10 Things Missing From The Hunger Games Movies

I'm not shy when it comes to my love for The Hunger Games series, in both book and film versions. With author Suzanne Collins as the screenwriter for the movies, it was easily one of the best book-to-movie adaptions of all time. Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, and so many more amazing actors brought this story to life. That doesn't mean that the movies were better than the books, but it does make critiquing the movies that much more difficult.

The movies had to cut out certain scenes, characters, and moments for the sake of timing and flow which makes perfect sense. I get it, and it's hard to complain for that reason. However, there were a few scenes that I, and many other huge fans of the Hunger Games books, missed in the adaptions. Why aren't the Avoxes talked about? Why couldn't we get a few more minutes of beautiful Peeta and Katniss moments? These are the questions that will haunt me.

Including backstory on some of your favorite characters like Haymitch Abernathy and Finnick Odair, the many quick and tragic moments of Mockingjay, and more — here are 10 things that happened in the books that should have been included in the movies.

1. Twill and Bonnie

I can understand why Madge Undersee's character was scrapped in the first movie, but when Katniss runs into two characters, Twill and Bonnie, in the forest in Catching Fire, it was an important plot point. Twill escapes from District 8 with her student, Bonnie, after uprisings and are on their way to District 13. While I can see how this might be too much foreshadowing for a movie, Katniss never meets them in District 13, which settles the debate that Katniss and Gale never should have left when they had the chance, because the odds would've not been in their favor.

2. Haymitch's Drunken Fumble At The Reaping

Haymitch is originally introduced in the books as the town drunk who falls off the stage at the reaping. While the movie does do a great job at showing his drinking problem, this moment was tragically funny and definitely the best way to introduce this memorable character.

3. Haymitch's Hunger Game Victory Video

In the Catching Fire book Katniss and Peeta watch the past Hunger Games videos to get to know the tributes they'll be in the arena with. The two watch Haymitch's year, the second Quarter Quell, and it was incredibly brutal. Let's just take a second and acknowledge that Haymitch lost his ally (like Katniss with Rue) and was then sliced open by an axe, but that didn't even stop him from winning with the help from the force field. While I do love how the force field concept was introduced with Beetee and Wiress in the movie, I love Haymitch and his story too much for it to be lost on screen.

4. More Avox Action

Most movie-viewers don't entirely know what an Avox is until Castor explains Pollux's story in Mockingjay — Part 2. The Avox I'm specificially missing in the movies is Lavinia, who serves Katniss and Peeta during their first visit to the Capitol. Katniss saw Lavinia back when she and Gale were hunting in the woods in District 12, when a hovercraft appeared and took her away, killing whoever was with Lavinia. This is important in the books, but on screen, her character was unfortunately ignored.

5. Katniss And Johanna's Friendship

Jena Malone gave a kickass portrayal of Johanna Mason. In the books, Johanna and Katniss definitely butt heads, but they also have a unique friendship forged over their hatred for Snow and their training to go into the Capitol in Mockingjay. Because the movies changed it up and didn't have them train and overcome fears, those moments are missed.

6. Finnick Tying Knots

Alright, there's no excuse as to why this scene wasn't in the movies, because it was filmed and made into a deleted scene. His talent for tying knots produces this heartbreakingly wonderful quote: "It takes 10 times as long to put yourself back together as it does to fall apart." Like Johanna and Haymitch, I wish there was more Finnick in the movies. He has a difficult past, and while it is explained in Mockingjay — Part 1 when he reveals Snow's poisonous secrets, there's more depth to the character that could be explored in the movies.

7. Katniss Killing A Stranger

When Katniss' squad breaks into a Capitol home after they're almost killed by the sludge, they run into the woman who lives there. Just as she's about to call for help, Katniss doesn't give it a second thought and kills her. I felt this was an important scene lacking from Mockingjay — Part 2 because it shows even though Katniss stands up for the innocent civilians, she still has to make difficult life-and-death choices.

8. Katniss And Coin's Relationship

In the books, the reveal that Katniss shoots her arrow at Coin instead of Snow is shocking. In the movie, not so much. The movies show how much Coin dislikes Katniss when she goes rogue, whereas in the books, Katniss is trained at District 13 to go into the Capitol rather than sneaking off. The books did a much more sneaky job of revealing Katniss' true feelings toward Coin, and vice versa.

9. Katniss and Peeta's Beach Scene

I'm just going to put it out there — we all wanted more Katniss and Peeta kissing scenes. I mean, Gale got more on-screen kissing time than Peeta, and that's not fair. In the books, Katniss and Peeta kiss for an entire night. I know you can't exactly show that in a movie, but a little more "Everlark" time, especially while Peeta is recovering in Mockingjay, would have been much appreciated.

10. More Parental Figures

Katniss has a horrible relationship with her mother, all due to how her mom reacted to her dad's death. This is a much bigger deal in the books. The same goes for Peeta's father, who comes in and gives Katniss cookies after the reaping. It shows that Peeta actually had an OK relationship with his dad, which makes it much more tragic when he finds out about the bombing of District 12.

Images: Lionsgate; giphy (11)