Hunger Games the movie

I saw The Hunger Games movie this weekend. As far as movies based on a book go, it held up pretty well. I don't think I would rank it as high as Harry Potter, but it was better than Twilight's first one. The casting was done with obvious consideration as to the characters and not for box office draws. I thought Woody Harrelson was my favorite as Haymitch. And Donald Sutherland did a very good job as President Snow. Josh Hutcherson as Peeta threw me off a little bit, because I recognized his face and kept trying to figure out what movie I had already seen him in. Also, his hair freaked me out a little,  just seems too "fake" as a blonde and consequently not as genuinely in love with Katniss as I got from the book. The only criticism I have with Katniss was that I thought she needed to look a little thinner. She was always hungry - starving in the book, but she looked pretty well fed to me! I went with a friend of mine who hadn't read the book, and I asked her about halfway through if she was following the story ok and she said she thought she was... the reason I asked was because once they were headed to the Capitol and the games began, you didn't have the luxury of knowing what the characters were thinking of their "strategy". I really think that the movie was made with the assumption that most viewers would be people who had already read the book. Along that same line, they showed a little more of Haymitch working for sponsors, and they left Madge and the Mayor of District 12 out altogether, which required a minor change in the story with reference to her Mockingjay token.

Overall, I'm glad I saw it. I love going to the movies and my Netflix queue is much longer than I'll probably ever get to watching. Glad I got this one under my belt before I had to wait for it on DVD. Which is where I'm at with One for the Money.