review by Robert Baum Patron
The Hunger Games 2012
Watched Mar 23, 2012
Robert Baum’s review:
Overall, I will say that I found the movie watchable and somewhat entertaining with Jennifer Lawrence giving a pretty decent performance in the lead role.
The movie is a pretty standard and unimaginative retelling of the novel, even though novelist Suzanne Collins had a hand in the screenplay. Director Ross really didn't bring anything interesting or exciting to the table. His direction was merely competent. I was surprised by how cheap looking the film was for its budget, which is particularly apparent whenever visual effects are used. The shaky cam/verite aesthetic was VERY obnoxious and off-putting.
going to see it tomorrow. did you read the book?
I did read the book. The movie is a pretty standard retelling. Nothing amazing, but entertaining overall.
I felt the same way. Pure vanilla stuff. But, hey, sometimes vanilla is pretty good. The "cheap" look was one of the first things I noticed but I associated that with the poorness of District 12 so that worked for me. I'm not sure I'll ever become a fan of the shaky cam though.