Movie Vs Book - The Hunger Games

I had enough energy to go watch the Hunger Games over the weekend with hubby :)

This post is going to INCLUDE SPOILERS - so please stay away if you don't want to know what happens! :)

Overall, I think they did a pretty good job - it stayed fairly true to the book, and the details they omitted were probably due to time constraint (it was already over 2 hours). I felt indifferent about the actors selection prior to the movie, unlike some real die hard fans, but I think they all did a wonderful job!

However, there were a few things I wish were different:

• I wish we got to see Gale more. I like both Gale and Peeta, but maybe Gale just a tad more (probably because husband and I are best friends, so I like that between Gale and Katniss). I wish Catniss would perhaps think more about Gale during the Game - now I know it's hard to portray "thinking" in a movie, but I guess she could have whispered to herself or something? To show she missed him? I also wish Gale showed a bit more emotion while watching the Game - granted I get that he probably didn't want to show emotion in public, but I don't know if he looked heartbroken enough when Catniss and Peeta kissed. It doesn't have to be very dramatic - e.g. Catniss was shaking subtly when she talked to Cinna right before she went into the tube during the countdown, you could tell she was scared and nervous - I thought that was probably one of the best acting scene in the movie.

• It also seemed like Catniss started liking Peeta all of a sudden - I get that she was vulnerable after Rue died and that she had just killed another human being, so she felt the need to find Peeta when the game-maker changed the rule of the Game to allow 2 winners from the same district. But it just seemed a bit abrupt.

• For some reasons I thought Haymitch would be more rough looking and drunk lol

• The relationship between Catniss and Cinna also seemed a bit too simplistic, that they just became BFF out of the blue. 

• While the movie was fast paced, I found that there really wasn't a climax? Maybe because I knew what was going to happen? Don't get me wrong, I still cried at multiple spots of the movie, despite remembering the gist of the story (read it 2 years ago), but there wasn't a heart-stopping moment for me.

Anyway, hubby liked it too (he hadn't read the book, and had no idea what the movie was about. I had to reassure him that it was not a chick flick lol.) He thought the ending was a bit abrupt - but he didn't know that it was a trilogy  so he thought the ending was a bit unfinished for those not familiar with the books.

Yes I will still go watch the next one :)



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