Jennifer Lawrence is the Girl on Fire...

Rating: 7/10 (21 March 2012)

The best thing about this movie is Jennifer Lawrence and her performance. All doubters & naysayers should eat their words, as Lawrence proves more than up to the task of completely embodying the character of Katniss Everdeen. She's every bit as intelligent, fierce, vulnerable, resourceful as the character requires and more. The majority of the film rests on Lawrence's shoulders, and if she hadn't been up to the task, everything would have fallen apart. You have to believe/care about this girl, Katniss, and her portrayer ensures that you certainly do. Her scenes of sorrow are very heart-wrenching, it must be said. Initially someone who would rather stay hidden in trees than kill, she eventually reaches the point where she has to kill or be killed. She doesn't outright kill people at first, but rather does things which lead to people's deaths (if not at her hand directly). Inevitably, though, she does wind up getting her hands dirty in the end.
Also important is the character of Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) and his friendship with Katniss. Through minimal flashbacks, we see how they met and why they are what they are to each other. Hutcherson fits the role of the likable guy, capturing that fear and despair upon being selected, then later the determination to rebel against what's expected of him. This relationship proves pivotal to the story and both actors absolutely bring it, having the right chemistry required. Not sure why such a big deal was made out of Gale (Liam Hemsworth, who has yet to prove himself to be up to the same standard of acting as his brother, Chris), friend of Katniss, having his role expanded in the film - he's barely in it. He shares two scenes with Katniss, and the rest is longing looks.
Elizabeth Banks is great in the role of eccentric and slightly scary-looking Effie Trinket. She's virtually unrecognizable in her first scene, but slightly less so in subsequent scenes. She provides the main source of what little humour is in the film. Woody Harrelson, as Games survivor Haymitch, starts out as the stereotypical drunkard, but becomes more interesting as he helps out both Katniss & Peeta with how they can ensure the odds are indeed ever in their favour. The unexpected casting of Lenny Kravitz as stylist Cinna turns out to have been a good choice. With what little screen time he has, he believably forms an attachment to Katniss and ensures she looks fabulous (which ends up being rather important). I enjoyed the scenes with these characters.
Somewhat wasted are Wes Bentley as Seneca Crane and Donald Sutherland as President Snow. They're in a few scenes, but don't really leave THAT much of an impression (not nearly as much as Bentley's weird facial hair does anyway). And while Stanley Tucci was very good in the role of Caesar, he wound up being mainly exposition guy (explaining stuff we already knew or could figure out ourselves). Not faring much better are the various other Tributes - most of whom are of the 'everyone for himself/herself' mentality (even when they seemingly team up). It's certainly cutthroat, sometimes literally. People get slashed, stabbed, their necks broken, shot with arrows and stung by horrible wasp things called Tracker Jackers, which turn you all gnarly and swollen. The frustrating shaky cam is WAY overdone at times, even when people are just simply walking (the Reaping scene), but particularly later on when they're fighting and killing (the Cornucopia scenes). Due to the camera's wild shaking, the scenes of violence are not really that detailed and the fighting is at times hard to follow. Kills are either done quickly/not lingered upon or they are edited around. It'll be a question of whether this bothers you/how much you *let* it bother you that determines whether you come away satisfied or annoyed with how the brutality in the film is portrayed on screen. Is it enough that you get the gist of the horrible murders being committed, or do you need to SEE them in explicit detail? Having said that, it's not like there's a complete absence of blood or anything. There is a fair amount, it's just not especially gory/gratuitous. One Tribute who does leave some actual impact is Rue (Amandla Stenberg). This young actress proves herself a natural in her role. Thanks to the actors playing them, Katniss and Rue are able to form a believable alliance/friendship, despite being given very little time to do it in (and, in Stenberg's case, very little dialogue). It's quite remarkable how quickly you come to care about the two of them as a team, which makes what comes later actually effective/have weight and depth. The Mockingjay call they whistle to each other is quite haunting, as is Lawrence's singing.
The costumes are stunning...if a little frightening, the sets and scenery are luscious, and the CGI is fairly good (though there are some questionable giant wolf-like creatures at one point). The pacing of the film is...well...I'm not sure how it is in the book, but things did seem to drag here and there at several points (and the ending was rather lacklustre). I'm surprised people were worried the runtime wouldn't be long enough, as I felt it was more than sufficient. I haven't read the books, but knew the gist of what this film was about, so I elected to go into the movie not having read the novels so that I could enjoy the film based solely on its own merits. Perhaps readers of the book will be more satisfied, as they will appreciate the little or 'slower' parts more than non-readers. I think upon re-watching the film, I might appreciate them more too. I can't rate it as an adaptation, but I can say that, as it stands, this is a pretty decent introductory film for those who haven't read the books - being one myself. Here's hoping for even greater things from the next movie.