May the odds be ever in your favor.

Spoilers from all 3 books AND the movie lie ahead.

I finished The Hunger Games in April 2011 before I even knew a movie was coming about. It was December when I read the second and third books. Once the movie was getting closer to release, I decided I wanted to re-read the first book because it had been so long and the three were all mingled in my head. I started the book last Monday and finished it on Wednesday. Tonight I went and saw the movie.

A friend of mine had reported that she really enjoyed the movie but recommended that those of who us who had read the books should NOT re-read them before seeing. It was too late for me but now I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment. I saw it with a friend who was a few months removed from reading and she didn't see as many holes or "wrong" things as I did because of that. Here are my thoughts after watching...

What I didn't like/understand:
- The way the mockingjay pin came about. It's lacking meaning. Does this mean the mayor and his daughter will play no role later? Also, it was fairly glossed over but has a pretty HUGE significance so that's weird...
- I'm not a fan of the casting for Peeta. He's nothing like I imagined and I am not convinced by him at any point during the movie. It makes connecting to the Peeta/Katniss story line really difficult. There was even one point in the movie that SHOULD be pivotal but both my friend and I were snickering because of how unbelievable the acting was.
- I don't dislike the casting of Katniss but I do agree with my friend's statement that she's too glamorous/sexy for the part. We both expected someone much more "plain" for this role, especially given the life she should be coming from in District 12.
- Another friend of mine had commented on a lack of the desolation and bleakness from both Katniss and Peeta. I couldn't agree more. The film lacked a lot of that and you would EXPECT it from a story as tragic as this one.
- I'm almost 100% certain that Haymitch does NOT talk to Katniss about faking the love angle IN FRONT of Peeta. The fact that it was fabricated is supposed to be hidden from him because for him it's real. This went double with the delivery of the soup. It's not supposed to be delivered after a peck on the cheek with a note asking for more. This is all supposed to be Katniss picking up the subtle hints from Haymitch with the delivery of the parachute. Perhaps they had to do that because you can't get Katniss' inner monologue but it frustrated me. At no point is Peeta supposed to know this is an angle being played.
- I felt like the development of the relationship between Katniss and Rue was too rushed. We didn't get to see that trust building of the leaves and the hunting. They just kind of happened, without that build up I loved in the books. That said, I still sobbed like a baby when Rue died and still felt their connection, even without seeing the development I was looking forward to.
- I was disappointed that the muttations being the dead tributes was not shared.
- I'm not sure what the point of Cato's big declaration at the end before he died was. It felt out of place and unnecessary.
- We don't get to see Cinna dressing Katniss for the interview after the games. Hell, her dress wasn't as simple and girlish as it was meant to be to show her being innocent and acting out of the desperation of love. During the interview, we miss that cuddling up together on the sofa, Haymitch telling her to keep the act going, etc. All of that is gone.
- My biggest frustration is probably in the ending. They took out everything about the horrors of coming out of the games, the savage ways both of them would have been, the dawning of what they just went through, Katniss not knowing if Peeta was dead or alive after the games, that desperation and need, his fake leg, her horror at discovering that during the interview, the confusion about going home to Gale, the part when the train stops and Katniss tells Peeta that she isn't sure what will happen, his anger at realizing it was an act, Haymitch's demanding that they keep it up or horrible things will happen. Katniss' conflict just simply wasn't there in the movie. I didn't see it. And if they tried to pass off what she was doing as conflict, I wasn't convinced. It's all so confusing because those elements are key to the next book, in my opinion.
- Seneca and the berries. He can't be dead, can he? He's kind of got a huge role in the third book...

NOW... with all of that said, I DID like the movie. I enjoyed it. I just wish I got to experience it a bit more removed from having just read it.

What I enjoyed:
- The casting of Lenny Kravtiz as Cinna. He was perfect.
- Gale was 100% what I pictured in my head, it's almost eerie.
- It was really interesting to get to see how the filmmakers decided to show us what was happening outside the games. Because the book is in Katniss' voice, we don't get those other elements. It was fun to see this whole other part that could very well have been happening while they were in the arena.
- To go with that previous statement, my two favorite moments outside the arena are: 1) The uprising in District 11 after Rue dies. Now this did detract from the book in that District 11 should have sent Katniss the bread as a "thank you" for protecting Rue but the way they played it in the film is an amazing foreshadowing for the revolution coming in the third film. 2) Haymitch talking to Seneca about allowing two tributes to win. This just happens in the book but the idea that this was done behind the scenes is an interesting one and I have been thinking about it a lot.
- Oh, the tears!! Both of us were sobbing like babies when Katniss volunteers in Prim's place AND when Prim, their mother and Gale come to say goodbye. The book did not get me crying in either place.

All in all, it was good. I did enjoy it. I will see it again (and again and again). As with any book made into a film, there are time constraints and plain confusing omissions or changes. I now wholly understand how Harry Potter book fans must have felt when the films started rolling out. It's kind of fun to be in that little club, though. It only makes me appreciate the rich experience of the books that much more.

That said, it's time to go start my re-read of Catching Fire...