Movie Thoughts: Mockingjay Part 2

So this is it - the end of The Hunger Games saga. The Hunger Games was one of the first books that got me into YA - I read it about 8 years ago and when I heard it was becoming a movie and told EVERYONE … nobody cared (until it came out, of course). So what does it mean when you a read a book series before it becomes a popular movie? Honestly, not much. I've been nothing but disappointed when I read books first. I loved watching The Hunger Games unfold, but I didn't agree with the casting and some character portrayals, so that was a big turn off for me. The two book series that I've read before they were even optioned for a movie was The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner. While I actually agree with The Maze Runner casting, there was still something different. Now, I watched True Blood before I read the Sookie Stackhouse books and I think it made me appreciate the books even more. I also watched the Divergent movie before I read the entire trilogy. I loved the trilogy (even the ending), but after watching the movie Insurgent and the trailer for Allegiant - I feel like I almost don't recognize what I'm watching. Another thing about watching the movie first or even seeing casting first, is that you will see those characters more as the characters who are already casted which I don't think is necessarily a bad thing.

Am I sad that The Hunger Games is over? Of course. It was the first book that got me into YA. Will I get over it? Of course. There are so many great books that I loved just as much that were optioned for movies. However, I just don't know that any will live up to the emotion.

Characters:

Since this is my first post on movie thoughts, I thought I'd just talk a little bit how I felt about the casting throughout the entire movie saga. I'm focusing only on Katniss, Peeta, and Gale because I thought they are what influences most people's opinions.


Katniss:

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Jennifer Lawrence as an actress and I think she did an amazing job in all three of The Hunger Games movies. Yet, she just wasn't who I pictured as Katniss. I think she was a little too old to play her. Also, as I'm sure this is more of the directors discretion, but in the movie I feel like they were trying so hard to drill home that SHE was the symbol of the rebellion and pushing the "I am woman, hear me roar" complex, and in consequence, they made her almost manly in her actions. She wasn't like that in the books, she relied on Peeta and Gale and it wasn't her constantly taking care of everyone around her. In turn, I thought that it made Peeta and Gale look less manly.

Movie Katniss:

My image of Katniss

Peeta:
I was expecting more of someone like this to portray book Peeta:

Instead, I got this:

Overall, I thought they made Peeta wayyyyy to feminine in the movie. He still played the nice guy, but he was too nice. I felt like he often had to depend on Katniss to get him out of trouble in the games, and that was never how it was in the books. I thought Peeta held his own in the books and could definitely take care of himself. Basically, I thought the movies did him a huge injustice, making him look like, excuse my crude language, a super weenie.

Gale:

Well, at least they got one right! In my opinion, the casting of Gale was awesome. However, his portrayal in Mockingjay part 2 was off. In Mockingjay, don't you think that Gale was crazy obsessed with war? So much so, it really caused me to stop caring about him in the books. That never happened for me in the movies. He was never that same guy that cared more about war than Katniss or her family. It made it even harder for me to root for movie Peeta and Katniss.

Plot:

As far as the plot of Mockingjay Part 2, I felt like it didn't make much sense to split the last book into two separate movies. Nonetheless, like Mockingjay Part 1, the movie had a dragging feeling to it. I don't understand why these movie companies keep trying to milk book series for all they're worth, especially when it really is impacting the quality of the movie!

Book Accuracy: 

I thought Mockingjay Part 2 was more accurate to the book than part 1. I'm glad they more or less stuck to the book plot line and especially stayed true to the ending. However, there are two death scenes in particular that I think were done poorly. If you read the book, you probably know what death scenes are the saddest. I was expecting to cry because these characters meant a lot to me in the books and the movies, but I was like "are you kidding me"? I didn't think they gave adequate attention to their deaths at all.

Overall I gave Mockingjay Part 2 a 3.5/5 stars because I thought it was a little better than the book, but Mockingjay was my still least favorite part of the trilogy - book and movie.

- Jocelyn