Not Sure What I Expected...

Rating: 10/10 (15 March 2012)

I was very fortunate to get a ticket to the UK premiere of The Hunger Games in London, and it was an amazing experience.
I'm not completely sure what I was expecting with this movie, but I can definitely say that I was very impressed. It was never going to be an easy task to put these brilliant books and turn them into a successful movie franchise.
Jennifer Lawrence's acting is absolutely superb, she outshone everyone in the movie. A few of her scenes were so intense that I felt myself on the verge of tears. Elizabeth Banks as Effie and Woody Harrelson as Haymitch also stood out for me. They were almost exactly how I pictured their characters to be and played them down to a tee. To be honest, I think everyone done a very good job.
Now for the movie itself. I think some of the die-hard book fans will have a few moans and groans about the changes that have been made for the movie. A few of the changes had me raising my eyebrows, but I can understand why these changes have had to be made, and they have done it very well. My personal favourite is the 'execution' of Seneca Crane. That was absolutely brilliantly done, I had to try not laugh at the genius of it. I won't say what happens, I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but I think it will definitely cause a few chuckles.
Although, there is a major change to a part at the end that I think a lot of people will not be happy with regarding Peeta. To be perfectly honest, this was the one change I was not very happy with. Such an important part of the book to be left out, although I can see why they have done it. Again, I am not going to spoil, I'll let everyone judge it for themselves.
I've also noticed how everyone is concerned about the violence... I'm not going to lie, it is quite brutal. Although you don't see a lot of the physical violence, some of the scenes were very difficult to watch (and I'm a 20 year old female who has seen her fair share of horrors). I think it's the brutality of watching children killing each other. The scene with Cato, Peeta and Katniss was particularly disturbing for me.
There's a few added scenes that gives us a little look into some of the Districts reactions to the games (watch out for District 11's, that really moved me). Also a look into the Gamemakers room and into President Snows character (Donald Sutherland is PERFECT in this role).
All in all, the movie was absolutely amazing, done quite well to stick to the book, but I think people should try to separate this movie from the book as much as possible to make it even more enjoyable.
I would give it a solid 9/10, and I look forward to Catching Fire!