5 Things I Wish Were in The Hunger Games Movie

The numbers are in, The Hunger Game’s movie has grossed over $300 million dollars since it’s March opening. There is no doubt that Lionsgate succeeded in making The Hunger Games movie the next big franchise, and this fact was reinforced this week when news was released of a Hunger Games Fan Convention, which is scheduled for this summer in Chicago from June 23^rd to the 24^th.

It is no surprise that the movie has been so widely successful, first of all, the acting was amazing, is Jennifer Lawrence anyone else’s new idol? She owned that movie. In addition to strong acting, the transition from book to movie was surprisingly smooth, there was no doubt that the writers and Collins tried to keep the movie as close to the book as possible. However, nobody is perfect, and of course concessions had to be made during the process from book to movie. So, while for the most part I loved the movie and thought it was amazing, there are still parts of the book that I wish had made it into the movie.

Who gave Katniss the Mockingjay pin, again?

One glaringly obvious part of the movie that was missing, for me, was Madge Undersee, a fellow classmate of Katniss in District 12. In the book, Madge was the one to give Katniss the Mockingjay pin after she volunteered for her sister. Many argue that Madge was a dispensable character, and that by having Katniss give her sister the pin as a symbol of safety gave it a more emotional back-story. This is all true, but the Mockingjay was a symbol of anti-Capitol thought, and Madge knew that, which was why it eventually (spoiler: became the symbol of the rebellion), and by cutting Madge out, they cut out the girl responsible for the Mockingjay pin. Yes, she was just another minor character who was necessary to cut, but she still deserved credit for her contribution.

That guy stumbling drunkenly around the stage on reaping day

Okay, so Haymitch was in the movie, but he was missing from one very important part of the movie, the reaping scene, anyone remember that? Where was Haymitch stumbling around on stage, falling off the stage, and being an all around fool on the most inappropriate day of the year? Haymitch and the comedic relief that he brought with him was the main reason why I didn’t throw my book across the room while reading the reaping scene. In general, his drunken antics were missing for most of the movie, but they were most missed during what should have been his opening scene at the reaping.

Real or Not Real?

If someone didn’t read the book the relationship between Katniss and Peeta definitely would have been hard to understand. Firstly, the flash back of Peeta throwing Katniss bread, in my opinion, was one of the worst scenes in the movie. The entire scene was incredibly vague, and there was no indication that Katniss was starving. To an outsider, I imagine that scene playing out like an LSD dream sequence; erratic, and undecipherable to anyone not involved. Scenes like that and other moments between Peeta and Katniss, such as Peeta’s interview with Caesar and the cave, would make someone question whether Peeta was only saying he loved Katniss to help them get sponsors for the game. For example, the lines given to Peeta in the cave scene weren’t desperate enough to show how much he actually cared for her.

Bring out the mutts…or not

The lack of hybrids was a huge disappointment. Yes, they did bring out a manipulation of them at the end, but they were just generic beasts. They were not the terrifying mutts with the human eyes of the dead tributes that Suzanne Collins created. You know that moment of spine-tingling fear that Katniss got looking into the eyes of the kids that she helped kill? Yeah, that moment never happened. Sure, there was fear in Katniss’ eyes when she saw the mutts, but it wasn’t for the same reason as the book. Those mutts were supposed to be a terrifying example of how much power the Capitol had, and how they lacked all sense of morals no morals, but instead we just got your ordinary prehistoric looking beast.

Is anyone hungry?

This might be nit-picky, but for a movie called The Hunger Games, shouldn’t the tributes have been a little hungrier than they were? No one during the games seemed to be struggling with the fact that food was sparse. Even in the districts the fact that most of the citizens were starving wasn’t mentioned. On the train to the Capitol, Peeta and Katniss were supposed to be overwhelmed by the lavish amounts of food being offered to them, they should have been stuffing their mouths with lamb stew, and other fresh breads and desserts. However, food was barely addressed in the movie, and without addressing the starvation of the tributes and citizens, the title of the movie is just ironic.

Despite those missing pieces, I still loved the movie, and can’t wait for Catching Fire, whenever it might be released. What do you wish made it into the movie?

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