Hunger Games (BOOK AND MOVIE SPOILERS BELOW)

Okay so Mom and I saw the Hunger Games tonight and I can't post all this on FB because I don't want to ruin it for everyone.

I have read all 3 books.

I felt like having read them that the movie stayed pretty true to the books. I do feel though like they pushed the 'love story' too much when there isn't one in the book. So I thought part was really dumb and false. I also feel that during the Games itself that they didn't really focus as much as on the other tributes and the deaths and that stuff. Like in the book, she waits every night to see the bombs go off and see who is left to kill her but in the movie the bombs hardly ever went off so even I had a hard time figuring out who was who and who was left. I felt like the use of the technological stuff of the game makers didn't really make up for the fact that the book was written from her perspective. I felt like the way they explained what was what (i.e. tracker jackers, the mutts) was kind of lame but I can't think of how else they would do it or even if it was necessary. I think they could have probably cut out some of the beginning stuff and focused more on the games but I know some of that was necessary. I feel like they started doing the whole book in the movie and then they like realized it was going to be 4 hours long so they edited the middle and end. I guess they showed the main parts of the book - except the monkeys - which I was pretty sure was book 1. I pictured the Cornucopia looking more like a golden dragon for some reason. Didn't they describe it as a dragon in the book? Maybe it was just me. I thought that the showing of the rebellion in district 11 was a good preamble to the other books. They eluded in the movie about life in district 12 and she had those weird flashbacks which I didn't think really fit with the movie at all - they felt forced.

Mom has the first book on her Kindle but has only read the first chapter at most. And she had a few questions during the movie but mostly followed it completely. I don't think she needed to know things like 'these are tracker jackets' I think she was happy they were just going to drop wasps. I updated her a lot during the movie with what was happening and she said 'ya I know. I'm not dumb' LOL

I think if you've read the book, it's easy to expect the book but I think that to get the book into a movie, it would be at least a 4 maybe 6 hour movie. So ya I would have loved to see all the stuff above but its just not possible in movie form. So I think as a film that it got the gist of the book - major parts, explanations for those who hadn't read the book, enough blood and killing and excitement to keep an audience focused. I just really wish they could have somehow explained how Katniss thought the love thing was Peeta's strategy and not made it look like another 'Twilight' love triangle to draw in more of an audience.

Let me know what you thought!!!!  I'm dying to discuss this with people who have read the books and saw the movie!!!!!