 | Book vs. Movie |  |
Okay, so I read the entire book for the third or fourth time and finished (literally) right before the trailers began. A few quick notes about the theater: We got there at 8:45 for a midnight showing and got to sit in our theater seats for that entire time. JACKPOT! There were a bunch of people dressed up as Katniss, tributes, or Capitol dwellers. (I only had on my mockingjay pin.) When they showed a trailer for the new Twilight movie and for the Snow White movie with Kristen Stewart, people booed...and I smiled at their booing. (In pride!) I was so giddily excited to see what Lionsgate and Gary Ross had in store for me and every other Hunger Games fan out there. First off, some advice to all fans of the series: DO NOT READ THE BOOK AGAIN RIGHT BEFORE YOU SEE THIS MOVIE. Do you hear me? Don't do it. You'll regret it if you do.
Okay, as I continue on I am going to assume that whoever is reading this blog post has already read the entire book series. In terms of the movie, I'm not sure how someone who hasn't seen it yet would feel. I mean, you already know the entire plot from the book so I'm really not spoiling anything. The way I see it is this: You will be entertained by the movie, it is a pretty good movie all around, but there are a lot of differences from the book and I will lay them out for you. You've been warned.
Okay, as I continue on I am going to assume that whoever is reading this blog post has already read the entire book series. In terms of the movie, I'm not sure how someone who hasn't seen it yet would feel. I mean, you already know the entire plot from the book so I'm really not spoiling anything. The way I see it is this: You will be entertained by the movie, it is a pretty good movie all around, but there are a lot of differences from the book and I will lay them out for you. You've been warned.
A little too "with it"?
The movie opens in a similar fashion as the book, only there are a few text prompts that explain what the Hunger Games are before anything actually happens. Katniss is consoling Prim after she has a nightmare, which doesn't happen in the book--Prim has moved to their mother's bed before she wakes up. Mrs. Everdeen was much more put together in the movie than I would've liked her to be. The audience doesn't know that she works with medicines and this information is deleted from the entirety of the movie so Katniss never makes any references to knowledge of first aid or healing and Rue never helps Katniss with herbs for her tracker jacker stings. I loved the scene between Rue and Katniss in the book when they swap remedies and split supplies but it doesn't exist in the movie; instead, the two of them just eat together and then basically set up the firewood for their sabotage plans. The scene when Rue dies was still very moving but the film did little to develop a relationship between Rue and Katniss.
Believable friendship.
Gale and Katniss' relationship in the movie stays pretty true to the book and it was a highlight for me overall. The beginning scene with the two of them hunting creates a realistic belief by the audience that these two characters have a history. The dialogue between the two stays true to the book and we get the feeling of Gale's underlying distrust of the system. Additionally, we get to see Gale watching the Games once or twice during the movie and that is something we don't ever see in the book: any glimpse of what he might be feeling as he sees Peeta and Katniss together.
Effie, Haymitch, and Katniss watching the scores come in.
Another highlight from start to finish is Effie Trinket. Elizabeth Banks does a wonderful job in character and even when she had lines that didn't appear in the book, she provided comic relief--comic relief that I'd hoped would come from Haymitch but... not so much. I was disappointed that Haymitch doesn't even appear until the tributes are already on the train--there was no falling off the stage or drunkenness or vomiting. He's coherent throughout and I thought that was a letdown.
The biggest difference in the film is the mockingjay pin. *sigh* In the book, Katniss receives the pin from Madge, a friend from District 12. She wears it not knowing its significance until she and Rue have a discussion in the arena. In the movie, Madge doesn't exist. Katniss finds the pin in the Hob, gives it to Prim to "protect her at the Reaping", Prim gives it back to Katniss, and then there is never a discussion with Rue. Oh, and Katniss wears the pin on her dress at the very end of the movie as a sign of her rebellion, which never happened in the book. I was such a fan of the way the pin was introduced in the book--not so much in the movie.
The biggest difference in the film is the mockingjay pin. *sigh* In the book, Katniss receives the pin from Madge, a friend from District 12. She wears it not knowing its significance until she and Rue have a discussion in the arena. In the movie, Madge doesn't exist. Katniss finds the pin in the Hob, gives it to Prim to "protect her at the Reaping", Prim gives it back to Katniss, and then there is never a discussion with Rue. Oh, and Katniss wears the pin on her dress at the very end of the movie as a sign of her rebellion, which never happened in the book. I was such a fan of the way the pin was introduced in the book--not so much in the movie.
Cinna and Katniss.
On a side note, I didn't mind that Cinna gave her the mockingjay pin as a sort of "secret" between the two of them. I was one of those people who complained about Lenny Kravitz' casting as Cinna but I'll eat crow on this one because he really could do no wrong. I was surprised as how much I liked him in that part.
