My Thoughts on the Hunger Games Trilogy

This post contains some spoilers, so don’t read this if you hate spoilers.

I’m currently reading the first book.  So this is really about the two movies Hunger Games (movie 1) and Catching Fire (movie 2).

When I saw the first movie was on video, I watched the very beginning and turned it off.  It looked like it had the potential to be a depressing movie.  I’ve seen the movies Brazil and 1984.  Those depressed me for days.  I’m not a fan of movies or books set in some futuristic time where the state controls everything the individual does.  Why?  Because the oppressors win, and the hero/heroine loses the person they love.  I write romance.  I need my happy ending.

But last month I decided to give the series another chance because my husband had watched the first movie and said it wasn’t as depressing as I expected.  He even said there was a satisfactory romance in it, meaning the boy didn’t die like I thought.  Well, a good romance usually pulls me in, so I figured I’d give it another shot.

I looked for the first movie (Hunger Games) but saw the second one pop up in my search on instant video.  Since the second one (Catching Fire) was free, I decided to give that one a shot.  This way I could test the waters without investing too much into it.

So at the very beginning of this second book, I see Katniss with Gale, and more than that, he kisses her.  My initial thought was, “Oh crap.  She is kissing the guy she didn’t go to the games with in the first movie.”

For those who aren’t familiar with the series, Katniss is the main character.  Gale is her longtime friend.  Peeta was the one selected for the games in the first movie, and he’s the one I was rooting for because from the little bit I watched in the first movie, he looked like the underdog and I have a weakness for the underdog.  Usually, it’s the underdog who will lay down his life for the girl he loves, so I want to see the underdog win her.

So when I saw Gale kiss her, it was a major letdown.  Because what if she ends up with Gale?  Peeta was alive in the second movie, but Katniss wasn’t interested in him.

I was ready to turn the movie off when the heroine was told she needed to pretend to be interested in Peeta.  And this is when I paused the movie and did a search for it on the internet to get spoilers about how this movie was going to play out.  Before I was willing to invest any more time into what was a promising premise, I needed to be assured the entire series would end the way I wanted it to.  I checked out all the spoilers I could find and was relieved that she does end up with Peeta in the end.

So you see?  Spoilers can actually help sell books and movies in certain conditions. :D  But it is a good idea to warn the people that the review contains spoilers so those who don’t want to know what happens won’t get upset.  As for me, if the movie or book is not a romance, I love spoilers that let me know how the romance plays out.  If the hero and heroine don’t end up together, I won’t invest my time in it.  This is a personal preference.  I know some people don’t care either way as long as the story is good.

I did watch movie 2 in its entirety.  Then I went back and bought movie 1.  (Later on, I went back and bought movie 2 even though it’s still free.)

Quick side note: There are some people who claim that no one finds value in anything free, but I love these two movies, and I bought the one that was free.  I then went and bought the books and even bought the soundtrack.  If someone loves something enough, they will be willing to buy it or buy things that go along with it.  So this is why I don’t consider “free” a bad thing.  I get a lot of flack (from other writers) for having some of my own books free, but you know what?  Free is an excellent way to let someone test the waters to see if the book (or movie) is a good match for the person who is investing time into it.  Not only have I ended up buying movies and books that were free, but I usually go to You Tube, listen to songs (for free) for the purpose of picking which ones I like enough to buy off iTunes.

Okay.  Back to the post…

I liked the second movie more than the first because in it, Katniss falls in love with Peeta.  Yay!  My favorite part of the whole movie is when she tells him, “I need you” and kisses him.  Of course, then they are separated again.  But I’m okay with this because I read the reviews on the third book and talked to someone who read the whole series.  Peeta ends up with her, and she has children with him.

I do plan to see the last two movies in the series, but I don’t think I’ll read the third book.  It sounds like there isn’t really a lot of Peeta in there (and he’s my favorite character).  It also sounds like it’s a lot more “war intense” than the first two books.  I’m not reading this trilogy for the “we’re going to knock down the tyrannical government” theme; I’m reading it for the romance.  I am reading book 1 right now and will read book 2 next.  The reason I’m even reading the books to get a deeper point of view in what Katniss is thinking about Peeta during the events in the movies.  I will probably skip book 3 except for the epilogue because someone who likes the same kind of romances I do told me it’s worth reading.  Sorry to those of you who love stuff like battle scenes and such.  Those don’t interest me at all.

I’m hoping the last two movies, they’ll 1) let Katniss’ sister live and 2) keep the momentum going between Katniss and Peeta.  Since this isn’t giving in 1st person point of view like the books, there’s a good chance, we’ll get a deeper look at Peeta and what he’ll be going through.  I really hope the last movie ends on a super happy romantic note.  Yes, I know war is terrible and in real life there would be scars from it all, but I’m hoping they’ll be a fairytale-like quality to it, similar to how Return of the Jedi ended for the original Star Wars Trilogy.  *fingers crossed*