User blog:Flame Prince Finn/My thoughts on The Hunger Games movie - long read.

So I decided to write a some about the movie just so it's down before I forget. The movie's good, but I think it would be a stretch to call it epic - how big of a stretch I do not know. Without reading the book, I would have enjoyed the movie significantly less. I'm going to point out that scenes that went entirely unmentioned were pretty mediocre in my opinion - or unmemorable. Anyway, I'll cut to the long-ass chase.

The movie is too fast paced, plain and simple. They always say "the book is better than the movie," and that's because books have time for every little nuance. This was, to me, a really clear example of that problem. The characterization is a huge part of the story and you miss out on a lot of that due to the time limitations of movies, and even more so because you aren't in Katniss' head. To be fair, I have only one truly grounded complaint, which is that they included multiple scenes of things that weren't in the book, cutting down on their already relatively short time. These scenes in particular included the Gamemakers and President Snow, but briefly other things as well. While there may have been some value in presenting them (such as creating an image of the politics/culture and futuristic technology), some were obviously not necessary for plot purposes.

For example, the mutt foreshadowing: a decent bit of time was spent on showing the gamemaker's creation and distribution of the mutts, and that didn't improve the experience much at all. In fact, the mutts were far less powerful than in the books in my estimation. You don't see the twisted aspect of reflecting the dead tributes, the seemingly harmless pounce on Peeta makes them look less deadly, and you never see Cato desperately sprinting for his life. In the movie, I basically felt like I was looking at some normal dogs. In the book, you had "human eyes" and "four-inch claws." They are far creepier and seem much more lethal - as if there could be no escaping them with only a minor injury.

The movie's portrayal also excluded certain details that I believe are pretty important:

1. There is no hint that Cato cut Peeta, so you don't even consider Peeta's standing in the games until Katniss finds him, and even then his wound seems far less severe than in the book. You never get to see any depth to Katniss' concern for him. I'm pretty sure it wasn't even made crystal-clear that he would have died without the blood-poisoning medication.

2. You hardly see Katniss hunt, which makes the importance of her hunting abilities far less pronounced. She even found a water source as soon as she looked through her pack and found the water bottle. In the movie, her survival at the hands of the arena itself is almost a given because food and water seem to be readily available. Her ability in sharpshooting isn't really demonstrated until the private observation either, so when she misses her first shot it could be construed as simply confusing.

3. Peeta and Katniss' fight over who should die in the end is completely diminished. Peeta says "kill me" and Katniss immediately responds "we'll both take the berries, no worries they won't actually let it happen." In the book, it's far more emotional and conflicted - the double suicide didn't come to her immediately and she didn't seem nearly so certain about it.

4. You don't see Katniss reveal her true feelings about Peeta after the games - I guess they didn't want to make the end dissatisfying? At any rate, the second book mentioned in the beginning the length of Peeta and Katniss' separation. I think putting that separation at the beginning of the second movie is hardly a better place for it - probably a worse one, because that's just going to be something else that will be extremely rushed.

5. The plan to destroy the Careers food source seems random in the movie. It's never explained why that would be a particularly useful strategy: that the Careers are used to having plenty of food. They spent their whole life up to 18 preparing for the games, are we really expected to believe they can't manage hunting just as well as she can? Is the cornucopia really stocked with food every single year? No, because in the second book there are only weapons. (Katniss remarks at other unprecedented events in the Hunger Games but says nothing about this - it seems likely that it has happened before.) It would be ridiculous to assume that the Careers aren't capable hunters, and given the fact that she is managing so easily, destroying their food source only makes sense if you have read the book.

Finally, my biggest peeve: Rue. The buildup of her character is almost nonexistent. You don't see she and Katniss hunt together, forage together, sleep together, or really anything else. Rue's past isn't mentioned beyond the fact that she knows how mockingjays operate (and even that is just thrown into the air, they don't explain how she knows), and she doesn't show Katniss how to deal with the tracker-jacker venom. Rue never explains that the mockingjay pin is why she trusted Katniss either, she just trusts her apparently. They eat one meal together as soon as they meet, and we're somehow expected to grieve when Rue dies. Hell, they basically revealed how they hadn't given her a personality: when she is speared, Katniss immediately tries to comfort her by saying, "You're gonna be okay, you're gonna be okay!" In the book, it is specifically noted that Katniss didn't say anything of the sort because she knew that Rue was gone, and she knew Rue was aware that as well. The no-nonsense relationship that made Rue a valuable team member and a clever 12 year old was truly lacking, which was a disappointment considering how emotional the part was in the book. Cinna suffered from this a great deal too, but as we're looking at the first book alone I suppose that is forgivable.

