I was excited to watch all of The Hunger Games movies since I had only seen the first one. I usually prefer the book when watching a book to movie adaptation. But I was pleasantly surprised by some of these movies!

The Hunger Games
This movie is a good adaptation of the books, and I think it does a lot of things well. But if they ever remade it, I would watch it. Honestly, the movie looks pretty low budget, which apparently it was. They did a good job with what they had, but the CGI was questionable and some of the other choices looked cheap. They kept most of the major plot points and characterizations, so that’s good.

The casting I am kind of 50/50 on. Part of me wishes they had gotten someone younger to play Katniss since Jennifer Lawrence is clearly an adult woman. But she is incredibly talented and does an amazing job. So, I think I wish they had cast someone different for Peeta, someone bigger and buffer. I love a short king, but he is a lot smaller than her on screen. Peeta in the books can throw 100 lbs around while Katniss is underfed and scrawny. I am torn though because I love Josh Hutcherson, and I think he did a great job.

I did wonder how old the actors were while watching. Jennifer, Josh, and Liam were all 22. I feel like they looked old and young at the same time. But the casting of all the minor characters like the other Tributes, Prim, Mrs. Everdeen, Effie, Cinna, and Caesar was excellent! They leapt out of the book onto the screen.

Some things I think they did well:

• Most of the District 12 scenes
• Katniss shaking with nerves when she goes into the arena! Jennifer Lawrence did a great job acting.
• The Tracker Jacker sequence—terrifying, well executed, powerful
• Any scenes with the other Tributes and the Careers; their acting performances were amazing. These kids are super talented!
• The scenes in the Arena and the action in the Games was immersive, intense, and well done
• I liked most of the scenes with the Gamemakers and Snow. I think this added to the story and enhanced the movie. My favorite example of this is when they decide to throw fire balls at Katniss because she got too close to the edge. It showed how they manipulate everything.
• Rue’s death and then Marvel’s death, so sad and so powerful

Things I think they didn’t do as well:

• Some of the fashion choices were not my favorite. I did not like Katniss’s yellow tops; they were so ugly and felt very 2012. And Peeta looked dumb in those cardigans.
• The CGI looked kind of cheap, mainly for the Capitol scenes and the mutts at the end and some of the other effects
• The cave scene was weak. Peeta wasn’t as charismatic as he is in the book. I know it was supposed to be awkward, but it was just plain uncomfortable at times. It didn’t lend to them falling in love. Also, Peeta was barely injured. In the books, he was hours away from death. These were of the most impactful scenes in the books, but they fell flat in the movie.
• The audience did not react enough when Peeta said he loved Katniss or when Katniss twirled. In the books they were losing their minds going absolutely crazy! In the movie, there was barely a gasp.
• The relationship with Cinna seemed a little too intimate too fast. But the movie is fast paced because it’s condensing a book but idk it felt a little strange.
• I think there were too many Gamemaker scenes. Most of them were great, but I think one or two could have been cut.

Overall, a good adaptation and a good movie. I liked most of the scenes and character choices. The acting was strong and the cinematography was decent. For what they had, they did a great job. It was a good start to the series.

Catching Fire
I think this is a good adaptation of the book, and it looks a lot better visually than the first movie. You can tell the budget was higher. The casting for the new characters is amazing, the scenes in the Arena are excellent, and the acting is great! It kept the comedy from the book, which I loved.

Some things I think they did well:

• Casting! All of the Tributes casting was excellent. They made the characters come to life.
• Mags was my favorite and I literally cried when she was on screen. Such a talented actress! So powerful in every scene!
• The CGI was much better!
• The Arena looked amazing! All of the scenes in the Arena were excellent, very believable, visually pleasing, and similar to the book.
• The Parade of Tributes was better than the first movie and the scenes of the Tributes on Caeser’s show were excellent! I was laughing at Johanna’s outburst.
• The added scenes between Snow and Plutarch were great. Just like in the first movie, I do think they added perspective and I love the scene where Plutarch leaves and then Snow is calling for him to come back. So sneaky!
• Jennifer Lawrence’s acting was great with the PTSD scenes especially and her with the poison fog, that was so painful to watch

Things I think they didn’t do as well:

• Again, the outfits are ugly! Those 2012 Justin Bieber diaper pants they make Peeta wear, oh my gosh, do not do my man dirty like that! And Cinna with that dumb headband? They deserve better!
• Too much kissing with Gale! Why did she kiss him twice? I swear in the books, she doesn’t kiss him ever and he kissed her once in the woods off page.
• Plutarch kind of gave me the ick… The scene where he dances with Katniss was good and similar to the book, but I did feel a little icked out for some reason.

This is my favorite book in the series, and the movie did it justice for sure! It was enjoyable to watch with the beautiful setting, amazing action, and comical moments. The movie commentary was interesting to listen to as well. They filmed part of it in Hawaii, part of it in Georgia, and part of it in New Jersey.

