I didn't know it was for teenagers until I got there- but I liked it. And, I think most of the adults there did as well. It could have been much darker, the deaths you come expecting to see aren't very gruesome, but I would have appreciated a bit more background as to why the society became this way- the point behind the games was discussed, but not the background of the govt set up etc. Once the games began, you can't stop paying every bit of attention- it did have you going. A great popcorn movie which you could enjoy as much in your living room as you could a theater. I give it 4 out of 5 jalapenos
I took my son to see it Sunday. I didn't know anything about it either other that what i was able to find on Wikipedia. I appreciated that they didn't make the killings overly gruesome. The costumes of the people in Capital City were great. Very decent special effects. I would give it 4 of 5 bananas!
Saw it yesterday and liked it. I, too, knew little about the material. Jennifer Lawrence is a star. I think the creators of the story owe a tip of the hat to the original Rollerball movie (I never saw the remake). I was reminded of the movie's themes often while watching Hunger Games. It's by no means a ripoff, but I do wonder if the author was impacted by Rollerball. A good movie. Nicely paced for the more than two hours with a great supporting cast. I give it a solid three out of five, and I rarely give fives. Had the movie been more directed at adult audiences, it would likely have made a 4, but I'm not their target audience. Good job.
I'm the dad of a middle schooler who became a much more avid reader in fourth-fifth grade bcause of the Hunger Games series. I remember driving to Wal-Mart at 6 a.m. the day the Mockinjay was released so my son could be the first sixth grader on campus with a copy. I read the book series -- very entertaining. The how and why are revealed slowly through the books. As in the movie, not much narrative wasted setting the scene. The movie was awesome, but I liked the books better. The movie casting was terrific. I loved Donald Sutherland as President Snow.
Easy read, an excellent book. The trilogy is worth the time but like most the third book is the weakest of the 3. I saw the movie over the weekend and they did a great job with the sets and costumes. For those interested in the history: (NOT A SPOILER ALERT) Post apocalyptic society. All that remains is one continent called Panam. There are 13 districts and a government located in the Capital. (Think of this like DC not counted as one of the 13 districts) Eventually the iron fist of the capital was too much to bear and the 13 districts rebelled. The war was nasty and much like Japan circa WWII, District 13 was wiped off the face of Panam to be an example for all other districts. Once the war ended, the districts were given specific roles to follow purely for the sake of the capital. For example district 12 coal mines. All the districts are poor, capital is abundantly wealthy. The districts cannot communicate with one another and of course you know they hold the hunger games each year to remind the districts whose in charge. I have left out about 100 pages of detail but that is the basic idea. Hope that helps.
Agree about the comment that had this been directed more towards an adult audience it could have flirted with a 5 out of 5 jalapeno rating. dheiman- thanks for the background- that was exactly what I was missing! It's a fascinating topic- and glad this thread is not on West Mall or it would be ruined quite quickly..
Movie didn't capture the dire straits of the books. It was supposed to be dirtier and more carnal. There was little to no character development, and the movie took a few too many liberties with Katniss' emotions (or lack thereof). Read the books and keep the money away from Cinemark.
I just finished the books. Definitely some irritating teenage-girl-oriented stuff, but if you can ignore the costume obsession, the doomed love triangle (OK we get it, teenage girls all dream of having to choose between two guys) and some stretches in story plausibility, it's an interesting read and it definitely makes you think about some not-so-subtle digs at culture and government. I'm sure I'll see the movie at some point, but I have to wonder how it will hold up. First-person narrative books sometimes are a little hard to translate onto film.
my 13 year old daughter absolutely LOVED the books and had me read them and take her to the midnight premier. we enjoyed the movie but she complained all the way home about things they should have or shouldn't have done. it was her first lesson in learning that the books are better 90% of the time
Caught it over the weekend. It was good. My nit-pick is that the girl never "affirmatively" killed anyone. All her kills were self-defense. And the sympathetic figures (notably the two black actors, especially the young girl) were conveniently killed by others. It would have been much more interesting, and better for in-depth character development, if the girl killed somebody. What would her reaction have been? Fear? Disgust? Resignation? Blood lust?
I would add too that one of the points of the book was that some of the kids really did embrace the killing, but with her it really was a process of telling herself that while she was certainly in defense mode, at some point she was going to have to kill someone in cold blood. The whole problem with the concept of alliances in the book was those relationships were stalls at best, and that in a way it would make it harder in the end to turn on and kill that partner. So I would say there was definitely an exploration of that, whether she stalked and killed anyone or not. In addition, one of the issues is that physically she doesn't match up with the more "trained" kids. One of the main factors in the story is that strategy comes into play and it's not always the strongest or the most aggressive that wins. In her case, the reason she had success was that she was playing defense and not going on the offensive. I would have found the story much less believable if she suddenly turned into a killing machine and started taking people on head-on.
The sentence you quoted, what I was trying to say was more about her ability than her mindset. She definitely resolved to do what she needed to do, but she didn't turn into Rambo and all of a sudden become the toughest chick on the block. My point was really that while she did things she wouldn't have thought she was capable of doing (and that obviously becomes a theme as the books go on), she's not a superhero, she's not the best fighter or the most dangerous person in the games. I think I was trying to say that the nature of her kills early on have more to do with her skill and strength level compared to the other contestants than with an attempt by the author to make her seem less murderous.
Entertaining movie. But such a ridiculous premise. It was one of the only movies I've seen that had me enthralled but then upon reflection I thought it was stupid. I bet the book toned down the situations on screen that appeared extremely over the top.
mcbrett she and Peeta went to do some much needed hunting. I didn't note anything out of character there. The wolves were not believable and reminded me of the Smoke Monster from Lost. The last thing the already ridiculous situation needed was resemblance to Lost. Instead of wolves why not a polar bear?