I have some minor non-important complaints too. Cato threatens to snap Peeta's neck when he has him in a headlock, saying "I can do it again." This implies that he noticed Katniss spying on him, and yet he apparently decided not to pursue her. I'm assuming that's just a slip up, but maybe it makes sense somehow. The bags from the feast were also a uniform size - it's mentioned in the book that they're different sizes and that the one for 12 is very small. I don't see why they would ignore that and just make them all the same size. The arrow Katniss shoots at Marvel hits him in the chest - in the book, it specifically said it went through his neck. The gifts that arrive in the silver parachutes always come with a message from Haymitch - I strongly assume that in the book any message would be deemed inappropriate. (unfair advantages and whatnot, possible codes.) This is necessary I suppose, because otherwise the audience would have a very difficult time catching the implications Katniss does - without the messages, anyone who hadn't read the book would be completely in the dark.

None of that stuff actually matters at all, but I noticed and thought it a bit odd that they would throw in inconsistencies for no apparent reason. (for the most part.)

So as a conclusion of sorts, Katniss is not a character that presents well without personal narrative. At first I was inclined to blame her actress (whose eyes showed very little the entire movie), but it didn't take long to decide the blame falls entirely on the director. Katniss isn't very expressive, so in some sense the actress held well to her character. (I'll get back to that.) The only reason that this works so beautifully is that the book is written in first person - we directly see Katniss thoughts and feelings in it, and so we understand exactly where she's coming from. Her character is interesting because there's so much depth to it. Her history, the connections she makes to tributes and family and friends, her reactions to new cultures and people, her presentation of herself to the audience, and her motives are all well-sealed in her mind rather than presented through her expressions. However, the third person perspective of the movie entirely obfuscates this absolutely crucial perspective. If I hadn't read the book, I'd have no idea about any of those things. The movie, in my opinion, should have definitely used the first person perspective that made the book so compelling. The time limitations and the 3rd person perspective really put a cap on the quality of the movie as a standalone production.

but it's not a standalone production.

and so here's where I can say some positive things.

After having read the book, there are tons of great aspects about the movie. Some of those complaints above resonate regardless, but a lot of them falter.

The scenery is very inventively designed and the oddity of the Capitol culture is captured well - their accents are even noticeable. All of the shots of the citizenry, architecture, food, and furniture painted a picture of indulgence. There was no shortage of interesting colors, but it wasn't excessive to the point of cartoonishness. A specific point of this strength was in the chariot ride: All of the other tributes (as noted in the book) paled in comparison to Katniss and Peeta. But even more - they looked exactly as any random Capitol designer might make them look: ridiculous. The culture had only a few minutes to come through and it did so brilliantly, particularly here. I'll also note that this was the one strong point of Cinna's character; he didn't fit in with the rest of the Capitol citizens. The futuristic technology was also portrayed well. The floating train and the gamemakers station created a stark contrast between the capitol and District 12, and that change definitely helped give a fantastic touch to the otherwise average districts. My favorite touch of futuristic technology was Katniss second dress - the one that flared up when she twirled - it was done gorgeously. That is one of the scenes from the book I was really looking forward to seeing invented on a screen, and it definitely met my expectations. Her dress was remarkable and the fact that I didn't see her reaction in the movie - but knew it from the book - made it an exciting scene. Her interview in general was so close to how I imagined it, if that can be considered a compliment. It all seemed very inspired.

