The Hunger Games/Catching Fire/Mockingjay

[teamedward12]

First let me say I liked the movie. I thought it was good. Sure there where things they changed that I wish theyd left alone but for the most part, a great movie. That being said, I agree with corona on the chemistry between Jennifer and Liam, and the lack of between Jennifer and Josh. I had a hard enough time believing Peetas sincerity in the books and I sure didn't believe it onscreen.
The books are a whole different story for me that I really want to get off my chest but I'm not sure I should.

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[marielle]

I think Josh actually does fit the role of Peeta, but there was something lacking.

For me the lacking already started with the look of Peeta. From the book I got that he was incredible handsome and strong. Josh to me isn't handsome, he just doesn't have the typical good looks but that's taste, to me it was more that he didn't seem to be stronger physically than Katniss...

I became a Gale fan for the movie.

I'm a team Gale from the start... (though I still have two books to read so I don't know how the love story end) In the book and movie I just feel like they just belong to each other...

Part of the problem is Jennifer's portrayal of Katniss. She does it too well. Katniss is pretty stoic, but there are a lot of things going on her head. Since we can't go there in the movie, they have to find some other way of doing it.

I said to my mom immediately that I wished they had gone for voice overs for Katniss... there were moment, especially during the start of the movie and after the initial blood bath that they should have used it to show how she is feeling.
Also (Inv)I wished they had her angry at the death of Rue, instead of the crying sad girl it was the point where she decided to finish it, it was her turning point from competitor to victor. and I would have given her a line to refer to her sympathies to Rue's district...just small things they could have done to show how Katniss feels.

I didn't understand why they had Peeta and Katniss adults with the bread moment... it was just off... I'd rather they done it the right way.

I had a hard enough time believing Peetas sincerity in the books and I sure didn't believe it onscreen.

Me too... at the end of the movie I thought he was doing it more to harass Gale than that he really loves her...

[teamedward12]

I won't say anymore about the books since you haven't read them (even though I'm dying to) but I'm anxious to see what you think.

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[marielle]

I won't say anymore about the books since you haven't read them (even though I'm dying to) but I'm anxious to see what you think.

I think it's really sweet of you to consider it for me but honestly, I know what can happen when I visits threads like this.
Everybody is free here to discus what they want so if you are *dying* to talk about it just go ahead. there are enough people here that have read all three books...

[Openhome]

I have a quick question I'd love your opinion on. I made a statement on Facebook, and boy did people jump on the boat with it. The question comes from that discussion.

To me, the end of Hunger Games the book was beautifully convoluted. Both Katniss and Peeta are truly scarred and damaged by the games, and Katniss doesn't know for sure if she loves Peeta. She's not sure she can love anyone. We know by his actions that Peeta would risk anything for Katniss, but we also know he's a brilliant liar and strategist. This leads us to the distance between them in Catching Fire.

In the book, this twisted relationship was simplified, overly simplified in my opinion. Do you think the movie is trying to set up a happier ending (more emotionally pleasing) than the books?

[corona]

Yes, I think the movies will lead to a more emotionally satisfying ending. But, I see that as more Hollywood predictable than anything else.

So, no, I don't think the first movie is setting this up. I think the first movie made a big mistake in that regard.

[EDIT: to clarify, and to your point, was the movie simplifying things by removing confusion from Katniss concerning Peeta? Maybe, I don't know, because there was nothing there between the two, at all, except the bond between the two for surviving the games. Invisible text (spoiler ahead): the "bread" scene was totally botched. Wow. This is where I seriously have to question the IQ of someone, whoever it was that was responsible for that. Unbelievable.]

Josh Hutcherson could have been PERFECT for the Peeta role, but it had to be set up very well. The movie failed to do that.

Josh does not really fit the image of the book's Peeta, but his general nondescript looks sets up a contrast with Liam. Jennifer and Liam have a natural chemistry already because they are both good-looking kids, they look like a couple from the beginning and a relationship appears believable. Jennifer and Josh don't look like a couple, so that relationship necessarily requires scene development. I am not a purist for book scenes, but those scenes became critical once the casting decisions were made.

Take a look at pics showing Liam and Josh standing side by side. Everyone's tastes are different, but I wouldn't be surprised if an online poll would show a preference of 80% or more for Liam.

