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My Rating: 3 stars

I walked into the theater with very high (very unrealistic) expectations for this movie. I guess had these high expectations because, well, the Hunger Games books themselves are one of the best young adult novels ever written, I expected its movie to be as mind-blowing as the book. Now, don’t me wrong, I didn’t hate the movie, but I didn’t love it either. It just didn’t feel right to me. Something just didn’t click. Maybe it was just because it was my first time seeing it. I don’t know.
First off, I’m going to say this now. I am completely and totally obsessed with Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson. I think they did an amazing, fantastic, perfect job of playing Katniss and Peeta. I don’t think anyone else could have done it better. They literally did too perfect for words.
Okay, so the first half of the movie almost bored me to tears. I understand that the beginning of the movie is supposed to be tense, because of the Reaping, and somewhat awkward while Katniss and Peeta first meet and spend time together on the way to the Capitol, I just feel it could have been expressed differently. First of all, the way Katniss receives the Mockingjay pin was altered. In the book, the pin is given to her by the Mayor’s daughter, who comes up again in the second book, I believe. In my opinion, that exchange showed the alliance of the higher class and the lower class. In the movie, though, Katniss bought the pin and gave it to her sister, Prim, to “keep her safe” during the Reaping. Prim gave Katniss the pin back right before she left for the Capitol. I thought that was one of the moments in the whole story that shouldn’t be changed because the pin is Katniss’ symbol throughout the whole series.
I loved Prim, though. Prim is played by Willow Shields and I really thought she did a fantastic job. She captured Prim’s emotions very well. I thought Katniss’ relationship was Gale wasn’t emphasized enough. Just from watching the movie, I would have never guessed they were so close they were practically siblings. He randomly showed up while she was trying to hunt. The fact that they spent most of their time hunting together was not shown. It just looked like he stalked her in the woods. I wasn’t too pleased with Liam Hemsworth. Although Gale is very important in the second and third book, I don’t understand why the media made him seem super important in this movie…
I wasn’t too crazy about Effie, though. She was outwardly weird and strange, but that stopped after her appearance. In my mind, I imagined an Effie who was quirky beyond her wardrobe. Haymitch’s appearance is definitely not what I pictured. I thought he would have been a lot older, a lot more disheveled-looking, with a beer belly and long, unruly hair. Woody Harrelson had Haymitch’s personality perfect, though.
One of the things I was stoked to see on the big screen was Katniss’ big moment, when she’s first named “the Girl on Fire.” I was deeply disappointed, though. Katniss and Peeta’s entrance/parade outfits were not as awesome as I expected them to be. I imagined fire all over their bodies, engulfing them. In the movie, fire was simply trailing behind them off of their shoulders and backs. It just wasn’t as climatic as the actors in the movie made it seem either. Everyone was staring in awe at something that wasn’t really that great. I loved Cinna, Katniss’ stylist, though. I thought he was one of the best actors in the whole movie. Cinna was always one of my favorite characters, too.
The movie started getting good right before the tributes were to be sent to the Games. All of the action and violence and suspense made everything better, of course. The Cornucopia wasn’t exactly how I pictured (I think everyone was a little confused with this one…) I had, in fact, pictured a literal cornucopia, where in the movie its depicted as a shiny metal version. Anyway, I thought the rest of the movie was great. The fighting was intense and all of the actors who played the more prominent tributes were fantastic. I was really surprised to see Isabelle Fuhrman, who was in the Orphan, as Clove. She was great though! Amandala Stenberg, who was Rue, did a fantastic job. I really loved her and Katniss together. Not only is she an adorable girl, she’s a great actor. I thought the way the area was portrayed on the screen was fantastic. Almost exactly how I pictured it to be.
Throughout the games, the point of view is changed to the control room, which I thought was very interesting. I liked how is showed how everything works, how with a click of a button, the area in which the tributes are fighting can be altered. It added a new way of viewing things, for me at least. Also, there is commentary by Caesar Flickerman and another talkshow host, which I thought was completely pointless. At one point, they were explaining how deadly tracker jackers were, and it was pretty obvious they were only there for the people who had not read the books. Although I see the point of them being there, I didn’t like it though. On the other hand, I absolutely love Stanly Tucci, who played Caesar. He really is a fantastic actor and I think he doesn’t get enough recognition. He really was exactly how I pictured Caesar to be. Bold, loud, obnoxious and glamorous.
As for the ending of the movie, I wasn’t too pleased either. I’m pretty sure that when Katniss and Peeta are on their way back to District 12, they’re supposed to get in a small fight and end up somewhat ticked off at each other. They start off the second book still pretty angry with each other. In the movie, they’re holding hands and smiling, saying how they “don’t want to forget.” The focus is then on President Snow (who reminded me of Santa Claus), ominously glaring at them smiling on the television. He definitely isn’t too pleased with them. He turns, and walks angrily up the stairs. Fade to black.
Looking at the movie as a whole, I’m still not sure if I love it or hate it. Maybe I need to see it again…