Come on guys, it's a 12-up book!

Rating: 7/10 (17 April 2012)

I need to say this right away: Woody Harrelson and Stanly Tucci were the PERFECT choice! All the other lead actors were just very well chosen. That being said... (And also that the movie stays true to the book and is really quite good.)
A lot of disappointed reviewers complained about the missing bloody violence in the movie. I will give them this: Yes, it bothered me too, the way the camera 'kept looking away' whenever some serious s**t went down. Reading the book was way more intense than watching the movie. So instead of gore we get shaky camera work, filming random stuff while only hinting at the violence. But hey! I found the book in the 12-up section of the book store. It's only fair that they make a PG13 movie out of it. (Seriously, what did you expect from the guy who made 'Pleasantville'? Haha.) So quit bitching, people, and go wait for The Expendables 2.
There was, however, one thing that bothered me. It seems to happen to all the books-turned-into-a-movie. The movie is better for those who have read the book. Outsiders tend to miss important details, just because the movie didn't bother going into those details. Like the relationship between Katniss and Gale. Or the general misery that the districts were in. (A couple of shaky shots of their village are not enough to show a viewer for example how dangerous it is to get caught on the other side of the fence. Or how cruel those stormtroop.. erm, peacekeepers can be.) A movie should stay true to the book, but be filmed as if there had never been a book to begin with. Do you know what I mean?
Go watch it. It's good. Just don't expect much violence. I've read reviews of people who claimed that the movie was pushing its PG13 limits. They are dirty little liars ;-)