The Hunger Games is a great movie franchise. Based on the eponymous book series written by Suzanne Collins, the series conquered fans all over the world. It also introduced the viewers to talented actors such as Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Liam Hemsworth.
But just like most great movies, The Hunger Games are far from perfect. If you look hard enough, you can find numerous plot holes that most fans have probably missed. Today, we put The Hunger Games under scrutiny. Will you still be a fan after learning about these 30 shocking plot holes we have in store for you?
Buttercup Literally Changed
This is one of the most noticeable mistakes in The Hunger Games movies. Buttercup is the cat of Katniss' younger sister, Primrose. However, he seems to go through a complete change in visual after the first movie. Oddly, the black and white cat that appears in the series' first film is replaced by a yellow one...
When asked about this, director Francis Lawrence said that the cat was changed to better fit its description in the books. But considering that Buttercup is described as a "hideous-looking cat", we don't think any of these two furry cuties did the part any justice!
Too Good To Be True Make-up Skills
In The Hunger Games, Peeta Mellark is supposed to be a camouflage expert. His skills come from years of working as a cake decorator at his father's bakery. So far, so good, right? Yet, when Katniss spots him dressed up as a rock and some grass, his disguise seems almost too good to be believable.
We're not by any means snubbing the power of make-up! Still, we cannot understand how Peeta found the time and tools needed to pull this disguise off. After all, they're fighting for their lives in an arena. To pull off such an impressive look just doesn't seem credible at all.
Arrows Vs. Planes
At one point in the movie, Katniss and Gale are sent to a hospital in District 8. Their mission is to strengthen Katniss' position as a Rebel leader. But President Snow finds out about their location and quickly attacks with a couple of bomber planes. In the ground, with nothing but their crossbows, do Katniss and Gale even stand a chance?
Apparently, they do! All it takes for Katniss to take down the two heavily-armed bomber planes is an explosive arrow. She hits one of the planes, which then crashes against the other. If it sounds way too easy to be believable, that's because it is!
Dressed To Impress
At the beginning of The Hunger Games series, we get to know life in the impoverished District 12. There, everybody seems to live in old houses and wear nothing but dirty rags. Everybody, except... Katniss.
When Katniss is introduced to the audience, she's wearing a high-quality leather jacket and a nice pair of boots. This makes her stand-out from her District 12 peers. But where did she get the money to buy such nice clothes? In a place where most people don't have anything to eat, Katniss seems to have no problem dressing in nice clothes and hunting with her expensive crossbow.
Welcome To 19th Century District 12
We get the idea that District 12 is supposed to be incredibly poorer than the Capitol. But the movie portrays it as a place that comes straight out of the 19th century. All the buildings seem to be hundreds of years old, and the most advanced piece of technology available happens to be an old radio.
While we understand the idea behind the decision to depict District 12 as a beggarly place, there should be at least some traces of an advanced society there. When the Peacekeepers arrive at District 12, it seems as though some time-travelers have made their way back from the future...
Is This A Movie Or A Videogame?
Katniss loves shooting arrows. The Hunger Games are filled with great action scenes in which Jennifer Lawrence's character never seems to run out of ammo. Shooting arrow after arrow, Katniss always finds another arrow stored in her tiny arrow tube...
But where do all these arrows come from? Just like a videogame, Katniss never runs out of stuff to shoot, even though she is seen carrying no more than 5 to 10 arrows in her back for most of the franchise's scenes. We understand there are logical limitations to every action/adventure movie, but couldn't they have at least given her a bigger arrow tube?
A Senseless Alliance
In this dystopian terrene, the world's wealthiest people watch contestants from poorer districts fighting to the death on national television. There's only one rule to the games: The last man standing survives, so there cannot be more than one winner.
However, one of the first things we see in the film after the games' start is an alliance. 4 of the contestants decided to get together to increase their chances of winning. But how would that even work? Does it even make sense to team-up for a game where only one person can get away alive?
It's Showbiz, Baby!
After breaking the games, Katniss and Peeta show up in public for the first time wearing two special suits. At one point, these burst into flames, causing the audience to go nuts! But is it credible to think that a highly-developed society would be impressed by something so mundane?
Consider the fact that Katniss and Peeta live in a world filled with technological advancements and high-quality showbiz. A couple of suits that set on fire don't seem like a big deal if you think about it that way. In the movie, this is supposed to be a moment of catharsis. But the good-old fire trick is short from convincing.
Why So Shocked?
Katniss volunteers to fight in the games, so her younger sister Primrose doesn't have to go. This is a beautiful moment in the film, which allows the viewer to get to know more about Katniss' strong moral compass. But when she volunteers, every witness gets super shocked. Why?
We get that this is supposed to be an emotional moment. But does it make sense to portray it as something that was never witnessed before? Considering the rules of the games, it's highly likely that, like Katniss, other people have done the same thing for younger friends and family in the past.
Coal & Sci-Fi Don't Go Well Together
In The Hunger Games, every district specializes in producing certain goods for the wealthy. But isn't District 12's specialty a little bizarre? After all, Katniss' home town is considered to be a coal mining District!