The movie does capture the general feeling of the games and it doesn't skimp out on a lot of the violence. There are definitely a few deaths I was surprised to see included, but at the same time a lot of the deaths are just skipped over. (e.g. Katniss doesn't battle anyone for the backpack) After the initial battle at the cornucopia, 12 die instead of 11. WHY? Thresh is killed by the muttations instead of Cato. WHY? I guess just to move the story along but these little changes could've just used one dialogue line and stayed true to the book. (edit: It might be unclear how Thresh dies in the book. The scene near the end was changed, however, because in the book Cato comes frantically running past Peeta and Katniss and Peeta is limping as they all run together to the cornucopia. This would've been an even more adrenaline-filled scene if it'd stayed true to the book.)
The movie does capture the general feeling of the games and it doesn't skimp out on a lot of the violence. There are definitely a few deaths I was surprised to see included, but at the same time a lot of the deaths are just skipped over. (e.g. Katniss doesn't battle anyone for the backpack) After the initial battle at the cornucopia, 12 die instead of 11. WHY? Thresh is killed by the muttations instead of Cato. WHY? I guess just to move the story along but these little changes could've just used one dialogue line and stayed true to the book. (edit: It might be unclear how Thresh dies in the book. The scene near the end was changed, however, because in the book Cato comes frantically running past Peeta and Katniss and Peeta is limping as they all run together to the cornucopia. This would've been an even more adrenaline-filled scene if it'd stayed true to the book.)
May the odds be ever in your favor.
Throughout the Games, we are shown how the gamemakers create and edit the arena and I have to say, that was quite interesting. It was something we never got to experience in the book and it added to the movie. Because readers know what is coming in books two and three, the filmmakers added a few details into the film to give hints at where the series is going. After Katniss gives her salute to Rue, we see riots in District 11. We see a few conversations between President Snow and Seneca Crane about the purpose of the games and containing the tiny bit of hope created by them. I understand why these scenes were included but I wish there was a way to include them without taking out scenes I wish were retained. And so it goes. I think a much more successful way to incorporate the underlying tension in the districts would've been to include the Avox in the movie and flashback while Katniss explains to Peeta where she recognized her from. That happens in the book but the Avox, who has several scenes with Katniss in the book, is absent from the film.
Other scenes that are absent or changed in the movie:
Other scenes that are absent or changed in the movie:
- Katniss never receives bread from Rue's district
- Katniss never receives sleep potion or gives it to Peeta
- They never receive a feast basket when they are starving. (also, they are never starving)
- There is never a dried-up stream or torrential rain
- Peeta never really appears all that sick. At the end of the games, he just hops down off the cornucopia and he and Katniss look/act rather healthy. There is no mention of either requiring any hospitalization, no metal leg or cane.
- Katniss' dress for the interview has ZERO jewels on it. And she twirls in her dress to create flames in what is probably the cheesiest scene in the movie.
- Peeta throws a heavy object in training to prove to the Careers that he is no one to be scoffed at
- Rue steals a knife from a Career during the training period.
- Katniss doesn't have flames painted on her nails. (easy fix)
- The muttations at the end are just CGI dogs and not combinations of the tributes and wolves. This made me sad.
- Katniss is never visibly thirsty. She finds water right away and doesn't have to wander around trying to find it. She stays basically healthy throughout the entire Games except for her tracker jacker stings and her leg burn.
- After Peeta professes his crush on Katniss during the interview, she doesn't injure his hands.
- After Katniss wakes up from hallucinating from her stings, Rue is there explaining that Katniss had been asleep for days and that she'd been changing her camouflage.
- The sponsor gifts are delivered with a little noise, in a metal case with actual notes from Haymitch. (this change made sense to me)
The movie ends at a similar point that the book does but continuing the discussion on Katniss and Peeta, I was missing his realization that it was all faked, or at least a good portion of it was. In the book, Haymitch prepares Katniss for the post-Games interview and tells her that he doesn't need to do so for Peeta because "he's already there." Peeta only finds out Katniss' jumbled feelings after that. The movie ends with Peeta still being clueless and Katniss making eye contact with Gale back in District 12. And with President Snow looking generally evil and plotting. And with Seneca Crane being locked in a room with poisonous berries.
Using our new ratings system, I'd give the new Hunger Games movie:
 | "You pleased me some of the time." (From The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and directed by Kevin Reynolds in 2002) It was okay. We would probably watch it again if it were on in the middle of the day. But we'd be reading at the same time. |
This is actually probably somewhere between 3 and 4 stars. I think I would've enjoyed the film more if I hadn't read the book directly beforehand. The glaring omission of several of my favorite characters (mostly Madge and the Avox) and the character inconsistencies of Mrs. Everdeen and Haymitch nagged at me. I wanted to see more of the Capitol and all the inventions, and I was missing a lot of relationship development. I will be going to see it once or twice more in theaters with members of my family and I can't wait to hear what they think. What did YOU think? Did you catch something I missed? Did you love it? Let's discuss in the comments!
