I finally (cue the dramatics) saw the Hunger Games last night… and it exceeded all of my expectations of a book-I-loved-turned-movie. I laughed, I teared up (I dare you to tell me you didn’t during the reaping and Rue scene… you know what I’m talking about), I nearly lost my ‘ish at the end with the mutts, and I thought it was so very, very well done.

Obviously, the book was better and more detailed, but when is it not? Taking that into consideration, I LOVED the movie.

If you’ve been reading this little blog since the beginning of time (also known as June 2011) you’ll remember I mentioned the Hunger Games about every single post for a solid 8 weeks. I loved the books. I loved them so much I read the series twice. Just like my favorite celebrity of all time Kristen Bell. (Watch this video, I beg of you. You’ll quickly see why I want to become best friends with her.)

There’s something about obsessively reading the books and then seeing the movie… you envision the way people look, the way scenes play out, and way you think the story goes.

There’s also something to be said about seeing movies at Kabuki in San Francisco and taking full advantage of the 21+ balcony seating area/pre-show bar for food and refreshments. I had a glass of vino and the pesto chicken personal pizza (extra points for providing seat-side tables every other seat in the theaters Kabuki – well done), but had I not been going to see a movie and actually needed to concentrate on the task at hand – one of these would have definitely happened:

So without further ado, (and if you haven’t seen the movie/read the books I would just stop reading now…)

A Very “Involved” Fan’s Hunger Games Review:

• Peeta- I thought the casting was spot-on. Now before you hit me with a “REALLY? What about your serious questioning/complaining just two months back?” hear me out – I was so unimpressed with the photographs of Josh what’s-his-last-name as Peeta, but I will be the first to say that he came across so much better on-screen than he does in the photographs. I ended up being extremely sold on him as Peeta. I did not however think him and Katniss had any on-screen chemistry.

• Katniss -  I can’t think of anyone else that embodied her more than Jennifer Lawrence. There’s a reason she was nominated for an Oscar in her first major role (Winter’s Bone… and if it wasn’t her first major role it’s the first time I’d heard of her, so just run with me on this one), she’s that good. When she was getting ready for the Games to start, standing in the tube with Cinna (also Lenny Kravitz I’m not a fan of yours in general but you made me like you in this movie), you could actually feel how effing terrified she was. I thought she was spot-on.

• All Peeta love aside, in this particular book/movie, I’m still Team Gale. Sorry, I’m not sorry.

• The reaping was just as depressing, dark, and “seriously, can they really do that?” in the movie as it was in the book.

• Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket and Woody Harrelson as Haymitch. BRAVO casting directors, bravo. (Although I totally pictured Haymitch as being in his 50′s or 60′s… not sure why.)

• Personally I loved when they showed Seneca and the other game-makers coming up with things to “challenge” (okay let’s be real – kill) the tributes. I really don’t think I had pictured the game-makers or how the arena was created in the book and I liked this part of the movie a lot.

The Bad

• I wished they had developed the other tributes a little more, aside from just Cato. Also, girls from District 1 and 2 you are scary and mean.

• President Snow I’m sorry but you were nowhere near as creepy and slimy as they portray in the books. Let’s work on that ick-factor for Catching Fire.

• I also wanted them to go a bit more into Katniss’ mom and how she’s so mentally checked out. I felt like for people who hadn’t read the book it would have been weird to see the half-hearted hug she gave her before she left for the Games, and the flashback after her dad died would have been a bit confusing.

• Why wasn’t the movie 4 hours long? Seriously, go into every detail. I want more.

The Mutts

• Was it just me or did anyone else think the mutts were going to be the size of Labradors and be more “human like”? Weren’t they supposed to have the eyes of the dead tributes? Why were they the size of Bull Mastiff-Gorilla hybrids?

• Building on my previous point, I was beyond stressed out at this point in the movie and I legit jumped out of my seat when they burst onto the screen. I’m also pretty sure I screamed. That may or may not be attributed to the wine.

I can’t wait until 2013 when Catching Fire comes out. That was my favorite of the three books, so I have even higher hopes for it. I also can’t wait for the season premiere of Punk’d and the Pauly D Project tonight. So. Darn. Excited. Judge away my friends, judge away.

Have a great Thursday!