Short version: I didn't like it.
Long version:
From a technical standpoint, things that bothered me: THE FUCKING SHAKY CAM. Omg. Omg could they have toned that the fuck down? I COULD NOT SEE ANYTHING. And what the fuck was with the microcloseups? Yes, Jennifer Lawrence has very nice skin. Now pull the camera back like ten feet, at least. All the fights looked like a blur of nothing. I could never see what the fuck was going on. That bothered me more than anything, I think.
The styling was pretty lame. The Capitol wasn't scary-freaky enough, both citizens and buildings. Looked too stately. It should have been overdesigned to the point of being grotesque. The ultimate of luxury every single place you looked. Also, what was with Woody's suits and flowing weave? So weird and not Haymitch-y. Katniss' style was really underwhelming, especially the Capitol stuff. The gowns were really generic and the fire was awful; not at all impressive or striking. Cinna's supposed to be INSANE at designing, c'mon. What were those lamefuck little flames on Peeta's jacket? Why didn't Cinna say that gorgeous thing about how they burn coal and that's why she was going to be on fire?
The script. Clunky. Missing all subtlety and nuance. Took out a lot of character establishing moments that wouldn't have been hard to do (like Haymitch drunk at the Reaping) and cut a lot of important small moments (something like Peeta explaining the bread to Katniss during training) that are needed to build relationships. I didn't get the sense that Katniss and Peeta were at all friends. When it came time for the cave stuff (which was way too short), I wasn't sold. I didn't get the sense that Katniss was conflicted. You're supposed to wonder, when she's saying all that romantic jazz, if she really means it or not. Katniss herself doesn't really know. There was none of that: no nuance.
I didn't get much of a sense of the other tributes, either, or even the other main characters. I didn't like Cato's little speech at the end at all, but I don't remember how that went in the book. Didn't Thresh and Cato have a fight and disappear into that field of grain? Why none of that?
Also, I didn't like that they kept pulling us out of the arena to see reactions/gamemakers/announcers/etc. It kept pulling me out of the story. I should feel trapped in the Arena, because Katniss is trapped. But they kept pulling me out of it. The movie really really needed voiceover, because the entire novel hangs on your (the audience's) relationship with Katniss and I felt robbed of that. I had no emotional connection to her. I should have been able to realize things as she realized them, instead of getting yanked out of the moment and having everything explained to me.
There was NO TENSION. I should have felt on edge the entire time they were in the Arena and I was not. It got pretty draggy and boring. While reading, you're so on the edge of your seat, it feels like danger is so imminent. The film didn't.
The music was irritating. It kept trying to manipulate me but I wasn't feeling any of the emotions it wanted me to feel, so it just felt needlessly dramatic.
The pacing was FUCKED. SO FUCKED. So off! Rushed in some places and draggy in others, totally at odds with what was happening. I also felt like it kept focusing on unnecessary things and skipping important things?
I really wanted it to have a strong visual style, but it didn't. I wanted some kind of stylization; something distinct. I really wanted the guy who did The Fifth Element to direct, actually. But that's not a huuuuuge deal. If everything else had been perfect, I could have dealt with it.
I didn't think Jennifer Lawrence was awful or anything, but I only really liked her in scenes with Prim and Rue. I felt very emotionally disconnected from Katniss (Peeta too. Almost everyone, really). Rue was perfect, I loved that little lady; she was ostentatiously gorgeous. I felt like Jennifer Lawrence was too often dead in the eyes, but maybe with a better director or script or voiceover, I would have felt differently. She never felt like Katniss to me. I didn't hate Josh as Peeta but I didn't really dig him either. Miley Cyrus' boyfriend genuinely bothered me the least, maybe because I expected him to bother me the most.
I really didn't like that the parachutes came with messages and that we didn't get Katniss' struggle to find water. It was really imperative to getting at how similar she and Haymitch were, how much they understood each other. Again, voiceover could have helped.
I adored Effie. Adooooored.
I was really excited about Woody as Haymitch and Lenny as Cinna, but I wasn't really into them? I feel like that was symptomatic of everything else, though. Their relationships with Katniss had no development. The script was awful. The directing needed to be better. Actors can only do so much on their own.
I didn't like that we got barely any sense of Katniss and Peeta as individuals or together. For this book/film, they are the most important characters with the most important relationship because everything rides on them. Katniss has everything Peeta doesn't: the ability to survive, the know-how, the spark. Peeta has everything Katniss doesn't: the charm, the ease, the words. They compliment each other. That's part of why their love story can sell, both within the world of the novel and without. But I didn't get any of that, of friendship between them or anything else. The amazingness of their scenes in the cave, when it's raining and they talk about her father and her singing? Not there. Also why did they look so good when they'd been struggling through the Arena for weeks? Why did that magic ointment totally fix Peeta's leg? They took absolutely ALL THE TENSION out of every single moment. Especially at the end, you're supposed to get the split-second sense that maybe Katniss will kill him, because she has to. There needs to be LAYERS and CHARACTERIZATION. Both of which this film lacked.
I just didn't feel emotionally connected to anything or anyone. All in all, I doubt I'm going to bother seeing the rest of them.
