The most faithful book-to-screen I have ever seen!!

Rating: 10/10 (23 March 2012)

Just came back from a midnight premiere, and I must say I was rather impressed. Normally, when my expectations are very high (as they were with this one), I tend to get disappointed. This film struck me with that rare instance of satisfaction. This knocks the first Harry Potter out of the water, and needless to say it tops Twilight by a million miles. I was actually a fan of the hand-held shots, even though most hated them. I thought they added a sense of realism. I will admit though, that the hand-held shots during the action sequences blurred out some stuff and made it hard to see what was going on, but I'm sure that was necessary to hold the PG-13 rating.
Speaking of which, the film was actually quite violent for its rating. Yet, at the same time, it still could've been more violent. Not necessarily more gory, but I would've liked it to feel more gritty and raw. It didn't quite capture the intensity and peril from the book.
Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson both did FANTASTIC with their roles. Excellent acting from each. Donald Sutherland (Snow) was a wonder to watch as well. Elizabeth Banks (Effie) and Woody Harrelson (Haymitch), also did a wonderful job, bring some comic relief at times. Stanley Tucci (Caesar Flickerman) and Wes Bentley (Seneca) were also well acted. The rest however... let's just say their performances were average, and I wish some tributes had more screen time, damn it!
My main complaint, though, is the sheer lack of character development. The reason why this film will probably only get an average rating of 6 out of 10, is because the people who haven't read the book will NOT connect with Gale, or Rue, or Katniss and Peeta's relationship. They won't have any idea what is going on, and they won't feel any sympathy for certain characters' deaths.
But, all in all, this film and the next two (or three) are in good hands. Apart from a few minor things I would have liked to see get incorporated into the film, this is as close to perfect as a book adaptation gets.
9/10