This is not a review, just an initial reaction... **Spoiler Alert**
Having been a huge fan of the books, my expectations were unreasonably high for the movie. I walked away from the theater disappointed, but still found the movie to be really enjoyable. I wasn't shocked though since Book 1 was always my least favorite of the 3, with my main complaint being that the ending felt anti-climatic. After seeing the movie, I still feel that this point of the overall story feels rather anti-climatic, which is somewhat strange given that the heroine "won" when all is said and done. I would have preferred if they ended the first movie a little bit into Book 2... maybe with Snow paying Katniss a visit in Victor's Village?
Things I liked:
Arcade Fire during the credits.
The set design / costume design of the Capitol and its people.
Jennifer Lawrence's curves in her training gear.
The Reaping scene.
How the Gamemakers controlled the arena with their 3D touch screen technology.
How Seneca Crane was killed off.
Effie's obliviousness and unintentional humor.
The Cornucopia. I couldn't figure out how that would look, or how that scene in the book was even possible, so the futuristic interpretation was nice.
Cato's final "speech" conveyed depth to that character that we didn't get to see from the other Tributes, except Rue.
The "3 Finger" salute to District 11.
I thought I was going to dislike Woody as Haymitch, especially because that's absolutely not how I pictured him in my head, but I thought his portrayal was excellent.
When that initial Mutt leaped from the shadows it definitely startled the entire audience.
The concept of the Mutts always seemed strange to me in the books, so I'm glad they held back a little bit with the whole "eye balls" thing.
In the book we learned a lot through Katniss' POV, so to inform the audience by interjecting Flickerman's TV commentary throughout was pretty clever, and it also made it feel more like the reality show it's supposed to be.
Things I didn't like:
Gale's delivery of "Katnip".
They removed the "10... 9... 8..." countdown that was in the trailer. The silence made it suspenseful, but I still think the countdown could've worked better.
Peeta's camouflage was ridiculous. In a bad, distracting way.
When Katniss is up in the tree why not just walk around the other side of the tree and just keep shooting arrows?
How the Careers didn't see Katniss after their stockpile exploded, even when she clamored off in to the woods.
How after the trackerjacker attack Katniss was out in the open for days and nobody found her (although I suppose the Careers could've been busy tending to their own wounds?).
During the Feast at the Cornucopia, why wouldn't you just take all the bags and deprive the other Tributes of the thing they needed to survive?
When Katniss shoots Cato in the hand and he spins off of the Cornucopia. I feel like if I didn't know what happened in the book that would've appeared as one big confusing blur of action.
I wish we would've seen the hover crafts remove the bodies from the Arena. Especially Rue's.
The "berry" scene at the end could've been more suspenseful... Peeta latched on to that whole suicide thing rather quickly, and I would've liked to see Crane reacting like "Holy shit! What do I do?" Also, I feel like Katniss and Peeta could've been a little more excited to be alive.
Cinna and Katniss' "bond" seemed unfounded... kind of just came out of nowhere.
My main gripe: Katniss wins hearts volunteering for Prim, wows with her dress, has the whole star-crossed lovers thing going for her, and scored an 11 from the judges during training, yet Haymitch keeps saying that nobody likes her, yadda yadda. Then Peeta, who also has the star-crossed-lover thing going for him, knows how to play the "game" with the sponsors, and scored a very decent 8 from the judges, complains he can't get parachutes like Katniss can.
Other general thoughts:
I wouldn't have minded a movie with a more graphic portrayal of the violence, but I didn't necessarily miss it. I get why it was done this way, and I'm OK with that.
Cinna's flames were OK. Not awful, but didn't play me away.
I'm still not convinced they did a good job casting Peeta, although he didn't bother me as much as I anticipated.
Gale talked too much... Not!
I can't believe we have to wait until November 2013 for the next one... although I'm glad to see it absolutely killed it at the box office this weekend.
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