Jennifer Lawrence gave a very honest, heartfelt depiction of Katniss and considering the story is primarily about her character's struggle, they definitely did a great job there. Rotten Tomatoes gives it an aggregated score of 87%, which for the most part, I agree with. I'll give it a 4 out of 5.
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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