Coal mining is an outdated process in the real world, so why is it still being used in Hunger Games' dystopian future? The Capitol seems to be at the center of a highly-developed technological society. If that's true, then they shouldn't be using coal, an outdated form of energy. This detail seems to make no sense whatsoever.
All The Flowers Disappeared
Before entering the Games, contestants from all Districts are introduced with a massive ceremony. This is the scene where Katniss and Peeta's clothes light-up on fire. During this ceremony, there are some shots showing people from the audience throwing flowers, hats, and other stuff at the contestants driving by.
But when we see the pavilion from a different angle, all the flowers and hats seem to have vanished from the floors. How is this possible? Are there some very effective invisible cleaners working in the arena? Or have the filmmakers simply ignored this blatant mistake?
One For The Musicians
Most people won't mind this plot hole, but every single musician out there will certainly relate. In the procession preceding President Snow's execution, the sounds of some epic Taiko drums can be heard in the soundtrack. But when the drummers are shown, they are actually playing timpani drums!
So, what's the problem? Well, while similar, timpani and taiko drums are very different. Timpani drums are used by orchestras and can be pitched, meaning they can play different notes. Taiko drums, on the other hand, are a traditional Japanese instrument that cannot be tuned.
Zero Rights To A Fair Trial
Katniss is the undisputed hero of The Hunger Games, and she's depicted as the ultimate leader of the free world. But some of her actions are morally questionable, to say the least. When tyrant Snow is replaced by Alma Coin, Katniss finds out she's yet another cold-hearted villain.
Then, in a completely packed plaza, she simply shoots an arrow into her heart! We know she had valid reasons to do so, but how can it be so easy for someone to simply murder a state leader? It's no wonder former tyrant Snow reacted to the scene with a big laugh...
A Convenient Trap
In the movie, this gigantic beehive is effectively used by Katniss to attack the "Career Pack", the group of highly-trained tributes that was chasing her. It is filled with genetically engineered, hallucination-inducing wasps called Tracker Jackers. Sounds scary, right?
However, it's kind of strange that none of the Career Pack tributes, who were supposedly highly-trained, was able to see such a dangerous beehive. Instead, they decided to sleep under the tree where Katniss was hiding, putting themselves in a perfect position for a trap. The result? Glimmer ended up dead, and Katniss got herself a crossbow!
Where's The Cannon For Rue & Marvel?!
One of the most memorable rules of the games involves the sound of a cannon. This sound is heard every time a contestant dies. However, when Rue and Marvel meet their end, the cannon was never actually shot.
In the movie, the deaths of Rue and Marvel are depicted as an extremely emotional moment. We understand that at that point, the focus of the director wasn't on the cannon. However, it seems kind of sloppy to simply ignore one of the basic rules of the games. For the most dedicated fans of the series, this was a detail of utmost importance.
Over-The-Top Camera Equipment
In the movies, the Capitol has unlimited resources when it comes to filming the Games. But in some scenes, we cannot stop ourselves from thinking: How on Earth would a camera be able to capture that? The Capitol's system of hidden cameras seems way too effective to be believable.
But assuming it is possible to hide cameras so effectively, why isn't the Capitol using such cameras to control the population? It seems like a way-too-powerful resource to be simply wasted on the Games. Yet, Snow didn't utilize them enough to fight the Rebels.
Questionable Crowd Reaction
One of the biggest Peeta moments in the movies happens when he is getting interviewed by Caesar. During the interview, a very confident Peeta is getting a lot of respect from the crowd. They seem to love him and laugh at his jokes, reacting loudly to almost everything he does.
When Peeta confesses that he has loved Katniss ever since he was a child, we expected a big "Oh!" from the audience. Instead, there's nothing but awkward silence. But if the crowd was responding so well to the rest of the interview, why have they simply ignored its most revealing moment?
Is Panem All There Is?
The Hunger Games action occurs in Panem, a country divided into Districts where some blatant injustices take place every single day. In the series, there's no mention of outside countries. But if there were other countries besides Panem, would they allow for stuff like the Games to happen?
Suzanne Collins never referred to any countries outside Panem in her books. That's OK. Not all fiction writers need to go into Tolkien-level details about their stories. But it feels as though Panem's historical background is something that was simply left out of the equation...
Katniss' Ever Changing Hair
You can notice this clearly during Katniss' first interview with Caesar. If you look close enough, you can see that her hairstyle changes from one shot to the next. This is a clear mistake caused by editing different shots together, but the filmmakers didn't seem to notice anything.
The same thing happens in an earlier scene. When Katniss volunteers to save Primrose, she briefly fights the Peacekeepers and gets her hair all messy. But in the next shot, her hairstyle seems to be perfectly put together. It's small mistakes like that that grind the nerves of the most dedicated fans of the series.
The Vanishing Wound
When you're shooting a big Hollywood movie like The Hunger Games, you always need to try to make your star's face shine in every scene. Jennifer Lawrence is beautiful enough to pull it off without any help from the directors, but their obsession with making every shot perfect was in the origin of a crass mistake.
