So, I like the books. Not great literature, but fun and quick, addictive reads and just enough social commentary to add some weight and, most importantly, they are the perfect antidote for the Twilight series. And the movie trailers looked good and Jennifer Lawrence was a great choice for Katniss and I was excited to see what they had done. So much so that I braved the crowds to see a movie on opening night, something I do maybe twice a year.
And… I don’t know. There were exciting scenes and moments I got misty and times I felt like cheering and when the credits rolled I felt mostly disappointed.
Spoilers abound so I’ll put the rest after the jump. Guard your eyes!
(Photo: Lionsgate)
Part of it, I know, is the necessary cuts to cram the book into a movie. Even at that, it runs two hours and twenty minutes. And changes had to be made to show us what, in the books, Katniss just tells us. I understand that. I just don’t understand some of the choices made, especially the things that were cut that have deeper significance in the following books.
Part of it was the directing. The constantly moving camera was, frankly, annoying. When used properly it’s a great effect to put you right in the moment. Overused, it just gives me headaches. Note the different in the use of the jerkycam between “The Bourne Identity,” when it was used to great effect during fight scenes or chase scenes, and the use in the sequel when the director used it in every damn scene. Honestly, jerky focusing during a conversation in a diner doesn’t make me feel like I’m there, it makes me feel like I’m having a stroke.
Similarly, scenes were cut short, constantly. It’s not coincidence that the most gripping scenes where the ones where the actors were allowed time to act, and we were given time to process it. The Reaping scene. Rue’s death. The cave. Otherwise scenes ended just as the last word of dialogue did, with no time for reactions or tone. That may have been due to the time crunch; maybe the scenes were shot but then pared down to save every last second. All I know is, it managed to feel rushed and lagging at the same time, which is kind of impressive.
And part of it was the score. This movie needed to feel epic. It needed to move me at the right times, and get out of the way when it wasn’t needed. Nope. I should have felt grandeur during the parade, I should have felt more excitement in the forest, I should have been on the edge of my seat at the end, and I wasn’t. A score makes a huge difference in a film, and this one was lacking for me.
Here’s the stuff I would have liked to have seen included. Again, for all I know it was shot and got cut — and your mileage may definitely vary, many peolple love the movie just as it is — but this is what the Armchair DirectorTM would add:
In the beginning, as Katniss is heading off to hunt (and why is she putting her sister to bed in the morning, anyway?) her sister should have kissed her fingers and waved at her. Katniss could do it back, then simply nodded at her mother. We needed to know it was an affectionate, nearly intimate gesture, not used for just anybody, so it means something later.
Her mom should not have been so lucid. Katniss should have had to bring her out of it a little, so we’d understand why she was snapping at her mom after the Reaping.
The pin was too random, so it had no emotional impact, and it has to. We lost the mayor’s daughter scene so try this: when she trades in her bird, make the Hob more black market than flea market, and have the old lady treat her with the kind of sarcasm you only use with someone who’s earned your respect. Later, after Katniss is being taken away, the old lady should contrive to press it into her hand, whispering “for luck.”
No problems with the Reaping scene, or the heading-to-Capitol scenes, other than the jerky camera. We should have seen Katniss watching more old scenes, though, including some that looked old.
Loved Haymitch and Effie and Cinna. All of the casting was spot-on, in fact. And am I the only one who saw Josh Hutcherson (Peeta) and thought “Young Wash”? If they ever do a “Firefly” prequel…
Caesar worked for me, as did Seneca and the president. But the crowd scenes seemed too sterile, like the throne room scenes in “Thor.” Everything was so shiny and the crowds were so contained, it screamed CG to me. And, sadly, the Girl on Fire costume simply wasn’t as impressive as it sounded in the book. The parts that weren’t flaming were supposed to be gently glowing, like old coals in a fire. They had on black jumpsuits with a flamey effect.
When she sees the forest in her window, Katniss should have unconsciously touched her pin. Mockingjay pin (at this point) = home.
During the Games, since we lacked the insight into Katniss’ head we got scenes from other POVs instead. Which is fine, but if they had to do that, they didn’t do it enough. We should have seen people gasping, people betting on the outcome, people lined up in the streets watching, people glued to the show in their homes and at work and everywhere else. “The Truman Show” did this perfectly, you really got the sense the whole world was watching, partly because they kept going back to the same people watching so each spectator got his or her own little story arc. We also should have other districts watching their children dying and mourning quietly with grim acceptance because what else can they do? So when Rue died, and District 11 watches Katniss treat their own with respect and love, we really understood when they snap and riot.
Say, when the other tributes were waiting under the tree for Katniss to come down, and one was throwing knives into a lizard, did you wonder why she didn’t just throw a knife into Katniss while she was climbing before? I kinda was.
Needed more mention of the mockingjay pin. Rue trusted her because of it. Since it’s never mentioned in the entire Game in the movie, the point of Cinna sneaking it onto her jacket is wasted. Also more on mockingjays in general. Even a quick mention: “Oh, mockingjays. My dad used to sing to them, they said no one could attract them the way he could.” We’ll need that, later.
I may be remembering it wrong, but my impression from the book was that in the beginning of the Game she was fighting to stay alive. But after Rue’s death, she was fighting to get back at the Capitol. I missed that, in the movie.
