Disappointing

Rating: 6/10 (12 May 2014)

I don't think this would work well as a stand alone movie for someone who hasn't read the books. It isn't the performers' fault; they give it their all, or a little bit more. There are some fundamental script problems.
First,the PG-13 rating. Haymitch is a very sober drunk, and we don't see Katniss get hammered with him when the QQ is announced. No avoxes. Peeta has two good legs. Cray isn't an exploiter of young girls.
Second, not enough hunger. Katniss is extremely conscious of food. The party scene works as well as it does in the book because , despite herself, she really enjoys the delicacies she's eating. That makes her revulsion over the vomit producing drink even stronger, because it stops her from being seduced by the Capitol's luxuries. In the movie it has to be spelled out.
Third, the books have texture because of the way Katniss interacts with minor characters: her prep team, Cray, Darius, Madge, Hazelle, Greasy Sae, even Prim's cat that she can't stand. As in Casablanca, the bit players provide color and background that make the major characters stand out. That's missing in the script, which is why we never get a sense of the community Katniss comes from that has made her who she it. The destruction of the Hob doesn't matter because we never see it in operation, and we don't miss District 12 because we barely get to know it from a few establishing shots of industrial squalor.
So we get a workmanlike portrayal of the major plot points, while the reader provides depth that isn't on the screen.