Long version:
From a technical standpoint, things that bothered me: THE FUCKING SHAKY CAM. Omg. Omg could they have toned that the fuck down? I COULD NOT SEE ANYTHING. And what the fuck was with the microcloseups? Yes, Jennifer Lawrence has very nice skin. Now pull the camera back like ten feet, at least. All the fights looked like a blur of nothing. I could never see what the fuck was going on. That bothered me more than anything, I think.
The styling was pretty lame. The Capitol wasn't scary-freaky enough, both citizens and buildings. Looked too stately. It should have been overdesigned to the point of being grotesque. The ultimate of luxury every single place you looked. Also, what was with Woody's suits and flowing weave? So weird and not Haymitch-y. Katniss' style was really underwhelming, especially the Capitol stuff. The gowns were really generic and the fire was awful; not at all impressive or striking. Cinna's supposed to be INSANE at designing, c'mon. What were those lamefuck little flames on Peeta's jacket? Why didn't Cinna say that gorgeous thing about how they burn coal and that's why she was going to be on fire?
The script. Clunky. Missing all subtlety and nuance. Took out a lot of character establishing moments that wouldn't have been hard to do (like Haymitch drunk at the Reaping) and cut a lot of important small moments (something like Peeta explaining the bread to Katniss during training) that are needed to build relationships. I didn't get the sense that Katniss and Peeta were at all friends. When it came time for the cave stuff (which was way too short), I wasn't sold. I didn't get the sense that Katniss was conflicted. You're supposed to wonder, when she's saying all that romantic jazz, if she really means it or not. Katniss herself doesn't really know. There was none of that: no nuance.
I didn't get much of a sense of the other tributes, either, or even the other main characters. I didn't like Cato's little speech at the end at all, but I don't remember how that went in the book. Didn't Thresh and Cato have a fight and disappear into that field of grain? Why none of that?
Also, I didn't like that they kept pulling us out of the arena to see reactions/gamemakers/announcers/etc. It kept pulling me out of the story. I should feel trapped in the Arena, because Katniss is trapped. But they kept pulling me out of it. The movie really really needed voiceover, because the entire novel hangs on your (the audience's) relationship with Katniss and I felt robbed of that. I had no emotional connection to her. I should have been able to realize things as she realized them, instead of getting yanked out of the moment and having everything explained to me.
There was NO TENSION. I should have felt on edge the entire time they were in the Arena and I was not. It got pretty draggy and boring. While reading, you're so on the edge of your seat, it feels like danger is so imminent. The film didn't.
The music was irritating. It kept trying to manipulate me but I wasn't feeling any of the emotions it wanted me to feel, so it just felt needlessly dramatic.
The pacing was FUCKED. SO FUCKED. So off! Rushed in some places and draggy in others, totally at odds with what was happening. I also felt like it kept focusing on unnecessary things and skipping important things?
I really wanted it to have a strong visual style, but it didn't. I wanted some kind of stylization; something distinct. I really wanted the guy who did The Fifth Element to direct, actually. But that's not a huuuuuge deal. If everything else had been perfect, I could have dealt with it.
I didn't think Jennifer Lawrence was awful or anything, but I only really liked her in scenes with Prim and Rue. I felt very emotionally disconnected from Katniss (Peeta too. Almost everyone, really). Rue was perfect, I loved that little lady; she was ostentatiously gorgeous. I felt like Jennifer Lawrence was too often dead in the eyes, but maybe with a better director or script or voiceover, I would have felt differently. She never felt like Katniss to me. I didn't hate Josh as Peeta but I didn't really dig him either. Miley Cyrus' boyfriend genuinely bothered me the least, maybe because I expected him to bother me the most.
I really didn't like that the parachutes came with messages and that we didn't get Katniss' struggle to find water. It was really imperative to getting at how similar she and Haymitch were, how much they understood each other. Again, voiceover could have helped.
I adored Effie. Adooooored.
I was really excited about Woody as Haymitch and Lenny as Cinna, but I wasn't really into them? I feel like that was symptomatic of everything else, though. Their relationships with Katniss had no development. The script was awful. The directing needed to be better. Actors can only do so much on their own.
I didn't like that we got barely any sense of Katniss and Peeta as individuals or together. For this book/film, they are the most important characters with the most important relationship because everything rides on them. Katniss has everything Peeta doesn't: the ability to survive, the know-how, the spark. Peeta has everything Katniss doesn't: the charm, the ease, the words. They compliment each other. That's part of why their love story can sell, both within the world of the novel and without. But I didn't get any of that, of friendship between them or anything else. The amazingness of their scenes in the cave, when it's raining and they talk about her father and her singing? Not there. Also why did they look so good when they'd been struggling through the Arena for weeks? Why did that magic ointment totally fix Peeta's leg? They took absolutely ALL THE TENSION out of every single moment. Especially at the end, you're supposed to get the split-second sense that maybe Katniss will kill him, because she has to. There needs to be LAYERS and CHARACTERIZATION. Both of which this film lacked.
I just didn't feel emotionally connected to anything or anyone. All in all, I doubt I'm going to bother seeing the rest of them.