Absolutely brilliant CAN match with 'loved by teenage girls'

Rating: 10/10 (2 August 2013)

I rarely write 10-star reviews because movies really have to earn them. But in this case, I make an exception. A 10-star movie, to me, is a movie that keeps wandering in my mind weeks after I've seen it, that I can keep watching over and over and never get tired of, that really touches me emotionally and introduces timeless and meaningfull themes and issues.
I seriously suspect a lot of people hate this movie simply because teenage girls love it too. But I can assure you I am no teenage girl, I have read the entire trilogy and loved it and my parents (who are not at all fans of the fantasy and sci-fi genre) loved this movie too! There is nothing wrong with being honest about what you feel and this movie blew me away. Not only is Suzanne Collins a brilliant writer who came up with a wonderful story, it's clear she was one of the script writers herself.
If there is a point of criticism I respect, it is people complaining about the shaky cam literally making them nauseous. However, I don't have motion sickness and understand the choice to use it. I think it's an addition to the way they tell the story on screen. It makes you sympathise more with Katniss and translates the very personal and subjective "present tense first person narrator" writing style to images that make you feel just as disturbed and scared and "what-the-hell-is-going-on" as the main character.
I don't mind the fact that they made the story a bit less harsh for the movie. It's still wonderfully touching but I think it's great that they make it more accessible to a younger audience as this is a story everyone should read and as not everybody likes to read it's great they adapted it to a medium that reaches more people from different ages. I was relieved Haymitch was not the puking bastard he was in the book. It made him a more round character.
The casting and acting in this movie is brilliant. I became an instant fan of Jennifer Lawrence and would see every movie that casts her from now on, even if the genre does not appeal to me at all, just out of admiration and curiosity about how she will make a character come to life this time. She does not play Katniss, she IS Katniss. The same goes for a lot of the other actors. I love Wes Bentley as Seneca for example. He reminded me a lot of one of my former employers who was an often not so black-and-white wolf in sheep's clothing with charming good looks who made you wonder about his real intentions and personality a lot.
This movie really made me 'feel' the danger in the woods and the threat of the other contestants, 'feeling' really unsure and suspicious about their intentions, not knowing who to trust...
I am convinced that emotions and feelings are very much underrated when it comes to reviews. It's like what you feel during a movie is completely inferior to the amount of grey and grumpy grown-up issues (that are popular at the moment) you can find in the story. It's like all reviewers are these "Yuk, feelings are gay"-types nowadays. I'm not saying I can't enjoy a good action movie and that I need my hanky with me every time I watch a movie but when a movie gets me emotional at the end, gets me to CARE about what happens even after I've seen it scores of times, it's really good in my opinion. And just because a lot of girls in puberty will agree with me doesn't make my opinion less valuable. Puberty is after all a very emotional period in people's lives. ;-)
This movie has a heart and more movies could use this nowadays. It shows the harshness of a world that (frankly) isn't that far-fetched if you have a good look at our current society. And I'm relieved that even amongst the most superficial teenagers, there are girls who love this cause that means there is still hope. It's a story about responsibility, courage and being a rebel against the main stream that is obviously not always right, having the guts to stand up to it! What's the point in blindly loving all those movies with hard political messages that are rated R and have a lot of 'realistic' and 'mature' violence if they only make you depressed and if they don't 'touch' you? What happened to art as a way of reaching people and making them have more fun than they could have watching the news channel. It's not because this movie is not about slavery or nine eleven or the civil war or any other horrible historic event or plain nihilism and because it is loved by teenage girls, that it is a bad movie. I hated most of the Twilight films but it doesn't mean I will brainlessly hate all movies loved by teenagers from now on.
I think people saying this movie 'misses the point of the book' don't get the point themselves. What is 'the point' to begin with? There are several! I believe the essence of the story is contained in the movie. Maybe people automatically think it's 'intelligent' if you prefer the book over the film and forget Suzanne Collins actually helped writing the script. I bet she knows best what 'the point of the book' is and she watched the writing process carefully to make sure nothing important was lost. Also, I read the movie is a 'non-violent' 'dumbed down ' version of the book? What does that mean? That preferring violence is more intelligent?
Just don't care about those pseudo-intellectual critics, don't you dare to consider this adaptation a 'guilty pleasure' and enjoy this wonderful movie as it is. I'm so looking forward to the sequels!