Ok, I know. Everyone saw the Hunger Games movie like... months ago. And blogged about it in a reasonably timely manner. And said intelligent, engaging things about it.
Here's what I have to say about it: the book was better.
Shocking, I know! A blog post in which a self-proclaimed bookworm stands by the tried-and-true maxim of the book always winning out over the movie. But really, the book was better. Wasn't it?
Don't get me wrong, the movie was interesting. And the Capitol - the Capitol! - was breathtaking and amazing and colorful and vivid and almost exactly like it was in my head. But most of the characters fell flat for me (including Lenny's performance as Cinna; while he looked the part, he really didn't have the oomph that Cinna had in my head), and it just felt... long. For a 300-odd page book (written in a large font with large margins), I was shocked when I found out (during the previews, mind you) that I was in for a two-hour plus viewing. And disappointed that the games themselves didn't really start until over halfway through. And even more disappointed when (spoiler alert) they changed the ending of the movie. Well, maybe not changed entirely, but definitely ended earlier/differently than in the book.
Which is all just a really, really, really long way of saying that the book is still better than the movie. Even an action-packed teen movie with a bunch of heart-throbs in it. Because unfortunately, those heart-throbs aren't great at line delivery (I'm looking at you, Gale).
Of course, I'll see the next two movies. And by the way -- reviews of the second two books to come (one of these days). I read them on the flight to Italy. Perfect airtime reading, if I do say so myself.
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I sort of liked the movie better. I loved Jennifer Lawrence's performance so much better than the Katniss in the book. Probably because I didn't have to listen to teenage angst. I also liked seeing things like District 11s reaction to Rue's death instead. I think they held off on the ending on the off-chance the movie didn't do so well. That way they weren't obviously set up for a sequel.
ReplyDeleteRed, that's a good point about why they adjusted the ending like that. And I did like seeing District 11's reaction to Rue's death... was interesting to have it interspersed like that.
DeleteLOL, I haven't seen it yet! But I know the book will be better. I'll blog something similar.
ReplyDelete