Excellent Adaptation

Rating: 7/10 (25 October 2012)

Adapted from the book of the same name I found myself constantly comparing the book to the film - that is inevitable - and because of that I struggled to separate the book from the film.
The film is very faithful to the book (even though it obviously has to cut a few corners in terms of narrative) and this is both to it's credit and to it's detriment. On one hand the book is great and veering away from that would be a mistake...on the other hand if you had read the book then it felt a little bit like a dramatisation of the novel scene-for-scene and as I imagine most of the audience would have already read the book it becomes somewhat predictable. There is also the problem that the romantic stage play that Catniss is part of is very much a battle of conscience for her in the novel but is portrayed as a simple love story in the movie.
That being said I liked the way the film was shot and the sombre colour palette used - that was a bit of a surprise. I thought the acting was very good and the realisation of The Capital and the actual arena were skilfully crafted and well thought out - they were almost as I imagined them.
It's just that I can recall a few novel adaptations that enhanced their origins; Harry Potter, Misery, Blade Runner, The Shining, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest - all were adaptations that resulted in films that were very watchable whether you had read the book or not...because they were great films. I still remember being shocked, surprised and delighted watching these films even though I knew the story.
So although this is a very, very good film it is not the best book adaptation I have ever seen.