My whole school is going to see this movie on its premier.
I won’t give you specific lines because I don’t own the books and because I’m not a fan of the series to the point of knowing where every line is (I could do that with Harry Potter, mind you 
)
But I’ll give you my reasons to believe she’s a confirmed Caucasian:
The people of the Seam are said to be darker than the others in District 12 (but those were blonde, so you can still be Caucasian and darker than a blonde).
Her skin, if I remember correctly, is described as olive, which is a word I’ve seen used for darker Caucasian people like those from the Mediterranean countries, but never for Afro-descendants (I should admit that, as my original language isn’t English, I could be mistaken about this kind of thing, and use the meaning we generally give words in Spanish. But nevertheless, most of the books I’ve read are written on English)
Also, her hair is said to be very straight and her eyes gray, characteristics far more common in Caucasian people.
Another thing I remember is that they made the contrast between Katniss skin and Rue’s dark one (The book does state that Rue is not Caucasian])
Then there’s what, in my opinion, is the strongest fact: her sister Prim is described to have white skin, blonde hair and clear eyes. Same with her mother. While siblings can have different coloration (my own twin sister is a blonde while I’ve darker hair), I doubt they would be a completely different race. Surely an author as descriptive as Collins would address this. Her silence, in my opinion, is a confirmation of nothing being THAT different about her.
There are other indicators (out of the pages) I should point at, and that I think are even more revealing:
Suzanne Collins (the author) is producing the film. That means that she has to approve the casting call (and she probably was responsible of their descriptions herself, since she also wrote the screenplay). And the casting calls asked only for Caucasian girls. I think that settlers her vision of the character.
Collins was in fact involved in Jennifer Lawrence’s casting, and she later declared that she was the “only one who truly captured the character I wrote in the book” and that she had “every essential quality necessary to play Katniss.”
Considering all this, I think Lawrence can look the part reasonably well (better than the Potter actors, anyway), and there’s yet another plus: She’s an amazing actress. At least to date she’s been.
So she’s the lesser of my worries about this film. I think there are lots of things that can go way worst.
People who like The Hunger Games also tend to like Uglies and Twilight. That should tell you PLENTY about what this stuff is like, for those who haven’t read it.
I love Katniss Everdeen’s actress though. I would like a full poster of her but the magazine that had three posters of Hunger Games only had one of her and it was a close up of the face, which would have been fine if there weren’t a blazing fire behind her and a gunlike ring of fire in front…
And the other two posters were crap of boys. Yuck. I just want my Katniss.
I like the fact that the author is involved in the movie. Maybe that means the movie will be pretty close to the book.
Yes, that’s a plus.
But, on the other hand, she doesn’t has experience writing screenplays, only novels, and that may affect the film.
That’s true, but I think that if in a situation where the author is involved with the movie, them working with someone who does have that experience would make a great movie that complements the book well. I don’t know in this situation who she’s working with or whatever, though.
17 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes all positive so far. Some critics have discussed the lesser impact a PG-13 rating has, given the brutal content of the original book, but I feel like that’s inevitable. A movie that has a potentially huge audience of teens and even pre-teens could never be rated R.
I also came to this thread to discuss my enthusiasm about the soundtrack. I’ve been listening to samples of songs, officially released songs, and live performances, and my goodness everything is just GORGEOUS and powerful and deeply moving. The soundtrack fits the movie’s setting and context rather well, too. I might actually buy the soundtrack!
Chances are most of those songs won’t be used in the film. It happens most times with this kind of movie, they release those absurd “music inspired by” discs.
To me, give me the original score only. I hope JNH has cooked a good one for this film, by the way.
I’m surprised of the very good reviews the film is receiving so far, as I expected lots of things to gone south with it, so these are good news.
Sadly, what keeps me away from being excited for a potentially great film franchise is that I know how it ends. I felt so underwhelmed by the third book, that I’m not anticipating its adaptation at all.
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.