Good...but not as good as it should have been

Rating: 7/10 (29 March 2012)

I saw "The Hunger Games" movie two nights ago. I'm a fan of the books so I was eager to see the movie. For whatever it's worth, here's my review: The camera work - all that constant herky jerky stuff and extreme close ups (especially in the first half of the film) was very annoying - almost headache-inducing. When the camera movement slowed down and the shots widened, I was finally able to get a sense/understanding of the characters and their setting. Before that it was all just a meaningless blur.
A little more time could have been spent on Katniss' back story and her relationship with Gale. If I hadn't read the books, I wouldn't have understood the depth of that relationship. The same can be said about Katniss' relationship to the rest of Distruct 12 and her life there - a little more time spent on that would have filled out her character more and provided context and understanding for her rebellious behavior.
I wish that District 12 didn't look so much like the leftover set from Deliverance (I swear I saw a shot of the same porch where the banjo playing mutant kid sat). The set is too 1930's West Virginia than "sometime in the future". It's too easy to resort to that tried and true stereotypical image rather than coming up with something more 'realistic" for the period that the book is set in.
Very good casting. Jennifer Lawrence is very good. I expect she'll be event better in the next one. Woody Harrison is surprisingly good as Haymitch -not what I expected but good. The guy who plays Peeta is little more animated or interesting than a mannequin, but he's adequate for the role. The rest of the cast is fine - nobody's particularly great or particularly horrible and they all fit their characters well.
I don't think that director Gary Ross has much imagination or comfort when it comes to the action sequences. He takes the "If we move the camera around a lot and do a bunch of quick edits, it will be REALLY EXCITING, right?" approach. I also don't think he completely up to the task of imagining a future that is a realistic blend of the old and the new (although I do like the way that the capital city and its residents are portrayed). It's too bad that he's been signed up for the next one. It's a good movie, but it could have been much better with a better director.
A couple of flubs I spotted - A cannon sounds when each of the participants dies EXCEPT when Rue and the kid that threw the spear die...no cannons for either of them.