My opinion of this wonderful film

Rating: 10/10 (13 March 2014)

I personally feel like this film was a vast improvement in comparison to the first adaptation. I think it was clear in the first film how Gary Ross had interpreted The Hunger Games, but I personally feel like I preferred Francis Lawrences' adaptation. I feel like Lawrence clearly enhanced and showcased the development of Katniss from the first games to that of the second games. Lawrence showed the monumental development of the love between Katniss and Peeta in such an elegant way, I honestly believe that the beach scene is that of pure genius and is rather sentimental and true to that of the book. I am a drama student so I pay attention to acting a lot as I am told to by my lecturers. I can honestly say I did feel like some parts the acting wasn't 100%, but it is to be expected, nobody is perfect after all. However, the brilliant acting completely outweighs that of the questionable acting. Sam Clafflin was the perfect choice to play the character of Finnick Odair, his portrayal was exacting and true to the character in the book. I felt his emotions as he felt them, in particular when Mags ran into the fog and he was truly heartbroken, the fact that he wanted to go and get her when he had been effected by the fog was just brave - I really believed everything he done. There was a particular scene that really got me to thinking; 'How would I react if I was in that situation'. In which I got completely teary eyed. It was the Jabberyjay scene, it completely threw me, I have never experienced the feeling of dread and absolute loss whilst watching film as I did when I watched that scene. Jennifer and Sam acted so amazingly with absolute conviction, I couldn't tear my eyes away from the screen at any moment. I absolutely adored Josh's interaction and utter despair at the fact he couldn't do anything to help Katniss, it is truly a beautiful scene. As they were acting using naturalism and I imagine they may have used a few of Stanislavski's techniques, then they completely nailed them. They got me as a viewer to question how I would feel and that is exactly what naturalism and Stan's techniques are meant to make you feel and react. When using naturalism/the techniques you should get a reaction from the audience and they achieved a reaction from me. I was completely at the mercy of this film and I commend the actors and Francis Lawrence for a brilliant book to film adaptation, it was brilliant. I respect that some people may not feel the same, but opinions lie where they lie and I truly feel this film adaptation is breath taking.