Finished reading the book and watched the movie yesterday, haven't started Catching Fire or MockingJay yet. Great setting and structure of the games, good characters, plot was fine but was hoping for more of a bite towards the end. (not a muttations pun)
~*~ Positives ~*~
-> I really liked the whole setting of the plot, the districts, the controlling empire, the games as tribute for their rebellion, the fear they live in and the kind of life they live where just having food is such a struggle. The world setting was much better fleshed out than Battle Royale. -> The premise of the games themselves is really good, I like the structure of the training, the sponsors mechanic and the emphasis on non-combat survival like food, water supplies, countering infection, covering tracks etc. It's all very complete. -> Katniss is a great character. -> The interactions with Rue were especially great, showed a lot of the vulnerabilities and conflicting emotions going on in the tournament.
~*~ Negatives ~*~
-> I feel like the plot of the games itself could have been a lot more exciting than what was told. Some very interesting characters like Thresh, Glimmer, Foxface etc got very little time of mention. It all could have been lengthened a bit to make the competition a bit more personal. -> The whole 2 surviving business was a bit disappointing, took the edge off what could have been a moving moment of having to decide whether to kill your friend or not. Along with BR its becoming a bit of a cliche that "1 survives" actually means "The main character survives along with their potential love interest". -> The romance sub-plot got in the way a lot, it seemed a bit unrealistic that these thoughts of her relationship with Peeta and what Gale might think would be entering her mind given the situation and more pressing matters like never seeing Prim again. Felt out of character for Katniss as someone who usually had a strong focus on the important things. -> Why is the discussion community almost entirely made up of teenage girls swooning over which guy is cuter?
-> I really liked the whole setting of the plot, the districts, the controlling empire, the games as tribute for their rebellion, the fear they live in and the kind of life they live where just having food is such a struggle. The world setting was much better fleshed out than Battle Royale. -> The premise of the games themselves is really good, I like the structure of the training, the sponsors mechanic and the emphasis on non-combat survival like food, water supplies, countering infection, covering tracks etc. It's all very complete. Yes! Glad somebody else noticed these. I really like how the movie adapt the setting too. Everything is just so right and intriguing.
-> I feel like the plot of the games itself could have been a lot more exciting than what was told. Some very interesting characters like Thresh, Glimmer, Foxface etc got very little time of mention. It all could have been lengthened a bit to make the competition a bit more personal. I understand where you're coming from, but this is realistic, considering how the book is from Katniss' point of view. It's not like a manga where the main character will fight everyone and we get to learn a bit about everyone too.
What are your thoughts on Cato as the main antagonist? Did you feel the movie did the book justice? Do you like what they cut/added in?
I personally really liked the instances in the book where Katniss would faun over Peeta just because she was trying to get something out of the deal, not because she really felt anything for him. That's something I wish the movie had done a better job of. The movie made it seem like she was legitimately in love with him. I agree about the supporting characters. You just want so much more from them. The little bit you get just isn't enough. Especially with Foxface. At least for me, I wanted some kind of big resolution between her and Katniss, since we'd been hearing about her throughout pretty much the whole last 2/3rds of the book. Lots of characters with potential.
I haven't read Mockingjay yet but I just finished Catching Fire this morning and be forewarned, it's structured a lot different than book 1. It's not bad, I actually enjoyed it, but the structure is really different.
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http://img.imgcake.com/crimjpgpe.jpg Mo' buildings mo' problems ocean kinda grew on me like a flesh eating ...fungus. -BIGPUN9999
From: CrimsonOcean | #005 What are your thoughts on Cato as the main antagonist?
I liked him, he had this whole schoolyard bully about him and it seemed appropriate that he'd lead the careers alliance to clear up the map at the start. In enlisting Peeta and that kid with the mines it showed he was really smart and had planned well for all this, not just physically. Obviously had no bones discarding someone once their use was complete to him making him a real deadly opponent, he had a lot going for him and I was glad he wasn't just some souleless killing machine sort. He seemed genuinely upset at Cloves death, I don't know if that was out of self interest as it reduced his chances but he seemed to have some humanity in him at least. He was the complete opponent really.
