May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor

Here are my thoughts on The Hunger Games movie adaptation! Finishing the book and seeing the movie was the perfect end to an already perfect Spring Break.

CONTAINS SPOILERS! You have been warned.

• I love the way it was filmed, particularly the jagged, opening scenes on the Seam filmed with a hand-held camera.
• Gale is supercute! I wish their scene went on much longer. They actually had great chemistry, unlike with Peeta.
• That being said, I HATED THE GUY WHO PLAYED PEETA. Ugh, ugh, ughhhh. He was SO awkward and annoying, and as I said before, had absolutely zero chemistry with Jennifer Lawrence. Yuck. I'm a Gale girl all the way.
• I was skeptical when I heard Elizabeth Banks was playing Effie because I didn't really see her in that role. But I was wrong! She was absolutely fabulous! I kind of want to be her for Halloween.
• I am obsessed with the citizens of the Capital and their fabulous outfits. I know they're vapid, voyeuristic barbarians and we're supposed to hate them, but I kind of love them.
• Cinna! Lenny Kravitz was surprisingly wonderful. I want my own mini-Cinna to carry around with me in my purse. And I wish their scenes went on for a little longer as well, but I understand that they needed to get to the Games.
• I loved the scene with the Gamemakers and Katniss shooting the apple. It was exactly as I pictured it in the book. Katniss is so badass!
• Wes Bentley was great as the main Gamemaker guy. He's got that creepy stare thing going on (as we all saw in American Beauty) that is just perfect for this sadistic role. I also liked the addition of the control room scenes. It added another layer of creepiness.
• Stanley Tucci was great! But that didn't surprise me at all. I loved his demented white teeth!
• D'aww, little Rue. I wish they extended her scenes more. I feel like if they did that, her death would be much more emotional. But regardless, when she died in the movie, one of the guys in the theater went "Aw, hell naw!" My thoughts exactly, sir.
• They could have pushed the graphic-ness of the Games much further, especially during the tracker jacker scene. Her hallucinations were so fucked up and creepy, and they totally downplayed it by just making the camerawork all dizzying. Boo. But I guess they didn't want to get an R-rating?
• I loved Thresh! He was nine kinds of badass.
• They didn't explain what the muttations were! I thought that was so deliciously terrifying, and I actually threw my hand over my mouth when I read it because I was so shocked! But they didn't mention anything and therefore it was much less creepy.

And that's all I can really think of for now. I'm planning to see it again, so I may write more about it in the future.

Overall, I enjoyed it, despite the lack of detail that is inevitable when adapting books for film. I think I enjoyed it more because I'd read the book, and it was so fun to see it all onscreen. But it had weak moments. I would definitely recommend it, though, and I especially recommend reading the book first.