After being wounded by Clove, Katniss is seen with a big cut on her forehead. It's bleeding and all! But in the next scene, the wound disappears out of magic. It's impossible to unsee it as soon as you notice it.
Another Crass Editing Mistake
Nevermind Katniss' inexplicable changes in hairstyle. There's another editing mistake in the movies that's even worse. This happens in Hunger Games: Catching Fire, during a scene that's supposed to show President Snow's deteriorating health condition.
In this scene, Snow drinks from a glass of champagne when blood comes out of his mouth. This causes the champagne to turn red. It would be an impactful scene if it wasn't for the fact that, in the next shot, the champagne turns golden once again! There's no explanation to it, so it had to be an obvious mistake from the editors.
The Numbers Don't Add Up
At one point, former champion Haymitch tells Katniss that the contestants from Districts 1 and 2 almost always win the games. With this in mind, how was the Capitol able to put together former champions from every single district for the special edition of the 75th Hunger Games?
In the 75th Hunger Games, all contestants were supposedly former champions. But considering the games' history of winners, where have all these people come from? Besides, aren't most contestants way too young to have been former winners? We get that the main idea was to get Katniss and Peeta back into the games, but the math doesn't seem to add up.
Peeta's Importance To The Revolution
The strange relationship between Katniss and Peeta is part of what makes The Hunger Games such a captivating story. But in the movies, Katniss can be heard telling the Rebels that they should save Peeta's life instead of hers. Does this make any sense?
Katniss is extremely protective of Peeta, and she seems to genuinely care about him. But knowing Peeta, it's easy to say he wouldn't be able to lead a revolution. So, why should his life be prioritized over Katniss'? There doesn't seem to be a rational explanation for this, but it does add up to the drama!
A Metaphor That Didn't Work
Strangely enough, there's a moment in the second movie of The Hunger Games series that involves a massive oil attack. While Katniss and the other Rebels are heading to the Capitol, a gigantic wave of oil is released to stop them.
We get the main point of this oil attack. Like many other moments in The Hunger Games movies, it's meant as a metaphor to represent the rich and powerful who control our society. But, in this case, the metaphor isn't exactly great. It is not only blatant, but it is also hard to believe. After all, where did all that oil came from?
What Happens If No Tribute Survives?
Near the Games' end, Katniss, Peeta, and Cato were the only 3 tributes who remained alive in the Arena. At this point, the Gamemakers decided to release a pack of wolf-like creatures called mutts. With big claws and the ability to jump very high, these monsters contributed to the excitement of the Games' finale.
However, there's no way the behavior of these wild mutts was being directly controlled by the Capitol. But if that's the case, how could the Gamemakers be so sure that these mutts wouldn't simply kill all the remaining tributes? This plot hole was never addressed in the movies.
Is It All A Game?
In The Hunger Games, the gamekeepers have absolute control over what happens in the arena. But outside the games, the universe created by Suzanne Collins is believed to be devoid of magical elements. However, if that's true, how do we explain the presence of these mutant monsters during the Capitol attack?
The director and writers of the movie didn't seem too worried about giving the appropriate context to this particular scene. We agree that these ugly humanoids make for a great action moment. Still, we can't get over the fact that their appearance is somewhat obnoxious.
District 12's "Disappearance"
After beating the Games, Katniss decides to go back to District 12 to visit. Before entering the District, she is told that a massive bombing destroyed the region completely. As she arrives at the location, though, that doesn't seem to be exactly true.
Not only does she get the chance to visit a nearly intact victor's house, but she even recovers Buttercup, Primrose's cat, completely alive and well. We have never been to a recently-bombed location before. However, we feel like the filmmakers didn't try hard enough to build a believable post-bombing scenario.
Brainwashing Peeta Wasn't A Very Good Plan
Poor planning and strategical mistakes from the characters of a movie don't exactly constitute a plothole. However, we're still having problems with the Capitol's plan to brainwash Peeta and send him to kill Katniss. While this plan almost worked, it seems to have several flaws.
For one, brainwashing is reversible. Especially when we consider that Peeta has a strong emotional connection to Katniss. Additionally, Peeta's attack on Katniss happened in an underground bunker. If it was supposed to be a big demonstration of force from the Capitol, why did it happen in such an isolated place?
The Whole Premise Feels Flawed
In The Hunger Games, the dominant forces host violent games every year as a way of asserting their power. In these games, only one of the contestants can survive. Even worse is the fact that the contestants are normally very young.
This makes for a great story, but is it a believable political tactic? By hosting these highly-publicized games every year, isn't the Capitol simply inspiring political revolution? Aren't they contributing to the anger of the people in the poorer districts? The games are explained as being a tyrannical tour de force, but they seem to do nothing good for the Capitol.
The Decision To Split The Ending Into Two Movies Was A Blunder
Following the success of the Harry Potter finale, Hunger Games producers decided to split the final book of the series into two different movies. This decision, however, proved to be extremely costly. Both Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 and Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 were considered to be slow and unappealing. It just didn't satisfy the fans.
Additionally, both movies performed poorly at the box office. The original The Hunger Games movie grossed $408 million in the United States. However, Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 made only about half of that money. Actually, it only made a disappointing $281 million.