08 August 2014
Movie: "The Hunger Games"
I think this is one of the best book-to-movie adaptations I've seen. The book is solely from Katniss's point of view, with a lot of introspection. The movie does a nice job of focusing on Katniss her journey, while at the same time expanding the scope to see conversations between President Snow and the Gamemaker, the behind-the-scenes of the Gamemaker's crew, the reactions from the districts, etc.
Visually the movie is stunning. They did a wonderful job contrasting the drabness of District 12 with the opulence of the Capital. The clothes of the residents of the Capital are just as ridiculous as described in the book.
There are some wonderful touches created by the movie makers, like the reaping area of District 12 being hosed down to clean it before the reaping ceremony.
The casting is great, especially Elizabeth Banks as Effie. She really nails Effie's well-meaning cluelessness. Stanley Tucci is also wonderful as Caesar Flickerman.
Spoiler:
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Labels: review: movie, The Hunger Games