Dumbed down, Watered down....

Rating: 3/10 (4 April 2012)

-Contains Spoilers!!!!-
I was beyond excited to see this movie...and completely disappointed when I left the theater. In my minds eye, I felt the job capturing the Capitol and the people there, visually, was well done. It looked very much as I imagined, as did District 12. However, so much from there fell short. I even re-read the books after watching the movie, to make sure I wasn't making too much of it...only to come away more frustrated. I do realize they only have a certain amount of time to devote to the movie, but I felt it could have been 2 parts to help that. I have nothing against the casting, for the most part. Personally, Katniss was a tall and buxom for how I pictured her....Peeta a little short....Haymitch, a little too Woody Harrelson. haha. I feel the darkness, desperation and depth of the story are lost. The person I went with hadn't read the books and even felt much was glazed over. Gale for instance, you get no real sense of how deeply his and Katniss' connection runs, or why. You really have no clue other than a flashback as to why Katniss' mother is a shell of a being when you see her or why that relationship is strained. Prim is an un-lovable version of what she is in the books....Rue is simply a sidenote, you're sad when she dies because a young girl dies...not because you've come to know her. What of the whole premise of the movie - HUNGER games. All of the shock over how easily food comes to them in the Capitol and why it's such a huge deal to the characters is non exsistant. Why cut out something like Peeta losing his leg? Why no Madge character, to give Kat the Mockingjay pin? So so so many small details and character builds that aren't there. It falls flat, emotionless and empty. A meaningful, exciting, heart wrenching story....turned into something to bring in a teenage crowd, I can only imagine.