That's right Josh Hutcherson. Oh my God.

I went to see The Hunger Games last night, if you haven't already read my previous post. I believe I said that I have high expectations.


I am pleased to say that my expectations were met. Holy fish paste Batman! For one, it felt like a movie, not a movie based on a book but a movie. You know what I'm saying?

Now, I won't give away anything, just in case anyone has not read the books (but I expect you to have read them by my next journal entry) or seen the movie, so I'll try to go vague here. 

While The Hunger Games is a powerful book, the movie got more emotion out of me. It's because I have a visual. To read about poverty is one thing, but to actually see it takes a real toll out of you. Makes it more believable. Watching District 12 come to life made me understand more the suffering that Katniss and the people of her District went through. I found myself asking: Imagine if I lived there? I couldn't take it. Seeing children kill other children also made the movie more intense. When reading the book I imagine everyone as children, but they still in some way look like adults. In this we see kids as young as 12 die. And when I say die, I mean brutally murdered. Not only did the visuals help me understand the horror that all these characters go through, it made me think (which in my opinion, every good piece of literature or any good film should do). I mean, their lives suck back in the Districts; is it really worth going back to, when at the Capitol they have food to eat and look nice all the time? Isn't it just worth it to die? Then I thought...well, no. Katniss keeps fighting because she has a family she loves and needs to get back to. Basically, love is the reason why we are still alive, food or no food, great life or bad life.

Still on the subject, whenever they would show the whole "media" side to the games, it was disturbing at how their mannerisms are just like ours when it comes to what we watch. Jokes are always being made to lighten the mood when it's just masking the seriousness, and we find ourselves craving drama. The Hunger Games exposes how the media can brainwash us, it's just done in an extreme way. At one point, when this character dies, my audience was cheering and I just wanted to shout: NO! YOU ARE JUST GIVING THE CAPITOL WHAT THEY WANT! Though they were all too happy at the Breaking Dawn trailer and not enough during The Avengers...

Tony Stark is not amused.

The movie was true to the book in every good way. When it wasn't like the book, it fit the story anyway. We see not just Katniss's perspective like in the book, but we see what it's like from the point-of-view of the Gamemakers. It all added depth to this world and I enjoyed it. Everything else was just like the book, and paced perfectly where one part didn't go on forever or wasn't too short.

Jennifer Lawrence. That girl IS Katniss Everdeen. She completely melted into the role and created Katniss. I didn't find myself critiquing her acting or appearance, I fully believed she was Katniss. Perfection. She was kick-ass and she showed emotion (unlike some people who rhyme with Tristin Poowert). Everyone else was great too. I know a lot of people were iffy about Josh Hutcherson, but I thought he played a convincing Peeta (see, now you get why I brought pita chips don't you?). I've seen him in so many movies before this one though, I thought I wouldn't un-see that. Did I mention I have an autograph picture of him from when I was 12?

Because I do.

Gary Ross, you have done a great job my friend. You really have. All of your choices were the right ones, and you went and made a movie that is true to the tone of the books and didn't sell out to create some awful blockbuster (I'M LOOKING AT YOU MICHAEL BAY. TAKE NOTE HERE). PS: That soundtrack was fantastic. 

Hm. You know, I wish that my mind could be connected to this blog because as I was driving home I had everything planned out for what I had to say. Now I forget most. This is a problem.

*Interesting little thing. Ever since Liam Neeson came in to re-record lines, I always seem to notice when a line is higher and said with more force in a movie. I can tell now if someone recorded over. In The Hunger Games I can say I didn't notice it, so either they never had to record (which I doubt) or they just did a really good job mixing. 

Well you should see The Hunger Games right now. You should. I'm serious. Get up and go see it. You won't be sorry. If you like gore, then you'll enjoy this movie. If you like romance, then you too will like this movie. If you like drunk guys with awful hair, this movie is for you too. Don't let the teenage obsession thing fool you. The Hunger Games is so much more than some teenage craze, and I wish it didn't seem like that. I truly believe this movie and these books are similar to Harry Potter in that teens and adults can enjoy them, no matter if you're a bigger reader or not. It honestly has a story that is so relevant today, and it should seriously be discussed as if you were discussing Hemingway in English class. 

Overall thoughts: