Hunger Games: Flop?

So there's this movie that opened called the hunger contest  or... hunger games or something like that.  I guess some kids fight until they all die or something and apparently it's been a big deal lately.

WHOA WHOA WHOA!  Settle down you guys!  I'm kidding!  Of course I know what Hunger Games is!  Please.  Sheesh, Louise  You joke around about Hunger Games for one second around this place and the whole world wants your neck on a rope.

As you all should know, the movie came out Thursday night/ Friday morning.  By Friday afternoon Hubs' bestie, Eric, had posted this on facebook about the movie:
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Baffled and angered at how terrible Hunger games was. Seriously. Most unimaginative way to depict that story. Didn't care about one scene or character in that movie because no time was taken to develop any relationship. Good job Gary Ross, you successfully wrote and directed a two hour preview of a movie that could have been intense, emotionally provoking and epic.

Eric sure took some heat for this review.  He had 57 comments on his post, each one threatrening a different form of murder.  Kidding. 

But seriously. 

People were mad.

Because Eric wrote such a negative review of Hunger Games I was expecting to hate it myself.    You see, I hate almost all movies.  I spend half of the time saying "You can tell that's a fake apple,"  "No one would ever say that in real life," and "He's a terrible actor."  Hubs even admitted to me that he enjoys movies more without me because I'm not there in his ear whispering critiques throughout the entire movie.

Monday I had the day off of work (admit it, you wish you had my job so bad!) and so Hubs and I traipsed on over to the theatre to check out the movie for ourselves!  I was excited, but mostly scared scared that I was going to hate every second of it and this would just be another Hollywood disappointment.

Consensus:  Loved it!

Here's a little breakdown for you, (since I know you really value my opinion as a movie critic and all:)

Casting:  4/5  I was surprised at how much I loved the casting of Peeta.  So naive and hesitant- perfect for Peeta.  Katniss did excellent as well- strong while still showing fear and insecurity.  My only disappointment was Gale, who seemed too old for the part and a bit misplaced.

 

Relationships:  5/5  My favorite relationship was Katniss and Prim.  In fact, I thought the movie did a much better job than the book at establishing that emotional tie and making you care for Prim and understand Katniss' reason to volunteer for the games.  Also loved the connection between Katniss and Rue and was impressed and how quickly that was established.

Cinematography:... Um... I don't understand what that word means.  But I give it a 5!

Costume/makeup: 5/5  I loved the makeup and costuming of everybody from the capitol, especially in contrast to the drab and lifeless colors of those from the outer districts.  The color and costume choices perfectly showed the contrast of the lives of destitution of those in district 12 to the lives of decadence of those in the capitol.

Fight scenes:  5/5  These were done very tastefully.  I was worried that because the book is as violent as it is that there would be lots of violent and graphic scenes, but they kept it classy.

Overall:  Suspense, emotion, acting, pacing, screenplay...etc... 5/5.

So that's it!  I give the movie a 4.8/5 around these parts!  And that's saying a lot coming from old Bon Bon here!

So what do you think, folksies?  Did you like it as much as I did?  Or did you think it was "unimaginative" and "terrible" like Eric did?  Weigh in!  Every vote counts!  (It really doesn't.  Don't be deceived.  Just trying to muster up some excitement.)

P.S.  Don't forget to enter to win beautiful jewelry in honor of Baby Bonnie.  Competition closes Friday at midnight.  Don't know what I'm talking about?  Read here