Mockingjay Part 2 Review (2015)

Mockingjay Part 2 Review

  I'm sad to say that The Hunger Games series has finally come to an end. As a huge fan of the books, I've had mixed feelings on the movies. While the story and concept is phenomenal, the delivery onscreen didn't always quite meet my expectations and do the source material justice. A lot of this has to do with the casting. As much as I like Jennifer Lawrence, she doesn't quite fit the look of the 18 year old, starving capital girl I pictured in the book. On top of that Josh Hutcherson doesn't look very much like Peeta and his delivery of the character comes off as soft more often than not. Because these are the two character we should be rooting for the most, it does put me out of the film a bit. Katniss's fickle and childlike behavior would be much more forgivable to the audience if she actually looked like a child. After the director switch from Gary Ross to Francis Lawrence, the movies did get better, but huge details had already been left out that would make characters like Peeta more understandable. For instance, in the book Peeta had to have his leg amputated after being attacked by mutts. Gary Ross left this out and so Francis Lawrence, who was still trying to follow the source material, had Peeta falling and tripping all over the place in the second film. Without the leg amputation, this doesn't make very much sense and just makes Peeta look like a wimp. On top of that, Hutcherson just isn't a GREAT actor and the height difference next to Jennifer Lawrence is a little laughable. The mutts in the first movie looked like scary pitbulls, but Francis Lawrence in Mockingjay Part 2 makes them look like zombies (again, more accurate to the book). This change might leave viewers who haven't read the books confused and suspending belief. 

  Because Mockingjay is a 300 page book, splitting it into 2 parts did more harm than good. You can tell when they're trying to use filler and because of this, it can be quite boring at times. 

  I know it sounds like I'm bagging on the franchise, but I do actually like them. It's just sad to me when I can see exactly how they could have been phenomenal, and instead they're just good. Mockingjay Part 2 tries and succeed in instances of grabbing my emotions, but in the end it still fell flat. I'll give it a 6 out of 10 stars. (Worth Ticket Price).