The Hunger Games (2012) Film 22/50

At first I found it strange that Stanley Tucci received top billing for his role as Caesar Flickerman, considering Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) is truly the heart of this story. But although Lawrence did a nice job representing The Hunger Games' heroine, Tucci's performance truly stole the show.

I was also very impressed with Woody Harrelson (as Haymitch Abernathy), Wes Bentley (Seneca Crane), and Elizabeth Banks (Effie Trinket). I was hoping for a bit more depth from the character of Cinna (played by Lenny Kravitz), and Josh Hutcherson's hair dye (in contrast to his eyelashes) bothered me for about 62% of the time he was on screen. But if that's the most I can complain about, I'd call it a successful film-going experience overall.

The filmmakers did a good job editing the story. Unnecessary elements were dropped. A few pieces from the second book were nicely borrowed. The film's ending (with just a slight tweaking) was a vast improvement over the book's. I particularly enjoyed that the film did not focus solely on Katniss and her journey (as the book had been presented entirely from her perspective). If the powers-that-be can pull off the same with the second installment, the film version of Catching Fire might actually be better than the book.

("May the odds be ever in [our] favor.")

I still have little hope for a film version of Mockingjay...unless some major rewrites to the ending are involved. MAJOR. Seriously.

If I had to make an official ruling on which I preferred more (the movie or the book), I'd pick the book hands down. The emotional reaction to the written story was far greater on the whole. However, I did appreciate the efforts of everyone involved in attempting to recreate the same response with the film experience. I certainly teared up a few times during the movie but had bawled my eyes out with those same scenes while reading the book. Maybe it was because I knew what was coming beforehand. Most likely it was because the book had given more time for the audience to be invested emotionally with the various characters. Let's see if the second movie can establish a similar connection to the audience. Of course, I'm not holding my breath.