Movie Review: The Hunger Games

At what age should children be allowed to see the movie, The Hungers Games?

Short answer:

It makes a huge world of difference if your child has read the book. If they have, it probably means your child is at least in third grade (almost 4th now). I would say that child should be fine. If they haven’t read the book, I would have reservations for anyone under 10 watching the movie because so much is explained in the book that would help guide a child’s understanding of the movie. When I asked my son if he thought it would be alright for his friends to watch, he said, “Sure. They play Call of Duty and Resident Evil.” (My son does not play Resident Evil.) I asked about the girls in his 5th grade class. He said maybe, it depends on who read the book.

In the end, you know your child best. For my children:

I would not let my 8 year-old second grader who has not read the book watch The Hunger Games. My 10-year old, yes. Mind you, I am not a parent who lets my sons watch every PG-13 movie. I still won’t let them watch The Dark Night, which I found infinitely darker and more disturbing than The Hunger Games. But at the same time, I took my older son to see the first Transformer’s movie when he was 6. I did not let him my younger son see a Transformer’s movie in the theater until he was 8 due to his mindset.

For a more in depth review of The Hunger Games and why I said what I said above read on:

(The long answer.)

There are three things to think about to determine if it’s appropriate for your child.

First, I think it is imperative that anyone who goes to watch the movie reads the book first. When trying to compress the book into a two-hour-and-twenty-minute movie, a lot needs to be cut. And with the book as detailed and layered as it is, many of the nuances will be lost on the audience who hasn’t read the book. For example, when Katniss tells Prim to mind her goat at a particularly moving scene so she can sell its milk for money, you will have no idea what she is talking about since this is the only mention of the goat in the entire movie. Or why is Haymitch a drunk? Or why doesn’t Katniss turn a cold shoulder to Peeta in the beginning? In the book, this is all explained very well.

Second, even having read the book there are subtleties only older children will understand. I was surprised that my 10 ½ year old completely misinterpreted two key scenes at the end of the movie. I give an example of one these at the end of this post, with warnings that it’s a spoiler alert.

Finally, the violence. Yes, it is kids killing kids. You can’t get around that. However, the director did a good job of making most of it brief, while still impressing on you the cruelness of it all. There were three fight images that are a little tough to watch knowing your child is sitting next to you, but my son didn’t seem distraught. And there is one scary “boo” moment, that did make my son jump, but you know exactly when that is going to happen.

***Spoiler alert***
When she shots Kato at the end to end his torment, he didn’t understand that it was an act of mercy. He thought Katniss killed him only because she could. Obvious too an adult, but not so obvious to a child.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed the movie and thought it was an excellent adaption of the book.

Book Review: Mockingjay

I found Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins to be a very different book from the first two novels in The Hunger Games Trilogy.

The critical difference was Peeta wasn't in the first half of the novel. Peeta and Katniss great relationship that Suzanne Collins created is what kept me addicted to the first two novels (along with the great chapter cliffhangers). Unfortunately, Katniss' relationship with the other principal characters, Gale, Coin, Haymitch, Finnick, etc., couldn't keep me engaged in the first half of the novel. Considering Katniss kept saying she felt out of it or disconnected, so did I as a reader. My son gave up after 50 pages. I almost gave up after 100.

Once Peeta played a more prominent role in the novel, the energy returned and I finished the rest in two days.

But I was very disappointed by how bleak, dark, and violent it became. I'm not sure how Mockingjay can be considered a teen novel. The violence really did get horrific.

It shows the worst in people and instead of not knowing who to root for, I was begging for at least one positive thing to happen in the book--anything.

I really enjoyed the first two books in the series, but the third was too dark for me.

Book Review: The Hunger Games

I have to thank my fourth-grade son for prompting me to read one of the most engaging books I’ve read in a long time. He wanted the book because a couple of his friends really liked it. He took the book to Grandma’s house one day and didn’t bring it home. I asked why and he said his aunt was reading it and wouldn’t give it back until she was done. What kind of book would excite a bunch of fourth grade boys and my son’s middle age aunt? Intrigued, I read the first page at 10 p.m. Monday night while fighting a cold. I set it down at 4 a.m. Tuesday morning, physically a mess, but mentally jazzed.

Every time I thought I could go to sleep, there was another twist or added level of depth that drew me deeper into Collins’ novel causing me to break numerous promises of just one more chapter. I’ve read lots of books with believable characters, full of suspense, and great pacing, but it was Collins' well-placed twists and ah-ha moments that kept me going and had me say at least three times, that’s awesome.

Criticism? There were a couple of back stories that seemed inconsequential that I skimmed over and there was one scene I’m sure Collin’s had written, but didn’t make the final draft that I would’ve liked to have read.

The Hunger Games is a fast-paced, suspense-filled novel that I could not put down and highly recommend.