Not to mention, hearing some days later, during this week that the movie's opening weekend apparently broke some record for being the first non-sequel to do exceptionally well in the box office sales.
So, yours truly caught The Hunger Games last night, even though going into the cinema, I still mistakenly thought it was a barbaric-era styled flick heavy on the gory tournament fighting scenes (rolls eyes), a la Dead or Alive-style.
Instead, it turned out to be more a mixture of Survivor and Lord of the Flies thrown in.
Verdict? My hunger for the hype was somewhat satiated.
Delightful bits:
-Taking in the wacky appearances of all the well-off people living in the capital of the city. In the warped world that is the Hunger Games, a normal, middle-class person looks like a high-end model from say, a Tim Burton dream fashion collection while the heartland person looks 'peasantly', Amish-like and well, normal-looking. Keep an eye out for the welcome crowd scene when the bullet train finally pulls into capital city after its long journey to bring in our two young leads from District 12. Also, the scene where the hoity-toity sponsors view the contestants in person for the first time and are milling around, waiting for them to roll out in their chariots.
-Jennifer Lawrence is gorgeous. Though she may have your typical emo reluctant heroine (part Bella Swan) voice act going on which alone may not win you over, the quietly confident steel in her demeanour just makes you not want to take your eyes off her for a second. Also, I love her smokey look. She's not called the 'girl on fire' in the show for nothing, eh.
-Well, a little bit of the futuristic X-Men: First Class element is in there, in terms of the kids and youths displaying their lethal weaponry skills during their training sessions in the lead-up to the game, which pleasantly surprised me because, like I said earlier, I'd expected a more gritty, dated setting for this film. Also, on first viewing, the talk show/commentator's lavishly pompous, goldeny-themed stage is gorgeous, with the guests' faces moving animatedly on the banners behind the host. Notwithstanding the Oscars Awards reference, the scene made the viewer like a part of the talk show, like it was almost 3D.
Also, the scenery shots of the city when we first see a glimpse of it, is great. Be awed by the life-like, and again, almost 3D effect of their version of a futuristic Hoover Dam.
Unsavoury parts:
-It's overall a teenage flick, and the trite Love trump card is miserably played out in the last third of the film. Also, 'teenagey' means the 'fight scenes' were almost non-existent, brief and overall action element was very tame. It makes the Twilight movies in comparison, seem violent(?), next to this. The director could have taken a leaf out of Sucker Punch's book, what with a female action heroine as its lead, but alas, the makers of this show chose an old dude to helm this project, and which he probably made it with his grandchildren in mind or something.
-Where were the emotional soundtracks playing predictably but lovably in the background during the pivotal parts of the film?? Narnia had Regina Spektor, why weren't Taylor Swift's aching voice featured for even a split second in a single scene? Why have all these creative musicians and instrumentalists like The Civil Wars, The Decemberists, Maroon 5, and Glen Hansard (of Swell Season fame) on the OST album but not bother to feature their works on the big screen? It didn't help that the audience of the packed cinema was mostly silent during the run of the film. Where were the memorable movie orchestral scores?? Hmppph.
-Therefore, the sound effects were similarly non-existent. I'd expected this flick to come under the 'Blockbuster' category but it's produced by the independent company, Lionsgate. So even though the cinema chains proudly advertise this show in it's 'digital form', don't expect to be blow away aurally. In fact, your usual Surround Sound ad intro to any ol' decent movies worth your bucks in the past, was not seen this time (or maybe because I had just came out of the theatre's loo and missed out on the first few second?).
The Hunger Games, left me wanting for a substantial more flavour and meat, if you know what I mean. (Especially as my salty $10 'Phai Si Ew' noodles at Siam Kitchen @ its Lot 1 outlet earlier on in the evening was a pretty horrid dish that suffered false advertising in its menu, as pointed out by the staff taking my order.)
To make up for my pretty bland night, below's the entire playlist of the OST ((it sounds pretty 'effin awesome btw) I whipped up on Youtube, enjoy, and who knows, you may get the full course if and when I review the album proper in my next few posts, we'll see.
And apparently, for the MV of the first track Safe & Sound feat. Ms Swift, actor Johnny Depp pretends to play the guitar parts in there! Check it out:
