So, another hugely popular young adult series has come to an end. Like the "Harry Potter" and the "Twilight Saga", the "Hunger Games" franchise also chose to divide the final book, "Mockingjay", into two films. When I saw Part 1 of "Mockingjay" last year, I thought it lacked substance to stand alone on its own. However, now that I have seen Part 2, I understand why they could not have just made it as one single big movie.
After the long introduction to the action that is Part 1, Part 2 begins where it left off. Katniss is dead set on killing President Snow. Peeta is slowly recovering from the brainwashing he suffered by the guys in the Capitol. Gale is wasting no time in trying to win Katniss back. The three of them are members of a team sent by President Coin to storm the Capitol and kill President Snow. However, their mission is beset with dangerous and elaborate booby traps, as only the best Gamemakers of the Capitol can concoct.
Being their fourth film already together, Jennifer Lawrence (as Katniss), Josh Hutcherson (as Peeta), Liam Hemsworth (as Gale), Woody Harrelson (as Haymitch), Elizabeth Banks (as Effie Trinket), Stanley Tucci (as Caesar) and Donald Sutherland (as grand old President Snow) have really settled and fit their respective characters like a glove by this time. With Jennifer Lawrence there portraying her, every rash act of Katniss becomes heroic somehow. She gets the audience to actually root for this indecisive, foolhardy character.
Julianne Moore (as Coin) and Natalie Dormer (as Cressida) had to contend with distractingly bad hairstyles but they do get their jobs done right. It was good to see and hear the departed Philip Seymour Hoffman one last time as Plutarch, though his screen time here was very short. It was good to see the other victors like Finnick (Sam Claflin), Annie (Stef Dawson), Beetee (Jeffrey Wright), Johanna (Jena Malone), though their screen time was also very brief. It was great to see Game of Thrones actress Gwendoline Christie in a small scene as Commander Lyme.
"Mockingjay Part 2" is a very long movie and it can feel like it. It was more than 2 hours (137 minutes to be exact) of war, politics, and yes, the love triangle. There are actually no more Hunger Games to show in this one, but the Capitol itself was turned into one large-scale Hunger Games arena when Katniss and company encounter the "pods" (which were spectacularly violent land mines). I actually do not recall that there were oil tsunamis or mutant monsters underground in the books, but these were the most shocking and thrilling parts of this film. Without these, the younger members of the audience may doze off with all the talking scenes. 7/10.
I read the Hunger Games - the books - and I liked them. Not necessarily loved them, but liked them. I admit I didn't see any of the movies released so far, based on the books. But it looks like I should :)
ReplyDeleteI cannot wait to see this with my girls. We've all read the books and although I fin the last two books a bit rushed, I still like the story.
ReplyDeleteI am not a fan of the Hunger Games (books) so I haven't watched Part 1. However, I do know that the teenagers love reading this series and almost all of them are talking about this show now... haha!
ReplyDeleteWe were just talking about this yesterday. I honestly didn't like the Part 1 and thought it's quite boring. Hopefully this last movie will be better. My friend says that the ending was just like what's written in the book.
ReplyDeleteI didn't watch part 1 so don't think I am going to watch the second too. A friend of mine said it is as exciting as the book she read. Thanks for sharing the review~
ReplyDeleteI have watched this blockbuster but this one was quite disappointing. Lots of talking and draggy. The whole scene is go ashy and storyline is expected. At least it has a good ending.
ReplyDeleteI haven't followed hunger games but it has a really huge following. It's a bit long for a movie but I guess, their followers would cherish every minute of the last movie.
ReplyDeleteThe part one was a snooze fest for me. I'm not entirely excited to see this one either. I just wasn't a big fan of Hunger Games, period.
ReplyDeletehey! this is one story that i've been waiting for since last year.. hope i'll get to watch it.. hehe
ReplyDeleteI'll be watching this next week! We've been waiting for this movie and I'm glad that it's getting a lot of great feed backs and reviews. :)
ReplyDeleteI watched this film and i was awed with the effects.. for me it is average tale of a girl on revenge... it was predictable but still i was excited to see it.
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