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“May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favor” ... my thoughts on the Hunger Games

Ok, so I absolutely loved The Hunger Games books by Suzanne Collins. I read all three books in less than a week. I have been waiting and anticipating the release of the movie, since hearing about its making. I only for a second thought “Man, I hope I am not disappointed by the movie, (as I often am with movies based on books I love, such as One for the Money...based on Janet Evanovich's book--another favorite author of mine).

I couldn't wait.... when I realized it was being released on the same day as the charity event I have been working so hard on, I was disappointed. I wanted to see it as soon as I possibly could. This actually doesn't happen often for me.– I see it when I see it.

Well, I decided to go to the midnight showing after the charity event. (the night before, when it was released at 12:01, I was still working on the event, in fact, I stayed up until 4 am finishing up preparations).

So that night I got just 3 hours of sleep, got up the next morning and worked all day. I then went to the community center to set up and run the event. I went from the event (which was very successful by the way) with my friend/ neighbor who told me to read the books, to the midnight showing of the movie.

We were not disappointed at all! The movie was great. Yes, some variations from the book, but they worked. Obviously some things were changed and had to be cut down on for time constraints. The movie was almost two and a half hours long, but honestly didn't feel like it all. The time flew by.

I didn't get to bed until almost 4 am again for the second day in a row, but didn't care. It was so worth it. I didn't even regret it when my 4 yr old woke me up at 5:30 am with a fever and chills – my son was actually hallucinating from his high fever, and I of course thought of the tracker jackers from the movie. Weird, I was definitely frightened by this happening with my son, but I couldn't help but to refer back to the movie I had just seen.... so after a couple of long and very eventful days, here are my thoughts on the movie :

It was very fast moving, maybe too fast, I felt myself wishing they would have shown a little more in a few parts like showing how close Katniss and Gale are, the scenes with Rue, and the finale of the games seemed a bit short too. The movie could have been longer and still left me wanting to see more. It was THAT good! I can't wait to see the rest of them! Despite some changes movie vs. book: Definitely a must see! Very well casted and well played. My favorite characters in the movie were aligned with my favorite characters in the book: Jennifer Lawerence as Katniss Everdeen, Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark, Woody Harrelson as Haymitch Abernathy, and Lenny Kravitz as Cinna.

The thing I found to be most obviously different was the origin of the mockingjay pin (which is a very important symbol in the movie). In the book, Katniss got it from Madge, (District 12's Mayor's daughter) and she took it as the one token from home she was allowed to take with her to the games. In the movie, she got it from a vendor at the Hob (black market) and gave it to Prim before the Reaping, telling her it would keep her safe. Well, it didn't keep Prim safe. Prim was chosen and of course Katniss volunteered to take her place. When saying goodbye, Prim gives Katniss the pin back to keep her safe during the games... so it is different, but it works well in the movie. The pin symbolizes a lot in the story. Starting off as a symbol of the sister's love and protection...their connection, and later Katniss's connection with Rue, and then again with Katniss's rebellion, and eventually everyone's rebellion.

Even though I knew what was coming from reading the books, I still cried & was startled in some spots. The anticipation was great throughout the movie.

The story is morbid, when my friend/neighbor first gave me the book to read and I read the description, I said, “No thanks, this sounds terrible, why would I want to read a book about kids killing each other”? But she insisted and actually dared me to not finish once I started the books. She was right! The books were (despite being about a dark, morbid game) were definitely fast paced, and a can't put it down read.

The movie does a good job with keeping it pg-13, not showing too much blood & gore. The movie pulls your attention to the people and focuses are more on the relationships of the characters than the gore of the killing. There is blood and death, but not over done.

Yes - I will be seeing it in the theater again! Yes- I will be re-reading all the books, and yes -I will see the next movie as soon as it comes out!

(I was not compensated in any way for my thoughts on the movie)

Did you see the movie? What did you think?

preview of The Hunger Games movie HERE