The first costume was also cool, but I wasn't as pleasantly surprised with it. I guess my imagination did a number on that one that couldn't be met. Another scene I was really happy with was the training scene. Peeta throwing the heavy ball to prove he isn't entirely defenseless was actually a good addition in my opinion, and the early camaraderie of the Careers was shown more clearly than in the book. The experience was a lot more memorable than in the book as a result - it actually had some implications, and gave the characters a bit more personality. (unfortunately almost all of it >.>)  Peeta's demonstration with the bark camouflage was well portrayed. Part of my appreciation for this came from a bias, I'll admit: I really didn't think camouflage could be so well executed to hide a person with ordinary materials in nature. While this might be an embellishment on real life abilities, I assumed that his camouflage demonstration was good, but not near-perfect based on the book. The movie made him look more skillful than I had thought to, and it made the story more believable. The camouflage he uses in the arena made the scene for me. It put a clearer image in my head than I had and frankly made it a lot cooler and I was pleasantly surprised with it. His demonstration in the training arena made that scene possible and as such, I am also very happy with that scene.

The private observation of Katniss was also really good. Camera angles focusing on the observers inattentively chattering, and Katniss looking up, her resentment left a mystery until the arrow skewered the apple. (in fact, their balcony was different from how I had imagined it and that also added to my appreciation - merely the different interpretation.) The emotion of the scene was captured perfectly to me - her hasty return of the bow and quick exit fit the book's description to the T. Another similar part was the wall of fire. I'll admit it was interesting to see a reason for it, (that she was nearing the boundary) but as stated above I'd have preferred no gamemaker perspective in favor of a first-person narrative. At any rate, this was the best example of third person in the movie in my opinion. The fire was executed just as described: unnaturally even, with fireballs flying at her seemingly out of nowhere. Seeing words put to images so accurately was great, as I'm sure you've noticed that's where most of my praise comes from.

One more scene that I really enjoyed was Thresh killing Clove. Thresh is, without a doubt, my favorite character in the series. I could elaborate on that, but I'd rather stay on track for the moment. The book has a long discussion between Katniss and Thresh after Clove is dead - it was the most moving part of the book to me to imagine how Thresh felt. I'll admit that I liked this description far more than in the movie, but the movie has a portrayal that is different but better fit. With other scenes I would have deemed it a weakness, (as I did) but this is an exception to me. The fast pace of the movie didn't allow for careful emotional setup, and the quickness of Clove's death and Thresh's mercy was easily an excusable point for a quick scene. Because Rue's death had lost it's impact, it would have been lame to watch a drawn out mourning of her. I imagined that in the games, if you felt emotions, you didn't let them get to you - immediately after typing this, I recall that it is exactly Haymitch's advice. Thresh held more closely to it in the movie than in the book, and that made it a bit more realistic. Cato also doesn't have any appearance whatsoever - frankly, this seems the more believable route. Why would Cato be within earshot (not going after other characters, not wounded [their bag {presumably} contained armor after all, not medicine]) but not onlooking from a point close enough to help his district partner? At least in the movie he is entirely absent and can therefore be dismissed for an unknown but probably decent reason. In all I would have not been particularly affected by the scene based on the movie alone, but I was happy to see something take the time that seemed appropriate. To be clear, I enjoyed this scene because it was fit to the pace and setting of the movie rather than the book. A lot of other scenes tried desperately to hold the content of the book to the pace of the movie and did so inadequately, but this one did not. While it lost a lot of its emotional appeal, it was a totally acceptable change.

I guess one final thing I'd like to say before this gets way too long is that I liked Peeta's portrayal in the movie in general. All the acting was commendable though. Effie was the first to make me notice that.

Overall, the movie was definitely worth watching. It gave vision and life to a lot of the scenes of the book splendidly. However, this is only possible because I had all the background from the book. Each scene that didn't noticeably stray from the writing managed to be very engaging, and even some that did stray. As it is intended, I was watching the book brought to life, and instead of having feelings and motives dictated to me, I simply imagined them into place and watched it hold together. Most of the movie went this way - Katniss retrieving the bow from Glimmer, shushing Peeta's protests at getting medicine, her chariot ride with the first flaming costume - all great. It was like being thrown a layer out of perspective, but with the clarity of it still there - watching a memory, I guess. Poor wording. Anyway, most of my complaints are based on the fact that I wanted to see pieces fit together based on the movie alone - without the book I would have been pretty disappointed. That's just complaining from a moviegoers perspective. However, some of the scenes really did fall short and for that reason I can't give it an epic/10. Great, but not incredible. The book is a must read first to get the full experience.