Movie Review: The Hunger Games *May Contain Slight Spoilers*

❝The Hunger Games❞
Movie Review

Over the weekend I got the chance to go see THE HUNGER GAMES, which I was extremely excited for. It did not disappoint. If you haven't seen it yet, then you should totally make the time because it's worth it. The trailer for Breaking Dawn: Part 2 was not what I expected, but yeah.

The movie starts, the lights go down, and the Reaping begins. It was nothing short of amazing and I have to say, that I was a bundle of nerves and energy watching it. Katniss's reaction to Primrose name being called and then voluntering to take her place in the Tribute absolutely had me in tears already. Jennifer Lawrence is phenomenally talented and definitely knocked that scene out of the park, showing how brave and amazing Katniss really is. I loved getting to see the deep bond shared between her and Primrose.

Katniss is strong, heroic, and nothing short of resilient and brave in the face of what truly awaits her. In all my years of reading young adult books and enjoying some of the film adaptations (I say this loosely), I have never seen a character quite like her. Right away, Suzanne Collins sets her apart from so many of them out there and makes it easy to connect with her and gives her enormous strength of heart, in a game of harrowing survival. As I said above, Jennifer Lawrence is incredibly amazing as Katniss Everdeen and I could not see anyone else in this role. What she brings to this wonderful character is simply awe-inspiring. I get chills thinking about it.

Haymitch, on the other hand, wasn't exactly who I expected. He was brilliantly depicted by an awesome actor, just not who I actually pictured in my mind at all - maybe a little off at times, but nonetheless amazing. I guess, in my mind I just pictured him a bit darker and lot more wounded having survived and won The Hunger Games. I kind of wish the movie would have depicted that a little better. I still enjoyed all of his scenes with Katniss and just the character in general. The notes he sent to Katniss had me cracking up and my shoulders shaking with laughter sometimes. I think it's safe to say that by the end of the movie, Woody Harrelson had definitely won me over as Haymitch. It might not have been a miss, after all.

I was also impressed with Lenny Kravitz as Cinna and was equally surprised at how well he was able to pull off the acting. It's almost like he was born for this role, plus his scenes with Katniss were epic and they pulled at my heart causing it to ache in good ways. I liked how he didn't want to dress both Katniss and Peeta up like clowns and he made them stand out, giving a perfect tie-in for the girl on fire. Their outfits were pretty amazing, being on fire, and I think I actually covet Katniss's red dress a little bit. Loved it, when she got up and showed that she was actually on fire, plus later in the movie when they have that scene between them, the mockingjay pin, and she's in the transport tube. Such an intense fearful moment.

Three minutes to say goodbye is just not enough. Primrose had me bawling, the way she was holding onto to Katniss and she was trying to be stoic, strong, and yet fearful at the same time. Primrose giving her the Mockingjay pin to keep her safe is what really reduced me to tears straight away. And Katniss angery with her mom, but also fearful and loving at the same time, tough love. Making her promise to be there for Primrose because she's all she has now that she can't be there.

And then, Katniss and Gale. Oh my heart, how it aches for these precious two. Yes, I ship them. I loved the doomed ship, I am totally team!Gale. They just make me ache in all of the good and necessary ways. They're so beautiful and amazing and so many other things I can't put into words. They make me emotional. I feel like wherever Katniss is, Gale is always going to mean "home" for her.

The Capitol is weirdly bizzare and crazy strange, but the fashion sense was sort of awesome. No, seriously. It is...even though there's entirely too much pink for me. Effie had some of the best outfits and I just genuinely enjoyed her all around in general. The lightness that she brought to the tenseness of the games with her ridiculous but amazingly loveable flare that only she could possess was fantastic. I have a lot of respect for the task that Emily Banks had to pull off. It couldn't be that easy, getting the comedic timing down spot on and yet she did such a fantastic job of it. I can't remember what breed of dog that was, but my mom knew. I felt like a dork, haha.

I really enjoyed the interviews quite a bit, the way that Katniss was awkward in all the right ways made her even more appropriate and then the light-hearted funny that was Peeta. I thought the games were done pretty well - there was obviously less talking and more surviving/playing involved. Gives a pretty good visual for those who haven't read the books yet. And the game maker scenes were done in such an amazing realstic way and were integrated almost flawlessly. A+ for that!

Rue's death hit me pretty hard, I was doing pretty good with it up until Katniss sort of lost it and then I just lost it with her, and started bawling. I think my only quibble with that, is that there didn't seem like there was enough time to get to know Rue. I mean, I understand why but I would have preferred it a little more. And, I kind of wished that the cameras would have panned out to show the audience what the viewers of the show were seeing rather than panning upwards and showing the sky instead. But, oh my! There were some wonderful shots of rebellion after her death scene (Go Distict 11!), which I have to pause to say that Katniss gathering up flowers and singing her to her death, really moved me.

I honestly don't know what to say about Peeta and Katniss, because I don't feel towards them what so many other's do. I sort of felt like their cave scenes were a bit awkward and I didn't get that chemistry that everyone else see's between them either. I mean, sure they were nice and all, but I feel like they're better suited as friends than as anything more. We'll see what happens with CATCHING FIRE, but I have a pretty good feeling that I'm always going to be a Gale/Katniss girl at heart. Or just Gale in general, because I just love him. The dymanic and connection that he shares with Katniss is so powerfully emotional and so beautiful that I can't help but love them.

Oh my lord, Snow! He could not have been cast any better. From one ol' bastard (I say that with all the respect and admiration in my heart) to another, Donald Sutherland was definitely the perfect way to go. He played him with such subtle creepy that it made him even more scarier than I'd imagined him to be. I enjoyed the scenes with him and Seneca even though, I wanted to snatch up a hickory stick and give him a good thwack when he told Seneca that he didn't like underdogs. See, that's where the ol' bastard comes in, because you know he's seething about how the 74th Annual Hunger Games ended. Katniss pretty much showed them up like Haymitch said. It was truly fantastic.

Oh, and I almost felt bad for Seneca at the end, when you see what happens with him. Almost. But eh, not so much.

I don't know, for some reason I just didn't find it violent enough or as much as I really wanted or thought it should have been. To me, it felt like it should have been a bit more dark and gritty, filled with more violence and less jerky-ness with the camera. Sometimes it felt like it was a bit too jarring in some area's, then in other's like it was either too blurry or you just couldn't really see anything at all. This totally makes me appreciate the violence in Game Of Thrones so much more. But, of course, these are just some minor quibbles that I have.

And, you know the ending of the games was done brilliantly. I do have to say one more thing about Gale/Katniss/Peeta, my heart shattered when Gale saw her kiss Peeta in the cave on television. I just wanted to hug him and never let go. See, I totally love Gale. He is my fictional boyfriend for life. I can't wait for him to have more lines and to see more of his story in CATCHING FIRE, plus I want to see more interaction with him and Katniss. Oh, they do make my heart wibble so!

Dude, this movie totally blew the sparkles off Edward!!! You should definitely go see it...NOW!!!