Sorry if I sound like a raving fan girl, but I finally had enough money to go to the cinema and see The Hunger Games. I had recently read the books by Suzanne Collins and my expectations couldn't have been higher. As with every film adaption of a book, I was expecting it to totally destroy the book, but to my surprise it didn't.
There is so much I could say about this film and I apologise if I seem to be rambling on.
I had already visualised the characters when I read the books and I wasn't entirely sure about their choice of some actors. My first concern was with the main character Katniss Everdeen, played by Jennifer Lawrence. I could only imagine her playing the strong, hunter side of Katniss and I found it hard imagining her in the 'star crossed lover' scenes with Peeta Mellark, played by Josh Hutcherson. But, I have to say now that I've seen the film I can't imagine anyone else playing Katniss. She palyed both sides of Katniss, the caring and the strong, really well. Another character I wasn't sure about was President Snow, played by Donald Sutherland. Snow wasn't exactly how I imagined the character to look, but his personality was perfect. You could really sense that he had an evil side hidden behind a mask. The rest of the cast was amazing. I expected a lot from Josh Hutcherson and his portrayal of Peeta was exactly how I'd imagined the character. He was my favourite character in the books and now the films. I also liked Amandla Stenberg as Rue because she seemed innocent.
The costumes for the tributes and the people of the Capitol were out of this world. Odd dresses, wigs, make up, but it was the girl on fire dress that made renowned designers get out their drawing pads, designing their own versions of the dress that was 'on fire'. The actual dress was amazing, bright orange with matching jewels and the effect that it was on fire. It was beautiful.
The most surprising part for me was the narrative. As I had read the book, I wasn't expecting to be surprised. Along with excellent cinematography, the director actually managed to make me jump, even when I was expecting it to happen. This is something that most film adaptions of books have failed to do. I was also surprised by something new altogether. Before I saw the film I had heard that they had added something to the narrative that wasn't in the book. You never 'see' the people running The Hunger Games, the Gamemakers. I'm glad that they added it because it made the games seem more horrific as it highlighted the fact that it was supposed to be an entertainment show for the people of the Capitol.
I did have one issue that isn't really with the film. The BBFC gave the film a 12A rating and some gore had obviously been cut out of the film to achieve this rating. But, parents are complaining about the rating being too low and I agree. It should have really been rated a 15 and they could have kept all of the gore. I know this throws up issues for some teenagers who aren't quite 15, but there were children in the cinema that I didn't think the film was really appropriate for because they were too young and probably didn't understand what was going on.
The Hunger Games met my expectations and exceeded them. It was a truly great film and I would happily watch it over and over again. It was an amazing adaption and I can't wait for the sequel.
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