Mockingjay Part 1
This movie is excellent and engaging. I kind of feel like the movies keep getting better. I know the budget keeps going up, and I think the movies are good adaptations of the books and good movies on their own. The plot is streamlined and hits all the necessary scenes. The acting is great and the scenes with CGI hold up well. This was an enjoyable movie to watch for sure.

Some things I think they did well:

• The Hanging Tree song was so good! I got chills hearing it and the way they edited it was great
• Beetee! I love him. The actor does such a good job.
• District 13 looks good. The CGI looks realistic and I like the different places we get to see
• The scenes where they are traveling to the Districts and the action scenes were great. There were real stakes and it was exciting but not too overdrawn. The tension was there for sure.
• I like the casting for the new characters
• Seeing Peeta in the Capitol was done well.
• The ambiance and tone of the movie translates well. It is dark, it is moody, it is epic! I can still see what happens on screen (unlike in Harry Potter) and the combination of the set design, lighting, sound design, acting, and cinematography effortlessly combine to make the perfect tone.

Things I think they didn’t do as well:

• I don’t have much to complain about… This movie is a little less engaging because they split the story into two movies, but it still has a lot of great scenes.
• Haymitch is wearing a dumb hat lol

Mockingjay Part 2
This was a great movie and a great adaptation. They cut some things, like some of the pods and combat scenes while keeping the outcomes the same. They added some Snow and Capitol scenes as always. It was all great overall, and I want to watch it again. It definitely made me want to reread the book though because there were so many scenes where I was like wait does that happen in the book? I can’t remember if that’s how it happened or not. So, that took me out of the story a little bit, but the movie was excellent regardless.

Some things I think they did well:

• Great foreshadowing with Coin. I think this is done better in the movie than the books. You can see her having dictator tendencies and Katniss slowly catches on
• Beetee, he’s just awesome always
• They made the pods easier to understand, explained it well and streamlined those scenes which seemed to take forever in the book.
• Tigris looks amazing!
• The acting is amazing as always. I literally hate Snow so much, which shows he is a good actor. Watching Peeta be violent and crazy was so hard.
• This felt more palatable to watch since the combat and death scenes were tasteful. They were not overly gruesome or drawn out, in my opinion, and the violence that we saw fit in the context of the story. Reading the book was intense and scary and I wanted to fast forward sometimes. I never wanted to skip ahead while watching movie.  

Things I think they didn’t do as well:

• Katniss kisses Gale again? I don’t think that happens in the book!
• Haymitch and Effie kiss? Umm… lowkey hate it
• Haymitch still in that dumb hat
• They split this into two movies but they couldn’t include Peeta’s memory book and paintings and the legacy of the games? Come on, give Peeta more to do. I love that man! Justice for Peeta.

Overall, Mockingjay Part 1 and 2 were enjoyable movies to watch. They are visually interesting, the acting is great, the characters and plot advance in a logical way, and it feels true to the themes of the book. I wonder what it would have looked like to combine it in one movie. It would probably be really fast paced.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
This movie was amazing. This movie was beautiful. Why was every scene breathtaking, stunning, amazingly filmed, amazingly acted, and amazingly shot? This movie made me want to watch a movie in theatres, which never happens to me. I want to watch this on a big screen so badly! This movie is grand and delicious and deserves to be admired in a proper theatre. I can’t wait to watch Sunrise on the Reaping in theaters!!

Some things I think they did well:

• The costumes were beautiful
• I liked the school scenes. The students all had their own personalities, and all of the locations were so gorgeous. It was filmed in Europe, which makes sense. It really added a lot of grandeur to the movie.
• All of the acting was just amazing!
• Tigris. I LOVE her!
• The Tributes were great. They did a great job with what they had. I really liked the fight scene on the beam. And seeing Wovey, I literally cried.
• The action scenes were really good! The choreography was good and the cat and mouse in the Areana was believable and succinct.
• The cinematography is amazing. This movie should be studied in film school. It was just amazing. Why is every scene breathtaking?
• I liked the scenes in District 12 when Snow has to go there. From them just walking around the street, to seeing the meadows and lake where the Covey roam, to the barracks and the Hanging Tree, it was all amazing.
• The ending… it was SO unhinged. Snow goes crazy and I was like why is this scene 5 minutes long? It was violent and tough to watch him, but it was powerful and got its point across. Snow was always all about survival—I think the movie that is very clearly shown. I think in the book he is little more ambiguous.
• Also at the end when he poisons Dean Highbottom. It was so excellent. Snow is cunning and evil and horrible.

Things I think they didn’t do as well:

• Some of the Lucy Gray scenes did make me cringe a little bit. Rachel Zegler is a very talented singer, and I do think most of her singing scenes were excellent. It was a bit awkward at times.
• I am not sure if I really bought the love story between Lucy Gray and Snow. In the book they have more time to make it gradual, so it feels a bit forced in the movie.

I think this movie is a good book to movie adaptation, but as a stand alone movie, it is stunning. I don’t have many notes. It was just so excellent all the time in every scene in every way.