Soooo, you have to work on that Katniss/Peeta movie relationship to make it believable. That is what I thought was going to happen when Josh was cast. It didn't happen. Josh's Peeta becomes more or less simply another participant in the Hunger Games, and he is very lucky to have survived. That is about it.

You can't catch everything when you are making a movie, sometimes things fall through the cracks. I think this one was one of those mistakes (which should have been foreseen) and not the filmmakers prepping us for something else.

[pennybug84]

I finally saw the film. For the most part I liked it. But,

I really hate how the cave scene was so short in the film. I didn't believe the end interview where Katniss is trying to say she couldn't live w/out Peeta. I think if the cave scene was longer & we saw more of their relationship forming (including their discussion on the roof), it would have made it more believable.

I hate how they changed the ending so Peeta's leg was pretty much healed. His leg needing to be amputated and a prosthesis put on, is to me, a major part of the story. It affects Peeta through the other books.

It's been a while since I read the book, but at the end of the book doesn't Peeta find out/realize Katniss did the kissing,etc just for the games? That needed to be in there. It helps set up parts of what happens in the later books.

The more I think about it, the more the ending really irritates me. I know things needed to be changed/left out but it seems like they left out some major things.

[corona]

pennybug84,

It's funny, but there are a lot of people I talked to who have seen the movie and absolutely love it. They don't have the issues I had with the movie. I enjoyed the movie myself, but it seemed to be missing an emotional core.

The cave scene and Peeta's leg. Yup, the cave scene wasn't developed enough, and Peeta's leg remains intact. I didn't really have a problem with the leg thing, I'm actually glad Peeta gets to keep it. BUT, his willingness to bleed out and give Katniss the victory was a very handy way to show the audience just how Peeta feels about Katniss. If Josh and Jennifer had some real chemistry, it isn't needed. Since they don't have much, they could have used that scene to demonstrate some emotional intensity.

If they need to bring in leg difficulties for Peeta later in the movies, I guess they can pin it later on it healing imperfectly.

Yeah, Peeta does catch on to Katniss at the end of the first book, but Katniss herself is VERY confused about her feelings. She definitely felt something real there in the cave, but she keeps that to herself.

Maybe that's the problem, that all of that confusion would have been so difficult to actually portray in the movie. Marielle's suggestion of voiceovers could have worked, but that's a tricky thing to carry off.

Maybe Openhome's suggestion hit the mark. The romance is going to be greatly simplified, and the triangle developed mostly in the second movie.

The more I think about it, the more the ending really irritates me. I know things needed to be changed/left out but it seems like they left out some major things.

The book ending with Katniss in confusion is perfectly set up throughout the rest of the book. It isn't set up well in the movie. I've tried to think how it would have worked if they had stuck it in, but by the end of the movie it may have been even more confusing without the proper prep.

I think if the cave scene was longer & we saw more of their relationship forming (including their discussion on the roof), it would have made it more believable.

I think that was where the crucial bonding had to take place. It's over 4 chapters in the book, and about 1/6 of the total page count. Suzanne Collins invested a lot there in the cave. My bet is the filmmakers decided that it would drag the movie down, so it was cut down greatly in significance.

[pennybug84]

If Josh and Jennifer had some real chemistry, it isn't needed. Since they don't have much, they could have used that scene to demonstrate some emotional intensity.

I think that's part of the problem is Jennifer & Josh don't have chemistry. I know Katniss forces the kisses but I didn't expect it to feel so awkward when I was watching it. I think 5 more minutes in the cave scene probably would have been enough to make it better.

I think I had high really high expectations going in because I had read reviews online saying what a wonderful adaptation it was, one specifically that it was better a better adaptation than any of the Harry Potter and Twilight (which with TW isn't hard to do) and so I expected a lot (especially with it being over 2 hours.)

My friend who I went with, it was her 2nd time seeing it, and she liked it more the 2nd time. So maybe I need to try to not think about what irritates me and see it again.

[GrayceM]

First, I have read the books, THG twice now but I have only seen the movie once. I plan to see it again, but it probably won't be until DVD. I'll put my movie opinions invis.

