The Hunger Games is amazing. Period.

Just came back from watching The Hunger Games, and loving every minute of it. This movie is amazing. Period.
I've read the book, thrice. And every time I read it, I still felt the goosebump like the first time I got into this trilogy. I've cried and got scared by this book like never before, simply because this book is amazing. Imagine how excited I was when the news about the upcoming movie surfaced. It's a long time waiting, digging information and photos like crazy. Now that I've watched it, I've no regret. AT ALL!

Buat yang baca novelnya, filmnya jelas memuaskan.
Jalan ceritanya setia sama novelnya. Alurnya pun pas, runtun, jadi yang nggak baca bukunya pun bisa ikutin. Semua part-part penting ada dan sama, sesuai deskripsi novelnya, Kalaupun ada pemotongan, penambahan, atau perubahan sedikit-sedikit disana-sini juga nggak mengganggu cerita.

Yang agak kurang menurut saya, adalah penekanan bahwa Hunger Games ini... brutal? I mean, setiap tahun anak-anak harus mendaftar untuk ikut kompetisi dimana semua akan saling bunuh, for real. Ada yang mati dehidrasi, mati beku, mati kelaparan, mati gosong, digorok macam sapi, bahkan ada yang jadi kanibal karena gila. And yet, setiap tahun Hunger Games wajib diperlakukan selayaknya festival, harus dirayakan, dan wajib ditonton semua orang di semua distrik. Orang-orang dipaksa melihat keluarga, teman, kenalan mereka mati di televisi, sebagai hiburan. Ironi itu, rasa jijik dan helpless itu, yang menurut saya lebih berasa kalo kita baca sendiri bukunya.

Anyway, penggambaran keadaan di distrik-distrik yang miskin sampai ke Capitol yang maju dan modern bagus. Dan kostum-kostum sama makeupnya orang-orang Capitol itu gila. Baguuuuus, unik, ajaib, aneh, pas sama penggambaran di buku dan bayangan saya. I wonder how much those costumes cost though....

Saya pribadi puas sama tokoh-tokohnya. Jennifer Lawrence pas jadi Katniss, galaknya dapet, nggak luar biasa cantik tapi menarik, nyebelin dan selfishnya ada, tapi tetep bikin simpatik. Saya awalnya agak gak suka Josh Hutcherson jadi Peeta, nggak sesuai bayangan saya soalnya. Tapi ternyata justru pas. Effie, Caesar Flickerman, Foxface, Rue, Cato, Clove, Glimmer, Rue, Tresh, semua pas. Oh, and I love Cinna. Awalnya memang nggak kebayang kalo Cinna itu berkulit hitam, tapi begitu tahu yang main Lenny Kravitz and he turned out great, no I'm not complaining. Oh, and I looove that they didn't forget Cinna' gold eyeliner. Haymitch-nya juga pas mabuknya, nyebelinnya, sekaligus how he actually try to help Katniss.

Yang bikin sebel itu Gale. Why Liam Hemsworth, why??? He's way too handsome its not fair! I used to support Peeta, and now look how I wish Katniss ended up with Gale.

Saya suka semua soundtracknya (kecuali lagunya Taylor Swift, sudah pasti. Yuck) Favorit saya jelas the four-notes Rue's Whistle. It hardly called a song though, tapi sebagai salah satu bagian paling ikonik dari ceritanya, it's perfect. That 4 notes is haunting, sad, and yet beautiful.

Bagian bunuh-bunuhannya juga pas. Walaupun sudah di tone-down dan less brutal dibanding bukunya, menurut saya malah lebih pas untuk konsumsi grafis. And personally, I felt grateful  they didn't mention details about the mutts, and how they're all actually created from the dead tributes' DNA. I hate that part, it's sad, immoral, and disgusting.

Filmnya sendiri jelas punya beberapa kekurangan dibanding bukunya, misalnya :
- The three-fingers salute. Di filmnya cuma digambarkan sekilas, cenderung aneh, meaningless, dan mungkin malah lucu. Di bukunya, momen ketika semua orang di distrik memberi hormat ke Katniss digambarkan 'sakral', dan bahwa ada arti dibalik gerakan tangan yang nggak biasa itu.
- The Mockingjay. Baik pin dan burungnya, filmnya kurang sukses menyampaikan pentingnya peranan si Mockingjay ini.
And I don't know if it's just me, tapi rasanya filmnya kurang kasih lihat bahwa Katniss itu cuma pura-pura cinta ke Peeta. Sebaliknya, rasanya justru seolah-olah Katniss akhirnya suka dan beneran peduli ke Peeta. Not that I'm complaining, though. I do hate that side of Katniss, and I'm glad that the movie made her more... likeable.

Anywaaaaay
Intinya film dan buku adalah dua media yang berbeda. Mencoba membandingkan keduanya adalah percuma. Lebih baik dinikmati aja dua-duanya, sebagai dua penyajian yang berbeda, dengan kelebihannya masing-masing.
As a movie, The Hunger Games did an extremely good job. I was left mouth-gaping, and it will haunt my mind for days, for sure.

The one with the simplest mind

That man up there is Tablo. He's 32 years-old, married, father of one, and couldn't be considered handsome in any sort of ways.
But he's a damn good rapper from the mighty Epik High. He writes damn good songs with lyrics that simply stunning. Oh, and he's a Stanford University graduate.
Behind that, well, not-so-good-looks, there's a man with unbelievably amazing talents who writes words like a wise man. And that made him much more attractive than those muscular-six packs hunks.

Anyway....
Some things happened to me these past few weeks. Things that remind me to see and not to judge. Things that changed my point of view and made me learn.

I learned that the one who talk the most are the one who lie the most.
I learned that the one with the most venomous words is the one who throw the sweetest word.
I learned that the selfish one is surprisingly the one who care the most.
I learned that the stranger is the one who understand the most, while the closest one is the one who doesn't give a shit.
I learned that the smartest isn't always honest.
I learned that the one who joke the most is the most responsible one.
I learned that the arrogant one is the one with the biggest pressure
And I learned, that the one I used to underestimate. the one that I thought not good for anything, the one that irritate me the most, are the one with the kindest heart.

And I remembered, that the one who had the simplest mind is the one who had all the answer.