I don’t care about the purpose given the quality of some of the songs and lyrics. This isn’t an ordinary soundtrack. I don’t think most songs would work in the film, outside of anything acoustic and folksy, but I still really enjoy the soundtrack regardless of it probably not being in the film itself.
The songs may be good or not, but if they won’t even “work in the film”, why release it with its brand name?
I’ve always thought it’s shameless marketing, and sadly, the practice is getting popular.
I thoroughly enjoyed this film! I’ll split my simple review into a pro/con list:
Pros:
- Overall capturing the essence of the original book, along with most of the important details.
- Jennifer Lawrence. I knew she’d kill it from the casting announcement.
- Beautiful scenery.
- I was worried about this, but the violence was just enough to be effective while still maintaining the PG-13 rating.
- Pretty good score, though not memorable.
- Overall good performances. Heck, even Josh Hutcherson, who I was perhaps most worried about, did a good job in my opinion!
- GREAT pacing and length. Did not drag on or feel long, particularly once the games started.
- District 11 [spoil]immediately starting riots. I don’t remember exactly, but I thought it was just one person who revolted and was killed instantly. But this was a good way to indicate what will happen in the future.[/spoil]
Cons:
- Overused shaky cam. During action scenes, it makes perfect sense; it contributes to the tension. But in the beginning of the film, for instance, when the location of District 12 is being established, the camera is incredibly shaky and shots are very brief, so it’s very disorienting and thus distracting from the overall viewing experience.
- “Rue’s Lullaby.” Not a major aspect of the film, but eh, I imagine fans on YouTube could do a better job.
- Not crazy about Katniss’s costumes.
My boyfriend, who has not read the books, said that [spoil]Peeta and Katniss weren’t believable as a couple[/spoil], but I have trouble seeing his viewpoint since I’m kinda biased.
I, having read the books, find myself agreeing with your boyfriend.
I wish that aspect had been downplayed in the film, but I knew the teen marketing would prevail.
I personally thought the movie was quite long. I thought the action sequences, and when Katniss drew her bow, were too long. But I give the movie a solid A- I believe.
So you thought there was too much of the romance or you thought that and the romance itself was weak? Just so I’m clear. I actually think the amount of romance in the movie was basically the same as the original books. Even with the main themes of overcoming an oppressive government and survival and all that, the romance was still a huge huge element of the original book. And that may have been playing to a teen audience, sure, but I dunno.
I think the romance is weak, which is a sin of the original source. But what I dislike the most is the way it’s used on the sequels
Now I’m very curious about the sequels. 
The most common complaint I’ve been reading on Facebook is that the romance between Katniss and Peeta doesn’t feel real… which is exactly how it should be portrayed. Right up until about the end of the second book, their relationship is nothing but a big old hoax, so it really should be portrayed as ‘fake’ in the films.
When you consider what they could have done with the whole ‘love triangle’ thing, they kept it relatively minor. I was rolling my eyes a bit when it would occasionally cut back to District 12 and show Gale’s reactions to Peeta and Katniss because it was one of the less subtle hints towards what happens later, but other than that they kept the actual romance to a minimum.
I think the whole ‘Twilight but with more killing’ view on the trilogy has been heavily exaggerated by the media, as well its unfortunate fanbase of pre-adolescent girls. Why do 14 year olds ruin everything? 
The whole “Team Peeta / Team Gale” thing is ridiculous as well because, unlike Twilight, Katniss manages to pick a guy pretty quickly.
Oh God, people are picking teams? That’s just great.
NOBODY is picking teams.
Anyway, i really like this movie! It kept a lot from the original book and managed to make it into a good movie.
Exactly. Katniss eventually develops strong feelings for Peeta but the romance subplot to the first book/movie is supposed to be fake. As Haymitch put it, they played it up so they could get sponsors.
And yes, I HATE the whole “Team Peeta/Team Gale” thing. That’s not what the core of the story is about at all. It is far more grim in its moral themes than Twilight.
Jennifer Lawrence was a perfect Katniss too. I love how, despite having not read the first book in a long time, the way I pictured certain scenes was so vividly portrayed in this movie. It’s satisfying and a little surreal.
Do you think so? It seemed to me that she struggled a lot to make a choice, if any at all.
Instead, I think it was very obvious that Bella had chosen Edward from the beginning. She mostly rejected the other one. The love triangle was formed more because of Jacob’s insistence than because of Bella’s actual interest in him, and she always labeled him as a friend.
I think both triangles are pretty different, but for me, who thinks that kind of stuff is utterly ridiculous, both were painful to read.
At least I like the reasons for the fake romance in the first book of the Hunger Games (the sponsors), but I don’t think the ones in the sequels are very believable. In fact, I think the first book is stronger than the rest in about every aspect.
For real. s there any reason to pick teams? I think not.
I hate the teams because I hate everything related with shippers, but there’s nothing more natural.
Most people will like a character more than the other (in any source), unless you like both about the same, which isn’t common or you hate them both, like I do.
I must say, I laughed when the film cut to Gale angsting during the Katniss/Peeta scenes. Most of my theater laughed too. They kept Katniss/Peeta to a minimum, though, I definitely didn’t feel like it overshadowed anything else.
Overall, I thought it was excellent, but I do know someone who saw it without reading the book, and he didn’t think they developed the characters enough or really got into the whole psychological aspect of kids killing kids. We probably projected a lot from the book on the movie. I know I did, anyway- even stuff like Peeta shaking his head at Katniss before they step off the plates. We know what’s going on there, even though the film doesn’t explain it and it doesn’t really have any significance to an outside viewer. Though I do think the film definitely touched on the child slaughter thing. I especially liked that quick scene where you see Capitol kids playing with swords, or “playing” Hunger Games, which is surely a comment on the whole situation.
Not seen it yet, but it’s already doing crazy numbers at the box office. Maybe one of the dark horses to be the highest (of realisitcly) top 3 highest grossing movies of the year?
It made $155 million this weekend domestically… in March! Third highest box office weekend ever. Congrats to them.
I think both The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises will get better numbers, and probably the last Twilight. But this one will surely be among the firsts.
I certainly agree with Spirit!