It is called a book-movie adaptation for a reason. As a movie it is very well done, and still manages to stay relatively true to the book as well.

Rating: 8/10 (1 April 2014)

I'm surprised at how many bad reviews other users are giving this movie! Sure, it isn't the greatest book-movie adaptation ever, but as a movie itself and especially compared to book-top movie adaptations of other Young Adult novels (eg. Percy Jackson or Mortal Instruments), it is very well done. I'm a massive fan of the series, I've read every book several times and was very exited for this movie. I feel it did not disappoint. Yes, they had to cut out some aspects to fit it into a movie that is already over two hours. If people are looking for a film exactly like the book they are never going to find it with anything. It called an adaptation for a reason. And as a first installment to a movie series this was done very well. Casting choice was perfect. Absolutely. Usually aging up some of the characters can ruin elements, fortunately Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence), Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) and Gale's (Liam Hemsworth) casting was some of the most brilliant I've seen. Other characters including Haymitch (Woody Abernathy), Prim (Willow Shields), Effie (Elizabeth Banks) and President Snow (Donald Sutherland) were exceptionally well cast as well. The actors are, personally, the best thing about the movie. Portraying the characters and their stories (with what is not the best screenplay) was very well done. The costumes, score and production design was also very good. Unfortunately cinematography is not - though the "shaky cam" adds to the realism of the situation it also adds to the realism of a headache if you watch too closely. The screenplay was not the best but still kept true to the book. Overall people are treating it too harshly, they did well. But if you do want to see an exceptionally accurate book-movie adaptation, go watch its sequel, Catching Fire.