By now, you've probably seen the Hunger Games trailer, right? No? Here:
Allow me to sum up my initial reaction: "ASDK;AKDFAJSDF;KANSDFJA;DFJA;KLFJAS;DFJA;AJKA;SKDJFA!"
One always worries about screen adaptations of beloved novels, but I'm no longer worried about this one. It looks awesome.
When I first read the book, I had grave concerns about its adaptability. Collins's depictions of violence are both brutal and alarmingly specific. Hollywood could never show the full effect without alienating 3/4 of its target audience.
Based on the trailer, at any rate, the film seems to take an angle that perhaps requires less focus on the brutality. The trailer jumps between the dystopian Panem and the spectacle of the games. There's every possibility that the movie will do a better job of hammering the book's political themes.
But enough with the thinking. Let's get down to brass tacks.
Beloved Katniss. I don't think you could conjure up better casting in a laboratory. "Straight black hair, olive skin, we even have the same gray eyes. But we’re not related, at least not closely. Most of the families who work the mines resemble one another this way." So she doesn't quite have gray eyes or black hair. I'll live.
Liam Hemsworth is about 20 times hotter than I pictured Gale (but I'm on record as a Gale-hater. That said, the sort of character he plays tends to work much better in films than in books). I'm worried that his extreme good looks will disrupt the Peeta vs. Gale equation in my mind.
And speaking of beloved Peeta...I wasn't sold on Josh Hutcherson's casting originally, but now he seems to have the right amount of quiet intensity.
Whoever cast Elizabeth Banks as Effie deserves an award. Just look at that shot. In the drab greys and blacks of this horrible mining town, she's not a sight for sore eyes, she's an invasion of neon color. The falseness of her identity jars against the gritty reality of District 12. Which is just how it should be.
I had to find something to complain about, right? I won't lie, despite my near total lack of interest in fashion, I was very interested in how the movie would bring Katniss's interview dress to life.
The description in the book:
"The creature standing before me in the full-length mirror has come from another world. Where skin shimmers and eyes flash and apparently they make their clothes from jewels. Because my dress, oh, my dress is entirely covered in reflective precious gems, red and yellow and white with bits of blue that accent the tips of the flame design. The slightest movement gives the impression I am engulfed in tongues of fire."
The costume designer's response? "Meh, fuck it."
Sartorial mishaps nothwithstanding, I couldn't be more excited to see the film. Let me know your thoughts!
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