Most of the rest of the Game I’d leave alone, except for this: We needed to be unsure whether she meant her affection for Peeta or not, and we needed to be uncertain how serious he was. And we needed to be uncertain exactly why she was going to eat the berries, but we should absolutely have believed she was going to. In the movie there was no suspense, no build up, no music to help build tension, and we knew before she started that she was faking it. No suspense.
I also think having Peeta relatively uninjured at the end was a mistake, since you lose the Katniss-screaming-for-him-in-the-hovercraft scene that way, which is what clinched her in the hearts of the viewers.
When they arrived at District 12, I would have ended the movie with Katniss and Peeta smiling and holding their hands up high as everyone cheers, and I’d have rolled credits. BUT, I would have continued to show scenes alongside them, suggesting that the movie is over (happy ending!) but showing what happens afterward anyway, i.e. Katniss running to hug her sister, food and supplies being offloaded to the happy citizens, and Peeta truly realizing for the first time Katniss was faking it. Katniss would hug her family, hug Gale, look around and see… Peeta sneaking away. And that’s where you end it.
There were so many places where emotional connections were made in the book that were missing here, and frankly I want ’em back.
Stuff I liked: The whole cast. District 11, and how filming it in North Carolina lent an authentic feel to the area. Katniss’s authentic-looking archery skills. Most of the story. Cinna. I did enjoy the movie, but it could have been much more and I miss the movie it could have been.
I think you largely hit the nail on the head with this review. I saw it at midnight and while I enjoyed many things about the movie (I agree the casting was INCREDIBLE) it left me feeling kind of hollow.
I can’t remember the number of times I was watching a scene and wondering when was the last time I’d heard any music. I’ve heard it said that its a good sign when a score kind of disappears into the film, but this one just felt absent.
I think you largely hit the nail on the head with this review. I saw it at midnight and while I enjoyed many things about the movie (I agree the casting was INCREDIBLE) it left me feeling kind of hollow.
I can’t remember the number of times I was watching a scene and wondering when was the last time I’d heard any music. I’ve heard it said that its a good sign when a score kind of disappears into the film, but this one just felt absent.
I will say that I thought the Reaping, Rue’s death, and the Cave were three of the biggest let-downs for me. For instance, in the trailer, when Prim is selected they cut right to Katniss’ reaction. It felt more real to me than the way it was drawn out in the film. And while I thought the scenes after Rue’s death were incredibly powerful (Katniss collecting the flowers, Katniss breaking down in tears) I felt the actual death and goodbye left something to be desired. Too sappy? Too sloppy? And while I understand why District 11’s show of violence makes for a good movie moment, I actually really liked how in the books they send her some bread. Here’s this very poor district scraping together to send a gift to another district’s tribute! Its unheard of! I haven’t read the first book in a long time, so it means something that I have such a strong memory of that moment.
The Cave in particular bothered me because it felt so very rushed. I never got the sense that Katniss was struggling with acting for the audience. I wanted that tension of her thinking about Gale and wondering whether Peeta was being real or just pretending. Even some visible hesitance before they kissed or before she curled up next to him would have gone a long way.
But yeah, I would have appreciated more scenes of the Capitol and Districts watching the games. I loved that moment of Haymitch watching as a young boy received a toy sword and chased his sister around. Even just quick cuts as Haymitch’s continues to campaign for more supplies, shots of the Capitol glued to their screens and talking about the star-crossed lovers while other peoples’ children die. It was appropriate for the film to sanitize the violence to a certain extent given the ridiculous number of very young children in the theater with me, but I think they also sanitized the tragedy of what was happening.
Spot on.
And you’re right – Josh Hutcherson could totally be a Young Wash in any Firefly prequels! Which is funny, because I’ve been describing “The Hunger Games” to people as “Firefly meets The Giver,” and arguing that Firefly and Hunger Games could easily exist in the same universe.
Well said.
Is this the first film adaptation you have read before seeing the movie? This movie was pretty faithful to the books and your comments are mostly nit picks. As far as book adaptions go this was much much better than most.
I’ve seen a LOT of film adaptations. They’re always different from the book (they have to be; film is a different medium, with different needs) and some have been excellent. Some have been terrible.
I thought this was good. I just didn’t think it was great, for the reasons I gave. What may have been nitpicks to you got my attention enough to pop me out of the world the director was building and force me to pay attention to how he was building it. Clearly that didn’t happen for you, nor is there any reason it should. I can only report my experience.
“Most of the rest of the Game I’d leave alone, except for this: We needed to be unsure whether she meant her affection for Peeta or not, and we needed to be uncertain how serious he was.”
I thought that the film made is pretty clear that she only kissed him to encourage him to live, and that she was mostly just playing to the cameras. She’s a manipulator, as she needed to be to survive the Game. We saw in her early hunting expedition that she knows the rules (don’t go past the fence!) but she plays beyond the rules to serve her survival. That’s what I mean by manipulator. She’s doing the same with the boy – observing everything, and doing what is needed to win. The boy however probably thinks she loves him, as he doesn’t seem too bright.
I enjoyed the film, though not the Game part of it — I’ve seen enough battles in forests in various tv shows and movies to last several lifetimes. It was everything before the Game, and the few moments after the Game, that made this film rather good. Special thanks to Woody Harrelson and Elizabeth Banks. Frankly I’d rather watch an entire movie with their characters point of views, and with the kid characters being just a b-story.