When I read the Hunger Games trilogy in 2012, I remember being unable to stop reading. This is one of my (many) favorite book series. I loved the first movie, despite how surprised I was by some of the changes, especially Peeta not losing his leg. I had been eager to see the second movie but was unable to catch it when it first came out. When it came out on DVD afterwards, I wasn’t in the right mindset to watch it. I had the want and need to finally watch it after recently seeing Divergent and being reminded of my love for the fictional universe created by Suzanne Collins.
I loved The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. It was beautifully done and it was a great execution of the book content. The actors were still great for their roles, both the returning ones and the newcomers. I didn’t think that Sam Claflin was a bad choice for Finnick. I almost liked him better in the movie than in the books. I think he is an interesting character, but he isn’t a favorite of mine. From the main cast introduced in the first movie, I still love the whole group, but I want to give a special mention to Josh Hutcherson who impressed and touched me so much as Peeta.
Source: The Hunger Games Wiki.
The visuals were stunning and extremely creative. The score still gave me chills. I had so many feels watching this movie, even though I saw it over the course of a few days, for I had other things pop up and was watching it with my father. I had teary eyes on a regular basis in it. I had liked Elizabeth Banks as Effie in the first movie, but she gave even more to the character in this one, and I didn’t expect to care so much for Effie. As for Cinna’s death, I can’t even begin. This was the worst moment for me in the books, and Lenny Kravitz’s performance is stellar as Cinna and I knew right when watching the first movie that I’d jump on my box of tissues for that scene in the second movie. I was proven right.
I loved this movie and I can’t wait for the third one to come out, and I hope I can catch this one on the big screen. Book adaptations are always tricky, but overall, I think they’ve been doing a really solid job with the Hunger Games so far.
Natacha Guyot 
I love, love the Hunger Games — books and movies. Definitely among my all-time favorites.
🙂
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I love The Hunger Games books and movies too! Glad that you love them too! While books adapted for the screen can be tricky, they did a good job so far!
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Lenny Kravitz is exactly how I pictured Cinna, my favorite bit of casting in these movies. Although I didn’t like the second book as much as I liked the first book, I liked the second movie much better than the first. I think in the first one, they had a hard time figuring out how to translate Katniss’s internal monologue onto the screen.
My only quibble was that once they were in the arena, they completely dropped the plot about Katniss pretending to be pregnant, though Peeta had mentioned it in his interview.
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Kravitz is so perfect for the role! He also was right how I pictured Cinna! I don’t see his performance mentioned that much, which is a shame. I also was surprised by how the second movie dropped the pregnancy topic, especially since Peeta had mentioned it. I mean, if they had just avoided it, fine, but this was silly to mention it to drop it completely afterwards. This was a poor writing decision.
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I’m completely blown away at how much I love the movies…the books are always better on principle, but the movies have surpassed my low expectations (with the same quibbles you mentioned, plus no Madge, some scenes cut, like Katniss trapped behind the electrified fence in 12, which was one of the more nail-biting scenes in Catching Fire for me).
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The Hunger Games set the bar really high regarding book-into-movie process. This is exciting. i agree about the scene you mentioned! It was such a good one! As for Mockingjay, I don’t really have any predictions given how close or far from the book they already went with the ending of movies 1 and 2. It is hard to tell where they’re going to end the first part. I’d be happy to hear your theories! I am looking forward to the two remaining movies’ new cast additions, especially Gwendoline Christie, Natalie Dormer and Julianne Moore!
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SPOILER ALERT FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN’T READ MOCKINGJAY. DO NOT READ THIS COMMENT ANY FURTHER.
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I think they will end Part 1 with Peeta attempting to strangle Katniss – you won’t find out he got tracker-jacked until the next installment. I can just picture all the people watching on opening night who haven’t read the books completely losing their shit, expecting a kissy reunion when he’s rescued and that is sooo not what they get…
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This is a brilliant theory! I haven’t read the book in a while so I don’t recall the exact chronology. That would work so well. I bet that people who didn’t read the book would go crazy!
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I don’t remember if it’s exactly the mid-point of the book or not (but I’ll definitely be re-reading the series before it comes out). Talk about a way to hit it big in the box office for Part 2 in pre-order ticket sales alone.
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Any predictions of where Part 1 of Mockingjay will end? I have a few theories 🙂
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Cinna is my favorite character. 😦
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He is such a great character!
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I loved this book and movie. It really is “The Empire Strikes Back” of the series. I thought the movie stayed true to the book. There were a few lines I wish had stayed, but the film was, overall, just as captivating!
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Perfect comparison! They did such a good job. I can’t wait for the next two movies! I love The Hunger Games so so much!
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