This is a MOVIE, not "BOOK ON THE SCREEN"

Rating: 8/10 (27 March 2012)

I did not read the books before watching the movie, but I did know about the detailed plot, and fully expected the movie to suck purely based on the facts that a/it's based on a Young Adult book, b/ Liam Hemsworth is in it. But it didn't suck. As a MOVIE, it works wonderfully. After watching, I read the book itself, and understood why fans are enraged some key details were left out - but, really? You know this is a movie, right? If they were to cram everything in, it'd take 5 hours. They might need to explain more why the mockingjay pin is such a rebellious gesture, but other than that, all the choices made were for the sake of time, and worked out just fine. Violence off-screen, which leaves a lot to imagination, can sometimes be even more effective than direct depiction. And saying the movie is SLOW without actions or dialog? PLEASE! A movie is a series of IMAGES. The images should speak for themselves. I loved it that without the characters speaking much or quick cut of actions, we still get a lot - if we pay attention, and if our attention span is longer than 5 minutes. For example, we DID get the sense that Katniss was pretending to be in love with Peeta - heck, she received a freaking note from Haymich criticizing the kiss to be too light, only THEN she kissed Peeta some more. How is that not clear? If you value the quality of an image that speaks a thousand words, and believe cinema should be first about images, and a coherent script, rather than a rote transcription of a book, you should see this movie.