Monday, March 26, 2012

The Hunger Games

SF: I'm very fond of the books so this film had a lot to live up to. I was rather please with how much was kept in the film, with the author writing the screenplay you'd hope for a faithful adaptation. So on that point I was satisfied, however I felt nothing from either of the main actors. No chemistry and nothing emotive at all and I desperately wanted to like them, to the point of projecting the depth that wasn't there. The random shaky camera work didn't help. I sincerely wish directors would stop doing this, don't you know the audience can't see anything? Its supposed to be raw but this is not a found footage movie. The lack of brutality in the film works to the detriment of the story. The point is, The Hunger Games are inhumane, barbaric and cruel, thus evoking empathy and horror in us the audience. The fact it's children highlights the darkness of this dystopian future. All of this was lost. Sadly they had all the pieces to make this great and ended up with a flat uninspiring film. Maybe there'll be uncut version that holds a bit more substance amd that missing spark but until then a disappointed 5/10

50 Eggs: A surprisingly good adaptation! The film keeps every major set piece from the book and does them justice, and the key roles are all cast well. Hopefully the same director will stay on-board for the sequels as that'll be the best chance of them not going horribly wrong like the books. I'd have given this a 9 if they'd have kept the blood in. 8.5/10

DonkeyB: n/a

Overall:  6.75/10

5 comments:

Paul said...

Loving your reviews! Paul x

ShadowFalcon said...

Thanks Paul - I'm your new biggest fan ;-)

50 Eggs said...

SF, I'm going to start a fight with you (but this time in a professional way!). 1) The shaky camera - I honestly didn't notice this, but I've since read other reviews where people have mentioned the same thing, so fair enough. 2)I thought the casting was really good, particularly of Katniss and Peter. For me they were perfect. Haymitch, I will admit, was totally miss cast. Woody from Cheers? What was that about!? 3) The lack of blood...well I totally agree with you, but I'd been expecting it as I'd known for a while what the rating would be. Unfortunately Hollywood doesn't make blockbusters for adults anymore. Just look at what happened to the Aliens franchise :-(

ShadowFalcon said...

Eggs - Not seeing what we have to fight about, you liked the casting on the whole I thought they were flat and devoid of feeling. Each to thier own. I did expect more from Jennifer Lawrence, as she was nothing short of perfect in Winter's Bone.

Lets just keep our fingers crossed that Prometheus restores the Alien world to the right balance. Even if they do claim its not an actual prequel.

ShadowFalcon said...

Eggs - I should add, (but you'll be upset if my review gets longer) I did like Lenny Kravitz as Cinna, that was nice casting and Donald Sutherland was great (as always) at being quietly evil.