As good as it can get

Rating: 8/10 (23 March 2012)

I read the books and absolutely loved them. When I saw the trailers for the movie, I got excited--I wanted to curb my excitement, though, and I'm glad I did. A word to anyone who read the books and wants to see the movie: the movie is NEVER as good. Keep that in mind.
However, this movie did a really good job of keeping the key components of the story in the movie and trying to explain them the best they could: I could only find about six small things that they changed from the book, which is amazing as far as book adaptations go. You have to realize, though--there's no way they can have the whole book in one two-hour movie.
So many people are complaining that the book was so vivid and so detailed. If you want a close to probably four hour movie or have it broken into two parts (which I'm sure everyone would hate as well), then be my guest. But honestly, if you just read the books, the movie is astounding.
There were minute details in the book that Collins spent chapters writing. And guess what? No physical action actually happened. So many thoughts and emotions that were drawn out in the book had to be broken down to a ten-second close-up on Jennifer Lawrence. There was simply no other way to do it . . . unless, of course, the whole movie was narrated or Katniss talked to herself incessantly (far worse alternatives in my opinion).
But enough about the adaptation. I was kind of thrown by some of the casting choices for awhile, but they did not disappoint. Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Lenny Kravitz did so well--Hutcherson in particular. I really liked the costumes for the Games themselves and the Capitol people. The District 12 costumes were bland and kind of ugly, but they were supposed to be, so no complaints there. The Arena was exactly how I pictured it.
Pretty much the only thing I didn't like about this movie was the camera work. The camera never stopped moving. I understand that it's an action movie, but we don't have to have action when everyone is just sitting around and talking. I really wish the director wouldn't have gone for that style. i don't know very many people who actually like it.
Another thing that I think they could have done to make the movie more enjoyable was to add in some more "down time"--everything is super intense the whole movie, and it would have been nice to have a breather here and there. It worked how it was, but I think I would have liked it a little more.
All in all, this was a great adaptation from the book. But it's just that--an adaptation. If you haven't read the books, you're probably going to be confused and think it's a really shallow movie. If you have read the books, you can fill in the blanks for all their thoughts and the deeper meaning to it--just enjoy the Hunger Games coming to life.