As an antagonist, the conclusion was disappointing. Being the most deadly opponent you'd expect the mother of all face offs against Katniss, instead it was Katniss fully rested, focused, armed and with an Ally versus an unarmed, tired and wounded Cato. The "real" standoff battle seemed to be Cato vs Thresh so it was a bit disappointing there wasn't more on that or the kind of terrain Thresh had been living in.
Did you feel the movie did the book justice? Do you like what they cut/added in?
I'm not a huge fan of movies and pretty much always prefer the books to the movie adaptations so I wasn't expecting a superior experience or anything. I thought it was really well made as movie adaptations go, the first half was notably quiet without narrations and I really liked that and the kind of atmosphere it created. It was all meant to be about observation at this stage so letting the scenes speak for themselves was great directing. They cut out a lot of stuff that was filler was I grateful for, I think they left out the sleeping potion, the early lengthy scramble for water and the ear injury if I remember right. Some of the deaths were a bit less atmospheric, the hallucination after the tracker jacker sting was uh graphic in the book, the suicide pact seemed more like a bluff in the movie than something they'd have genuinely done in the book, rues death was a lot less atmospheric too and I'm not sure why they reversed the kill order of Thresh and Foxface o_O
The views of the gamemaster and announcer were interesting, I'd actually love to see a version entirely from the TV edit of what the districts saw! A good movie though, would have liked the kills to have been a bit less watered down but I suppose it was necessary for the age rating.
-- Smurf The cream of Sonic Fanboyism. I liked smurf until he declared me worst user on board 8 - the jp
__Smurf__ posted... From: Raka_Putra | #004 And because the Twilight fangirls are becoming more desperate since the series has ended. I've seen a lot of people compare this to Twilight, I don't really get the similarities.
Other than the stupid, stupid, stupid relationship fiasco half of America is taking place in, I don't get it either. Both were for a similar audience, too, but not many meople, if they liked/are neutral to/disliked both books, would say Twilight > The Hunger Games.
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Golden Sun isn't half-bad, but it needs to cut the crap with the Yes/No questions, which make Zubats look like thylacines in comparison.
Hm, interesting view on Cato. I always just kind of saw him as a hot headed jock with no real vision. Although I guess it's never really revealed how Peeta comes to join the Careers. I think it might have just been that silver tongue of his though. I did like Cato's bit of characterization right before he dies in the movie. Makes him a slightly more interesting character.
I'm sure Cato/Thresh was an amazing fight. One of my biggest annoyances from the first book is not knowing how Thresh died.
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http://img.imgcake.com/crimjpgpe.jpg Mo' buildings mo' problems ocean kinda grew on me like a flesh eating ...fungus. -BIGPUN9999
I actually was expecting Peeta to betray Katniss at some point, there seemed to be a lot of shadiness over some of his actions. After she got an 11, he asked to be trained alone so I was wondering if he was looking for tips on manipulation, alliances or something else that was going to work against Katniss. It appeared he was using locating her as his bargaining chip to have the careers protection as because of her score they clearly saw her as a threat. Then there was the whole business of him fighting Cato, becoming badly injured and surviving with neither of them dying? How do you escape from an unscathed Cato with a bad leg injury? I wondered if that was all a ruse.
I know, I was completely suspicious of Peeta from the very beginning. I was just waiting for him to put a knife in Katniss, and then it turns out he's in love with her. Augh. I wonder about the leg as well. There's no way Peeta could have overpowered Cato, wish we knew how he got away. Maybe he didn't, maybe Cato just left him for dead, knowing that there was no way he could over come his injury. Pretty sure Clove mentions this at least once. But if that's the case, why not just lop of his head and be done with it?
Oh man, this topic is bringing back all my old questions.
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http://img.imgcake.com/crimjpgpe.jpg Mo' buildings mo' problems ocean kinda grew on me like a flesh eating ...fungus. -BIGPUN9999
It seemed strange considering when that first girl with the campfire was attacked by the careers, after they left her without hearing the cannons they got a bit concerned that they might not have finished her off. Stating it was pointless to leave someone alive in case they have to track them down again. Maybe there was a fire or some other game incident going on in another part of the arena that distracted him into fleeing. *shrug*
I'm curious what you mean about catching fire and how the book will flow in general, aside from the capitol being unhappy with their actions the plot isn't hugely obvious (to me at least), looking forward to starting it!