The Hunger Games Film - My Thoughts and Comparisons to the Books

[silverducks]

So, I saw The Hunger Games film last night and my thoughts and feelings are still rather all over the place! So I thought I’d try and make sense of them in this LJ post, which is all about what I thought of the film

Comments

[hawthornhedge]

Given that this movie is apparently set to have the third biggest opening weekend for ANY film in the US, I think that the odds are in the fandom's favor that we'll get the rest of the books into movies. Although given that the present release date for Catching Fire is November 2013, it will still be a wait. I can only hope that the gap between Catching Fire and Mockingjay will be shorter but given that MJ is, I think, the most action-y of the movies, that seems unlikely from a logistical point of view.

Anyway, I completely agree with your post! I'm still processing my own feelings about the movies and trying to remember everything, but I just wanted to touch upon some of your own observations.

- The Reaping: It was so well done. I thought that it was so visually effective to have the other children immediately step away from the tributes once the name was called. It made it so clear that their isolation began immediately. And the shock on Prim, Katniss, and Peeta's faces at the names that were called-the actors did such a

GAH - Just too many feelings!!

[silverducks]

Oh I know! I’m so excited for just how well the film has done. And I know a lot of that was because the books were well known, but it seems to have gotten a really good response from critics too. And the fans all seem to love it, which is great - and thoroughly deserved! It’ll be really interesting to see how much more money it makes now. I think it’ll keep on bringing it in for weeks, as it’s definitely one of those films I think a lot of people will want to see again and again! I know I do! There was just so much going on that even though I’ve read the books, I still reallllly want to see the film again! And I bet word of mouth will help make it even more successful - once people get over the fact that no, it’s not just another teen sensation like Twilight. And I read in one article that over half of the audience was actually over the age of 25, so it shows it’s not just a teen thing

Re: GAH - Just too many feelings!!

[hawthornhedge]

You know, for me, I actually found Peeta's swabbing on the medicine to be so much more effective in shippiness than the kiss. I think that it was because, to me, Katniss was allowing Peeta to care for her as well whereas the kiss that we saw was likely for the sponsors (or, at least, that's how I understood it). And I just loved the huge amount of progress that they had made from Katniss' initial awkward silence on the train, her suspicion on the chariot, and her beating on him after his interview.

I really hope that they keep the focus on the K/P relationship in Catching Fire-I think that they kind of have to in order to establish the Katniss' state at the end of CF/beginning of MJ (not sure how spoilery to get in this post?). In a slightly mean sort of way, I really hope that my audience was at least a little representative because they just laughed at poor Gale during his reaction shots when Katniss and Peeta kissed. I am fairly sure that that was probably not the directorial intent!

Re: GAH - Just too many feelings!!

[silverducks]

Oh definitely! Peeta caring for her like that, and Katniss actually letting him, was such a squeeeeee worthy moment. I just wanted it to then end in a kiss! The one which makes her feel that thing! LOL! But as much as I think the kiss they did share was for the cameras initially, there definitely did seem to be so much more there!!

And as I said in my main post, I wonder if they kept the kissing to a minimum because they were trying to play down the real/not real aspect of their romance and more kisses would either need more explanation that it is "pretend" or make people think she likes him much more than she's meant to be aware of at this point. I think toning it down here will make it easier to explain in future films too, when it'll get even harder to explain what's going on in Katniss' head on the big screen

I got the book

[tripp3235]

I got the book and plan to start reading. After the movie was over, I marched my friend out of the movie by the elbow (she had read it) and demanded she inform me if she just sucked me up into another stupid ridiculous triangle. (And I hate them and she knows it). I wanted to verify it was K/P and she said yes. So I'm very excited.

Re: I got the book

[silverducks]

YAY! So glad you got the book - and I get the impression from your reaction you not only loved the film but Katniss and Peeta too!

They are just so, so epic and I admit, the love triangle idea put me off too, but it's sooooo not really there at all really, and what there is actually makes a lot of sense.

And I'm soooo excited for you reading it too! You'll have to let me know your thoughts on the book and the rest of the trilogy. I'm completely addicted and I ship Katniss and Peeta almost, if not more than I ship Mary and Matthew! They are just EPIC!!!!!!

[tripp3235]

I really loathe a triangle but I wouldn't mind characters having prior romantic experiences before the "OTP". I'm up to part 2 in the book and loving them so far. This is really a romance that speaks to me: tough girl and a little softer guy. He falls first but she's fighting it for various reasons. Love that.

[silverducks]

I loathe love triangles too, but the one in the Hunger Games makes a lot of sense, and works imo.

I'm glad you're racing through the books! I found them very, very addictive - I only really stopped reading for sleep and work! LOL!

And yeah, I love Katniss and Peeta's romance too, because it's such a nice dyanmic, the tough girl and the nice guy and she definitely does have some good reasons to resist! But there's so, so much more to them than that, so many layers and everything! And they sure go through an emotional rollercoaster ride!