First things first, I'm gonna talk about how I was introduced to the series. I was late on the Hunger Games bandwagon. When I first heard about the series, I thought it would be a terrible idea for a series. I mean, forcing kids and teens to fight to the death for people's entertainment was not appealing to me. Never the less, I continued to hear good things about it, and when it got to the point where even my mom was wanting to read it, I decided to investigate. I started out right by reading the books before watching the movie. Now, having seen the first movie and read the books, I'm ready to see the next movie.
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| Sam Claflin as Finnick Odar and Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen |
Before reading the first book, I was actually unaware that there was more than one book. I remember as I was reading Catching Fire, that I was getting super into it. The beginning was just jammed packed with intensity and it carried through all the way to the end. When I first heard that (SPOLIERS) Katniss and Peeta would be going back into the arena for another round of Hunger Game, I was a bit conflicted. Part of me was excited to read how they would survive (or not), but the other part of me was thinking "Please don't. Don't repeat yourself. It was good enough the first time, don't screw it up by doing it twice". That being said, the first part of me that was excited was more justified. When I finished reading, I was slightly disappointed it was over! Though part of that disappointment came from the fact that the climax came and ended abruptly. I was not expecting the whole thing with the tree and the wires to actually be the climax. Part of me felt cheated that it ended so quickly, but after thinking about it after finishing the book, I realize that I do actually like it when stories are unpredictable... I just wasn't feeling it at the time.
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| Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mallark, Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen, and Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorn |
Now, we're actually going into the movie adaptation of Catching Fire. Since I didn't really know anything about Hunger Games when the first movie came out, I'm actually feeling excited for the new movie. More excited than I am for the third book's movies (though THAT's another story). Out of the original cast, I only had only seen three actors in movies prior to Hunger Games, and those were Josh Hutcherson (Kicking and Screaming), Stanley Tucci (Julie and Julia), and Toby Jones (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets/Deathly Hallows part 1). I had aslo heard of Woody Harrelson and Elizabeth Banks before but had never seen them in any film. Also, I figured out that Liam Hemsworth must have been the brother of actor Chris Hemsworth before I learned his name, because he looked so much like a short, dark-haired Thor.
As for the new cast of Catching Fire, I had only seen Sam Clafflin. He played the character who was the cheep Will Turner replacement character in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. But this time it has been fun to see who's being cast as the roles. I haven't had this much fun looking at actors being cast as book characters since Harry Potter ended. For some reason it felt like The Hobbit didn't count. Can't explain... But seeing the actors and trying to imagine them as I was reading was fun for me.
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| Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen |
It's still too early in the movie making process to give too many opinions on things, however. They haven't even put out a trailer yet. I'm just sitting here looking forward to it and can't wait. I don't have many movies that I'm looking forward to anymore. Now I'm just waiting for this film, the next Hobbit movies, and Star Trek into Darkness. Haven't decided if I'm actually excited for the new Star Wars movies yet or not. I'm thinking I'll do a review of the trailer when they release it. Stay tuned! Until then, Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor.
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| Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark and Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen. |
