Disappointment of the Century

Rating: 3/10 (6 October 2012)

I can honestly say this movie was the biggest disappointment to me. Being a person who read the books the summer they were released, I had great expectations for the movie that I knew would follow in the next few years. The casting,costuming,scripting and most everything about this film was a let down. Let me start with casting. They producers of this film were clearly trying to introduce some fresh faces as the leads but it totally backfired. Somewhere around the twenty minute mark I realized that Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson had zero chemistry. While in the books their relationship was complicated and fresh, it translated as juvenile and blasé in the movie. Both actors had bizarre ups and downs throughout the performance that really makes one stop and say "What in the hell is going on?" Haymitch Abernathy was also a big yawn. His character in the book so poignantly portrayed the post hunger games victor. A man completely broken by these barbaric games whose last refuge was in his drink. His portayl in the movie however was barely recognizable. First and foremost, he was never actually drunk, which early on in the film formulated the opinion in my mind that the producers were trying to water down this very adult theme of the Hunger Games so little junior can go to the big kid movie. (More on that later)His delivery of lines, and the lines themselves, had a maddening humorous undertone. While in the books he was a mentor and a motivator for Katniss, in the movie he was sort of like everyones goofy uncle who gets drunk at the family thanksgiving. I could go on for pages about my criticisms with this piece of crap but I'll some up my major beefs with this movie.1. The beautiful and moving duologue from the books was almost non existent.2. The costumes were cheap and lame. 3. There was no violence to speak of, completely demolishing the element of terror that was so real in the book. 4. The careers weren't scary in the least. More like the group of rich kids who steals lunch money for kicks and giggles. 5. There was no prep team, amputation, hearing loss from blast or Madge. 6. Last but not least, there was no element of intimacy between Peeta and Katniss. Only one kiss does not count. Take my advice, watch this movie only in the hopes of having your perceptions of what is a fantastic book smashed in a grueling three and some odd hours.