THE HUNGER GAMES - More Opinions.

The Hunger Games is destined for greatness, despite what you or I think of it. It made almost $70mm in one day.  I mean. The writing is on the wall, no matter the quality of the entertainment.

That somehow doesn't stop me from posting my thoughts.  Three days after I finished the novels (all three), the first installment of the blockbuster film adaptation was released.  Although my co-workers organized an outing on Wednesday of next week, I couldn't bear for so many of the people I follow on Twitter to have seen it so far before I.  So, when offered the opportunity to see it in the morning after release on the upper West Side? yes, I snapped it up.

The "best American Sci-Fi since the Matrix?" Sure - I don't know enough about American Sci-Fi to disagree.  Highly, highly enjoyable and true to the books.

What I Liked:

* The main character.  Just like the book, American teenagers (and general audiences) have a real and true hero I can vouch for. Someone complex, someone brave. Someone who is more than a pretty face.

* The Tracker-Jacker kill - TENSE!

*Stanley Tucci. Yes. Yes, yes, yes. 1,000 times, yes.

* The screenplay - I didn't miss much that they cut. I wasn't offended by the minor changes they made between book and movie.  There was no change that compromised the tone/purpose/etc. 

* Jennifer Lawrence - She brought it.  She has the acting chops to play up the shadows of this character.

What I'm not so sure about:

* Gale casting.  He' s a little too pretty and not woodsy enough.  I felt like I was watching a studio-head's decision of what one party in a love triangle should be played by. I admit he doesn't have the most important role in this film, and I will stand by and see how his contribution changes over the course of the next two movies.

* I'm not sure the movie emphasized enough the starvation and suffering - both in District 12 before the games, and of the tributes (mainly our heroine) during the games.

* Why did not all of the deaths lead to a gong noise? Sometimes it sounded, and sometimes it didn't. Odd...


I do plan to see the movie again on Wednesday, provided I don't get distracted by the tons of other film events happening at NYC this week.