Hubby and I watched the movie Saturday night. I enjoyed it, and so Sunday morning saw Kmart $36 richer, as I bought the trilogy and started reading. 3am Sunday morning, I finished them. Very readable – not so much as Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series, but very readable nonetheless. It’s not that often that I read past midnight.
I found the ending (of the trilogy) rather too rushed, though. Some of the character’s stories (for example, Caesar Flickerman) never reached closure, and this was a little unsatisfying. But everything was ended (perhaps a little too suddenly, for my tastes) – reminding me of the (again, too quick) ending to Francine Rivers brilliant ‘Voice in the Wind’ trilogy.
But on the whole, a well written series. And unlike quite a few of the movie reviewers, I felt that the film was indeed quite an accurate portrayal of the written text. Yes, of necessity, some aspects were left out. Some aspects of Book Two (i.e. the rebellion in District 11) were included in this first film. Some were changed, i.e. the background behind the MockingJay pin (which will of necessity then be left out of the second movie – but then again, those characters were also left out, so I guess that’s no biggie anyway) but then again, perhaps the film series will elaborate on some aspects that seem glossed over in the novels. The three finger kiss / salute, for a start. The ‘blood-smell’ on President Rose’s breath / the status of his health, etc etc.
So – that’s my take on it. What’s yours?
4 replies on “The Hunger Games”
How amazing are they?! I think it may have actually been better than twilight, although the concept is basically the same, one girl torn between two men. I personally liked the ending (very happy with Katniss’ choice) I think I’ll start reading it again 🙂
I actually preferred Twilight; I found Meyer’s writing style to be more engaging. But I’m glad you liked it!
If you have a chance, writelies.wordpress.com posted a few well-thought articles on the series and movies. I’ve commented there, but I’ll paraphrase here as well.
The series snowballed into a chaotic frenzy of meaningless changes. Very little actually changed in any of the characters, nothing meaningful changed in the environment, and no insights on small or grand scales were unveiled. All of this results in a unsastifying lack of closure.
Part of my distaste is that I came late to the books, after the hype about the series had reached fever pitch, tinting my experience and artifically raising my bar of expectations.
However, I think there may be hope in the movies. The first movie translated better into an experience than the book, so I have hopes the others will as well. Hopefully, some more meat is added to the end of the last movie perhaps giving Collings a platform to close the series with more meaning.
Hi JR! Thanks for your comments. Yes, the first movie certainly leaves the viewers with hope for the remainder of the film trilogy!