It was amazing, and pretty close to the book

Rating: 8/10 (3 April 2012)

My views on this movie are completely different than most fans'. I read so many reviews saying how bad and how much a disappointment this movie was and I have to say that I completely disagree. I loved the movie, and I've wanted to see it again since I saw it on opening weekend. I think the problem is that so many of the fans go see in thinking that it's going to be exactly like the book, and the truth is, it can't be. It can't be exactly like the book unless its x amount of hours long. They can't get every scene, every thought, and every line into 2 hours. It's impossible. So I think the reason why I love it so much is because I went in as if it was just another movie, as if it wasn't a book at all. I didn't go in with low expectations and didn't go in with high expectations and I think that made a difference. I mean, don't get me wrong, that's not to say that I didn't compare it to the book. I did and I thought it was very true to the book. I was really excited when I found out that it was 2 ½ hours long and even more so when I found out that that's including a 20 minute cut (which I hope will be on the DVD release, like an extended version.) A lot of people said that it felt rushed to them and I didn't get that feeling at all. I thought it had a perfect pace. The beginning of the movie was very heart-wrenching, the reaping, the goodbye'severything was just so depressing and amazing at the same time. It was better than I expected it to be. There were some scenes that were so emotional that I was shaking, trying so hard not to cry. I remember shaking excessively while watching the reaping, it was just really emotional, and heart –wrenching. It really got to me. And there were other scenes where I literally stopped breathing because it was so intense and suspenseful. I really like Jennifer Lawrence's portrayal of Katniss. I thought she did phenomenal, and I truly believe that there isn't one person out there that could have done better. Before I saw the movie, I read a review that said that she was Katniss. And I didn't know exactly what they meant by that until I saw the movie. And, let me tell you something, SHE IS KATNISS. SHE DID AMAZING. There's a lot of controversy going on saying that she wasn't skinny enough and that she had too many curves and honestly—that didn't bother me. Her portrayal of Katniss was amazing and to methat was all that mattered. I thought Josh Hutcherson did amazing too. He was Peeta, just like Jennifer was Katniss. I was very pleased with all the actors and how they portrayed their roles. Although Woody Harrelson's portrayal of Haymitch wasn't myfavorite but I overall, I think he did good. There were things I didn't like about it. But I think I have more good things to say about it than bad things. I loved the Capitol and the Capitol people. The movie is in the third person point-of-view and that had its pro's and con's. I thought it was cool seeing the behind-the-scenes stuff, like seeing the Control room in the Capitol, and seeing things you didn't get to really read about in the book. That was definitely cool. But you know since it wasn't in Katniss's perspective, it did change some things, and the feelings you felt reading the book weren't as intense, you know? It worked though, how they did it. The cinematography was really cool. The way they filmed it made you feel like you were there, which was cool at some points and at other timesit was a bit annoying. Like in the beginning of the movie, the camera was shaking quite a bit but it either got better throughout the movie or you just got used to it, not quite sure. I didn't think the relationship between Katniss and Rue was really developedwhich was a bit of a bummer and I wished their scenes together were longer but the scenes they did have were really good. Once they got in the Arena, things really started getting intense. At some points, I stopped breathing. The killing scenes were good. My favorite scene is the Tracker Jacker scene, which is one of the scenes where I literally stopped breathing. It was so intense! Overall, I thought it was a great movie and I thought it was really close to the book. And I can't wait 'till Catching Fire comes out!