Second, the only other movie I have seen Liam in was The Last Song with his RL girlfriend Miley. He was great in that movie, but looked sort of odd to me with his blonde hair. For some reason, the dark hair looks more natural on him. Yes, he's great looking. I thought they could have made their relationship a little stronger. The movie doesn't explain how they became friends or why. And until she hugs him, she doesn't seem to show much emotion towards him one way or the other. I wish they had added the "Katniss, remember I--- ..." as the door closes and then her voice over saying "...and I'll never know what it was he wanted me to remember.” That sort of bothered me and made me think of him more as a sibling to her than romantic interest. In the book, I think their relationship felt a little stronger. The years of depending on each other and becoming a hunting team…the shared grief over their fathers simultaneous deaths…his rants about rebelling against the Capitol instead of just talking of running away. All or any of that would have given his character more depth and better shot at the audience understanding her confusion over her feelings for Peeta.

Third, I have seen several movies Josh has been in and I think he’s adorable. He doesn’t have the standard movie star good looks, but I think that’s what makes him appealing. He is handsome, but I thought the blond hair looked better on him than his RL dark hair does…for me at least, both of those guys need to think about making the dye job permanent. He’s been a great actor in the movies I’ve seen him in and I thought he did a wonderful job of bringing out the kindness in Peeta. I did not however, think the movie showed enough of her questioning his motives. In the book, his snide comment about her “boyfriend” seeing it made me question his sincerity in saying it in the first place, as it did for Katniss. Josh does such a great job of showing he’s sincere and I think it’s difficult for him to be conflicted. For the movie, he comes across as exactly what he says he is. With the small exception of the day he is seen and heard with the careers, I did not question his motives at all in the movie. He is a “what you see is what you get” type of guy and I think being that kind of person, it’s difficult to make people believe anything else. But his line “Now, there’s no way I’m letting you go” after she kisses him, makes you take a second look at him because I got the impression he wasn’t just talking about not letting her go to the banquet. Maybe the that's what the movie was lacking...the double meanings of things he says. I thought they had great chemistry for what it was supposed to be. He seems to be completely in love with her and she's forcing herself to make a big show of it and finding it difficult not to like him. So the "forced chemistry" seems natural.

Last, I wonder if anyone else thought this way. For the books, and the story line in general, was Peeta hidden in the creek bed the entire time after the tracker jackers and saving her from Cato? I mean, when she finds him, he’s so sick and close to death, he never explains what happened to him. It’s been days and there’s nothing. I know the story is about Katniss and the games themselves, but did he just plan on laying there until he died or was he only trying to hide from Cato and his crew? He clearly never thought he would win, and then tearing off his bandage so she wouldn’t have to actively kill him. I think Katniss even sees that in him. Their on the roof and they’ve been talking and she realizes while she’s trying to figure out his strategy to kill her, he’s trying to figure out a strategy to die without changing who he is. Or at the end of the movie, he didn’t hesitate to tell her to “Go ahead” and stepped right up so she could kill him and win the game. So I know he was sincere in his feelings for her, I just wonder what his plan was during that time since he didn’t plan to survive the games…

I thought the movie needed more screen time with both relationships and even the explanation of why she’s so angry with her mother. Though they did a great job showing some scenes, some were lacking the importance. The first dandelion, explaining what the salute meant (though you could tell from Effie that it was not the expected response for her calling for applause. But they only had one real kiss and even that was cut into by a shot of Gale with the screen behind him.
Another poster put that there should have been more voice-over because it’s difficult to explain the why in a movie. “The movie shows you how, the book tells you why” EW magazine article. I tend to agree with this. I don’t think it would have had to add to the length of the movie, 2 hours is too long for some, but it would have added some depth.

Personally, I could have sat through a 3 hour movie for this. It seems to go too fast…but then the book is relatively short compared to some as well.
In getting a different perspective, my boss read the book and thought “This is Twilight in a different package” but he didn’t actually read Twilight so I’m having trouble getting him to understand the “triangle” in the Saga wasn’t supposed to be a triangle. But he went to see the movie (THG) and said he it was far better than what he thought it would be. He said he would have liked to know what happened to Thresh, the one who let her live. It was all I could do not to tell him that he'd be happy then to know they changed that for the movie. I think since they didn’t play up the relationships as much, it actually helped people who haven’t read the books to differentiate between the stories. Although I still can't understand how people can compare the this to Twilight...