I'm not usually a fan of books turned movies. The movies never do the books justice and I get pissed off at the littlest things that they change or leave out.
Right now I'm in a reading funk. I have some books that I'm currently reading that are really great, I just can't seem to get into them for more than a couple of pages. And it has nothing to do with the book itself (like I said, they're pretty great) it's just me.
So I decided to take a reading break for a few days. I was out and about on the 18th and passed by a huge display of The Hunger Games movie. I stopped. I looked. I picked one up and inspected the cover. I put it back and moved on. Five minutes later I was drawn back to the display and repeated my previous actions and then...I added the movie to my cart!
What?!
I don't know why I did it. I can count on one hand how many movies based on books I've seen. I rarely watch them let alone buy them. Maybe it was because Jennifer Lawrence looks almost exactly like how I pictured her. Maybe I just wanted to see how they portrayed my beloved Gale. I don't know why I bought it; I just know I did.
Early hours Sunday morning, while the house was still quiet, I watched it. And...I'm almost ashamed to admit this, but.... I liked it!
I chalked it up to not having my coffee, being over tired and probably falling asleep during half of it and dreaming my own movie version. So I watched it again. And still, I liked it. O_o Yep, that was my reaction to my liking this movie.
Even though they left out parts (because when don't they?) I think should have been in there, it was still a good movie version. They came fairly close to nailing how I pictured both Katniss and Peeta. A little off on my version of Gale, but still not bad. Woody Harrelson was all wrong for Haymitch, in my opinion, but he didn't screw it up too badly. And Donald Sutherland as Snow? Again, the last person I would have picked...that one I'm still out on. I'm not sure how I feel about him. I think he's a fabulous actor, I'm just torn how I feel about him having this part.
Does this mean I'll give more movies based on books a chance? Probably not. Will I see the rest of The Hunger Game series? Possibly.
Fingers, toes and eyes crossed they don't screw them up.
I bought the downloadable version at midnight on Saturday, on Amazon lol. I also was pleasantly surprised at how closely the movie followed the book. They did leave some key things out and I had to explain some things to my hubby, who has not read the book. But, overall they did a good job. I agree with you on Sutherland though-wth?!
ReplyDeleteHow funny. I watched this weekend for the first time (after having read book 1 way back in 2008). Overall, I was pleased, but my complaints were 1) I didn't feel they played up how Katniss really felt about Gale enough and 2) I never, ever pictured a Woody Harrelson for Haymitch. I was thinking more along the lines of Steve Buscemi from Fargo (but then again, I guess he's hard to picture as a one time victor of the games).
ReplyDeleteI'm okay with Snow. Not necessarily my picture, but I think evil enough to fit the bill.