Chix Chat on Film review: Survival of the fittest.

Rating: 7/10 (24 March 2012)

The excitement surrounding the premiere of this movie was a little unexpected for me because when I read the book I thought that the story was a good one, but not so much as to throw me into a frenzied state with anticipation to see the film. It seemed to me that a huge investment was made in the assumption that the audience that would see The Hunger Games movie were familiar with the book series and were knowledgeable fans, and I think that if that were not the case you would not understand some of the images like Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) in the rain and the loaf of bread encounter with Peeta (Josh Hutcherson). The film did in fact do a good job of making the whole dynamic of their relationship clear, although it did not make it so clear the nature of Katniss' relationship with Gale (Liam Hemsworth). I was really interested in how the final battle would appear, since much of what was discussed in the story specifically relative to the train, the capital and the final battle would be difficult to showcase without very strong special effects. The special effects in this film were nicely done, but the final battle was not as intense as I had imaged it would be. However a pleasant surprise was witnessing the control room as the games unfolded, which was a nice touch. The costuming of the citizens was useful in making it known that the flavor of the Capital City is eccentricity, which is somewhat made clear from the trailer with the over the top appearance of Effie Trinkit (Elizabeth Banks) and Caesar Flickerman (Stanley Tucci). The film made the presence of President Snow (Donald Sutherland) more accessible so that you get a feel for the type of person that he is, no warm and fuzzy from this character. I liked the film, but more so because of my having read the book, I don't feel as though I would have been as understanding of the running time and the lulls in the action sequences, otherwise. It's not possible to unread a book and have that fresh unbiased perspective but aside from the strong performances of the actors and the special effects I would have found the film to be sluggish and I didn't really get emotionally invested until actually experiencing the Katniss interaction with Rue (Amandla Stenberg). For the most part the film was very true to the book, but if you don't know the book, you will be left out in the cold on this one, I give it an amber light.