Posted by Someone Else at 2:25am Mar 27 '12*Madge: I think a big part of what rubbed me wrong about not having Madge (aside from the ridiculousness of how Katniss got the pin) is that she sort of serves to show Katniss' character. That she's super hard to get along with, but that she has the kind of charisma that makes people love her, once they break through a little bit. Katniss' character in the movie is presented fairly differently, and it's hard to say how much by separating my book-reading from my movie-watching, but she's just not quite the same abrasive hardened bitch--except to her mom. And her harshness towards her mom really doesn't sit well with me, when it's not really demonstrated that she's like that with most everyone.
*Katniss buying the pin: I think even if Prim asked for it, Katniss would've said no--I mean, I bet Prim asked for the pretty cakes a bunch, but Katniss would never let her do more than look at them. But, that's my speculation. The cat makes an appearance (once--and Katniss threatens to cook it...it's not even named), and the goat is mentioned (once--Katniss tells Prim to sell the goat's cheese during the goodbyes after the Reaping)
*The Hob: Well, you're right, but at the same time, I feel like the destruction of the Hob in book 2 is a VERY vital turning point, and I donno how they'll present that without introducing it as the center of the black market.
*Katniss' dad: You're right again. It was worked in well enough for what it is, I just wish they'd found a way to make it a little clearer. (Actually, I wished the same about the backstory about Peeta and the bread, though they actually did flesh that out fairly well through flashbacks and a little dialogue)
*Relationship with Gale: Gale has literally maybe 2 minutes of screen time. And half of that is hauling Prim away during the Reaping and having Prim on his shoulders during Katniss' victorious return. It's set up well enough, I guess, and there's NO wasted moment in his screen time, but I still wish he'd been there a little more. In retrospect though, I guess his major presence in the book was in her mind as she was in the Game, and there's no good way to do that short of voiceovers (I was SO GLAD there were NO voiceovers) or cheesy flashbacks. Well, maybe fit him in somehow during the trackerjacker hallucinations, but that woulda been hard to not make cheesy. Maybe have him appear and say the line about the trackerjackers instead of Ceasar (you'll see what I mean when you watch it), but that's about it.
*Trackerjackers: Mockingjays, jabberjays, and mutts in general were not explained. :/ (Really nervous about this for later movies)
*Rue: Eh...you get the sense of Rue's importance mostly through the time they took to show Katniss gathering flowers and sing the same song she sang to Prim. Oh, and after she died? You see her district throw a riot. Which...REALLY bothered me. I mean, I know this is a more universal perspective than the books, but part of the tenseness in the books was NOT KNOWING that the districts were so enraged until later, ya know?
*The pacing: Yeah, I'm pretty nervous about future movies on the pacing, too...they did a good job not making it boring nor too in-your-face fast, it just woulda been nice to have a slightly smoother arc, I guess.
*The forcefields: EXACTLY. They do show a lot of technology in the movie that wasn't in the book that do sort of set up a lot of room for them to have tech like that (the control center for the Games was super high tech), so it's not unreasonable to introduce them later...still, woulda been a 45 second bit (they were even ON the roof!), and woulda kept the future introduction of forcefields much smoother. Unless they plan on totally omitting those, but that's NOT FUCKING RIGHT if that's their plan.
*Katniss' ear: I think my main annoyance about this is that I feel it's important to show them almost dead at the end of the Game and show how much the Capitol fixes them up...to show both the Capitol's medical tech prowess and show how the Victors are revered in the Capitol.
*The mutts: I do agree with you, quite fully. Still, I was really looking forward to having that fucked up sinisterness realized in the movie (perhaps largely because I couldn't quite visualize them), and then they wussed out on it.
*Lionsgate breaking the last movie into two: I donno, I'm mostly just irked by this cuz it's happening to every book series adaptation lately. If LotR could be done in the same trilogy as the books, why the fuck did anyone feel the need to break up Harry Potter, or Twilight, and why do they have to do it to The Hunger Games? Simple answer is just that they can get more money for it, and that disgusts me. Especially cuz I'm hooked enough to want to see it all, so won't be boycotting. Grumble.
