Year: 2015
Directed by: Francis Lawrence
Written by: Peter Craig & Danny Strong, Suzanne Collins (novel an adaptation)
17-year-old Katniss Everdeen continues her task as the face of the rebellion - as the Mockingjay. She has to unite the districts against the Capitol, while Peeta has been manipulated by the Capitol to think Katniss is a monster.
It's weird to write about this film now. First of all I feel strange that now the whole story is finally done, and there won't be any more. Second of all I saw this film about 14 hours ago, and between then and now I've been sleeping and going to school and all that. I wish I had had the time to write about this immediately after seeing it, so it would be fresh in my memory. On the other hand, now I've had enough time to think about what I'm going to say, so I won't have to figure that out at the moment.
I love The Hunger Games trilogy mostly because it is so dark and brutal, and even if Katniss does what she has to do, she still suffers from everything that has happened. I mentioned this on the post I wrote about my The Hunger Games marathon. In a badly written version of the novels Katniss would behave like nothing ever bothered her, which would make her just seem violent and rash. When we know everything has gotten to her, we know what she is sensitive, we know that everything has actually touched her.
The most horrifying thing is when you realise how young Katniss actually is. The original point of the novel series was how kids were forced to fight in the arena, and how a kid actually became the most important person to the resistance. Think about when you were 17, would you have been able to unite people against your oppressors? That's a really horrifying thought - and that was the point Collins was trying to make. Jennifer Lawrence is excellent as Katniss. She portrays her social clumsiness well, but also her emotional weaknesses and her bravery. She's a great actress, but there should've been someone else playing her, someone younger (and Native), because then it would look as terrifying at it was meant to.
Not all the events from the novel were included in the Mockingjay part 1 or 2. It's understandable especially when it comes to the part 2. For example, Katniss, Finnick, Johanna and Peeta being trained for the war? It would take too much time to show everything, considering how long the film already was. Sure, there's one emotionally heavy part I wish they had included towards the end, but I can see how hard it would've been to make that. I still wish we could've seen that.
Some people are complaining about how they should've made the Mockingjay into a one film. I disagree. It is one film, but in two parts. And it works this way, because the second part starts so well - it starts exactly where it should start considering what happened in the end of Part 1. It works as two parts, and there was no need to wrap the story up any more. It was very dense already - things happen quickly but there is still time for important dialogue. And you never see critics complaining about Kill Bill being two movies instead of one. It definitely has to do with mainstream action film versus marginal "art" action film.
Here's a question I wish you would answer for me, even if you don't mind the two parts: If you'd make one film out of Mockingjay, what would you leave out?
The 3D effects bothered me a bit. It sometimes makes it very hard to follow what was going on. I hope film makers stop using 3D that much (I doubt it) or they start using it better (I doubt that too).
There's one thing that always manages to make people cry in The Hunger Games. It's the music, well, it's that one song. Rue's Farewell is so touching and beautiful that the audience is near the tears every time it plays. The film makers use this very well. The music in these films is almost unreal because of how beautiful it is.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay part 2 is dark and brutal, but it has hope, some amazing hope that after all that darkness makes everything better. It's an amazing finale for the best young adult science fiction stories I have read or seen.
I feel weird that it's all over now. Suzanne Collins has created amazing characters who were portrayed so well over the years - or left out, as the case may be. Thanks for the ride, it has been amazing.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
9 / 10
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