Why all the love?

Rating: 4/10 (31 July 2012)

I really enjoyed the novel by Suzanne Collins (not so much the sequels, Catching Fire recycled way too many elements from the first novel and I didn't even bother reading Mockingjay), but I was very disappointed with this movie. Let me enlighten you (I'll try to compare with the novel as much as I can, but mind you it's been a while since I read it).
For starters, the beginning seems stretched out a lot. And I mean, A LOT. For the first hour and a thirty minutes or so, we are given descriptions of how the games will be. Through interviews, talk shows, press conferences, seeing the tributes train and prepare for it, etc... The way the film is constructed at the beginning is, in no ways, amateurish, and is actually pretty well done, but I started lacking interest in it about 50 minutes in. It just isn't all that interesting after a while.
By now, after the hour and a half of massing pumping and hyping, you would expect the last half of the movie to be epic, to be impressive, yes? Unfortunately, it isn't. The problem is that the filmmakers tried to market a very violent novel for mature teenagers with a violent premise to kids. The camera keeps shaking constantly to not show any details, and it is annoying, because you end up practically not seeing anything at all. You have to be very, very focused on the screen to make out practically any action occurring in the second half.
A lot of things also seem pointless...Peeta's camouflage in the dirt being the most pointless of all. How useful was it to the story? He showed it to Katniss, as if to waste our time, and never used it after...
The film could also have used more screen time for Haymitch. Woody Harrelson is perfect for the character, and in the novel, Haymitch had some pretty interesting things to say. But, in this movie, Haymitch is so underused that we barely get to see his drunken antics and his powerful thoughts. Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket is really annoying...No fault of Banks, the character is just plain annoying, and yet she has more screen time than the 100 times more interesting Haymitch. Effie Trinket really bothered the hell out of me.
Still, there's some positive to be had: The acting. Jennifer Lawrence is brilliant as Katniss Everdeen. Her performance is enough to carry this huge-budgeted overlong film on her shoulders when the film needs it most. Always in character, Jennifer Lawrence shows us all her talents as an actress. It was the second time I saw her in a movie since the amazing X-Men First Class, and I can't wait to see more work out of her. Josh Hutcherson delivers the merchandise in a performance slightly inferior to Lawrence's. Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson, Wes Bently, hell, even Lenny Kravitz gives in a respectable performance. And I have nothing negative to say about not one, but two great climaxes. I liked that the film doesn't end all happy-go-lucky like traditional Hollywood movies, but it foreshadows a sequel, which, I sincerely hope, will be better, darker, and braver than this movie.
Overall, this is a film that could have been so much more. I do not get all the love it has been getting. While all the actors give great performances (Jennifer Lawrence especially), the action is underwhelming and the build-up to the action is way too overlong and packed with unnecessary details. If you want an idea of what The Hunger Games should have resembled, watch the Japanese movie Battle Royale. Now that is one very intense movie.
DISCLAIMER: I'm not a Battle Royale fanatic trying to bash The Hunger Games, I actually first heard of Battle Royale after watching this movie. I just think that, personally, after having viewed both, Battle Royale is much better than The Hunger Games. (I strongly recommend reading The Hunger Games over the viewing of the film).