*Katniss buying the pin: I think even if Prim asked for it, Katniss would've said no--I mean, I bet Prim asked for the pretty cakes a bunch, but Katniss would never let her do more than look at them. But, that's my speculation. The cat makes an appearance (once--and Katniss threatens to cook it...it's not even named), and the goat is mentioned (once--Katniss tells Prim to sell the goat's cheese during the goodbyes after the Reaping)
*The Hob: Well, you're right, but at the same time, I feel like the destruction of the Hob in book 2 is a VERY vital turning point, and I donno how they'll present that without introducing it as the center of the black market.
*Katniss' dad: You're right again. It was worked in well enough for what it is, I just wish they'd found a way to make it a little clearer. (Actually, I wished the same about the backstory about Peeta and the bread, though they actually did flesh that out fairly well through flashbacks and a little dialogue)
*Relationship with Gale: Gale has literally maybe 2 minutes of screen time. And half of that is hauling Prim away during the Reaping and having Prim on his shoulders during Katniss' victorious return. It's set up well enough, I guess, and there's NO wasted moment in his screen time, but I still wish he'd been there a little more. In retrospect though, I guess his major presence in the book was in her mind as she was in the Game, and there's no good way to do that short of voiceovers (I was SO GLAD there were NO voiceovers) or cheesy flashbacks. Well, maybe fit him in somehow during the trackerjacker hallucinations, but that woulda been hard to not make cheesy. Maybe have him appear and say the line about the trackerjackers instead of Ceasar (you'll see what I mean when you watch it), but that's about it.
*Trackerjackers: Mockingjays, jabberjays, and mutts in general were not explained. :/ (Really nervous about this for later movies)
*Rue: Eh...you get the sense of Rue's importance mostly through the time they took to show Katniss gathering flowers and sing the same song she sang to Prim. Oh, and after she died? You see her district throw a riot. Which...REALLY bothered me. I mean, I know this is a more universal perspective than the books, but part of the tenseness in the books was NOT KNOWING that the districts were so enraged until later, ya know?
*The pacing: Yeah, I'm pretty nervous about future movies on the pacing, too...they did a good job not making it boring nor too in-your-face fast, it just woulda been nice to have a slightly smoother arc, I guess.
*The forcefields: EXACTLY. They do show a lot of technology in the movie that wasn't in the book that do sort of set up a lot of room for them to have tech like that (the control center for the Games was super high tech), so it's not unreasonable to introduce them later...still, woulda been a 45 second bit (they were even ON the roof!), and woulda kept the future introduction of forcefields much smoother. Unless they plan on totally omitting those, but that's NOT FUCKING RIGHT if that's their plan.
*Katniss' ear: I think my main annoyance about this is that I feel it's important to show them almost dead at the end of the Game and show how much the Capitol fixes them up...to show both the Capitol's medical tech prowess and show how the Victors are revered in the Capitol.
*The mutts: I do agree with you, quite fully. Still, I was really looking forward to having that fucked up sinisterness realized in the movie (perhaps largely because I couldn't quite visualize them), and then they wussed out on it.
*Lionsgate breaking the last movie into two: I donno, I'm mostly just irked by this cuz it's happening to every book series adaptation lately. If LotR could be done in the same trilogy as the books, why the fuck did anyone feel the need to break up Harry Potter, or Twilight, and why do they have to do it to The Hunger Games? Simple answer is just that they can get more money for it, and that disgusts me. Especially cuz I'm hooked enough to want to see it all, so won't be boycotting. Grumble.
added on 2:36am Mar 27 '12:
btw, I know you haven't seen it yet, but how do you feel about removing the tribute trinkets entirely and just making the pin contraband that Cinna helped her sneak it? I feel like it sets up Cinna to be severely punished if the Capitol is really as awful as the books make it out to be, and I wonder if they'll do anything about Peeta's locket with pics of Katniss' family and Gale. It's a disposable detail, he could just SAY that stuff, but I really liked the tribute trinkets dammit.
spoilers, whee - Someone Else