Even before I had read the books, I had wanted to see this film in theatres when it was originally released, just to see if it lived up to all of the hype. Lets face it, the marketing campaign for the first film of this trilogy was HUGE. Sadly, life just wasn't going to co-operate, so I have had to wait for the film to be released on video before I could get the opportunity to weigh its pros and cons for myself.
In the meantime, I did get the chance to finally read all three books, and form my own opinions of the story in general.
Let me start by saying that of the three books, the first is by far my favourite. The remainder of the trilogy don't appeal to me much, but I feel Suzanne Collins was really onto something when she penned this first book. Sadly the movie misses the point.
Yes, Jennifer Lawrence looks great in the lead role as Katniss Everdeen. Nobody debates that she is a lovely young up and coming actress with a pair of huge movie franchises under her belt (Young Miss Lawrence also portrays Mystique in the reboot of the X-Men franchise, for those of you who were unaware).
But gone are the relationships. This movie has all most no heart to it. Because they assume that their audience has read the books and knows this world, and its inhabitants, the movie spends absolutely no time developing the characters around Katniss. Her mother and her sister Prim are all but forgotten, other than the reaping scene at the top of the film, which honestly happens so early in that the family relationship has barely been established. Cinna, played by Lenny Kravitz (What the hell is Lenny Kravitz doing in this movie???) barely gets enough screen time to be introduced to Katniss, forget about the huge emotionally supportive role that the character plays in the novel. And Woody Harrelson, as Hamish, is way too accommodating and helpfull to the tributes of District 12. As far as the love interests in the film goes...I have no idea who he is, but the guy playing Peta has as much life, warmth, and charm as the dead squirrels Katniss hunts throughout the film. And he's supposed to win over the crowd? Please!
Other than all the combat, there aren't alot of special effects that jump out at you in this film, but the CG rendering of The Capital looks pretty good. Also kudos to the design team that came up with the wardrobe choices for the citizens of The Capitol, as they are pretty outlandish, fun and funky.
I will go as far as to say that they found a beautiful verdant location to stage the arena for the games. The scenes Katniss in the arena are visually very pretty, and in sharp contrast to the town portrayed in District 12.
All in all, this movie is likely exactly what its target demographic (13-16 year old ADHD, literate tweens raised by television, who have ZERO attention span, and too much access to mommy and daddy's money) are likely looking for in a night out at the movies. It does take the basic story off the page and put it up on the big screen for everyone to see. But for those of us who expect a little more out of our adaptions, this movie franchise is shaping up to be a available in your local KMart bargin bin by Christmas.
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