It's a pity that I did not immediately catch on to the book The Hunger Games. I should really follow the New York Times bestsellers list so that I would know what the rest of the world is reading. Anyhow, now that I've seen the movie, I now see clearly why the book would've been more interesting because the time constraints of a film cannot do enough justice to the interesting characters I have gotten to know in the movie! There's a lot of them, from Katniss to Rue, from Peeta to Gale - it's a treasure trove of interesting young people and their oppressive adult leaders.
Well, I loved the movie! Jennifer Lawrence is just perfect for the role! It's a good thing she got this role because she's actually an Oscar-nominated thespian and having a big franchise like this should help her career more! I secretly love Elizabeth Banks' work here! Her fashion sense here, though weird, is certainly unique. The cast is impressive, from seeing Wes Bentley to Stanley Tucci to the cool Lenny Kravitz and Woody Harrelson, plus the cute Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth - it was a cast I really loved! And those are the famous ones I know - there's a host of pretty young things that I have to get to know as well, including the girl playing Rue and those two vicious players from the other sectors. Although the premise of the movie is disturbing, the director, Gary Ross, toned it down without messing up the story too much. I think he did a great job at it!
I had to check myself while watching this movie because I was so gigil na gigil in some scenes when the weaker players were slaughtered, I wanted revenge against them. I admit I too fell sway into the bloodbath mentality similar to what we've seen during fights of the Roman gladiators. I realized I too was cheering - which makes me no different from the oppressive leaders in the movie! Que horror!
