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GREAT BIG SPOILER ALERT - TURN BACK NOW IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED IT YET

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Now, with that outta the way, I want to create this thread to discuss the final installment in the Hunger Games movie series, Mockingjay Part 2.

I like this movie much better than the other, especially compared to the first movie. Keeping the world dark and the action horrific, this movie feels how the books seemed to intend it to. A part I especially enjoyed was the scene in the sewers, during the Mutt attacks. In the first movie, they simplified (and made less scary) these creatures so as to not put off the younger audiences, but in this movie they are a nice nasty horde of humanoid beasts, bent on tearing apart anything unlucky enough to get caught by them. The suspense built up to the moment made the action scene all the more jarring and effective.
A nice scene of rapid visceral action with the characters struggling to keep eachother alive, ending with Finnick dying in heroic fashion, trying to buy time for the others to escape. It makes a refreshing change to other movies in that any time a main character dies, it is always a quick death - one moment they are there, the next they've been killed. Much like death in real life. No dramatic slow-mo scenes for death.

The movie was okay, I think it was as good as it could have been given the source material (Mockingjay as a book just wasn't that great) and the terrible idea to split the final book into two films. The sewer scene was definitely my favorite part of the film, it was nice to have some actual suspense. Most movies nowadays just want to show you everything as soon as possible, so it was great to have that buildup underground.

Catching Fire is definitely the best film in the series and the only one worthy of repeat viewings IMO.

How does the movie differ from the plot of the book?

Mockingjay (The book) was terrible ("There is no District 12" at the end of Catching Fire would be a perfect ending for the series). The movie was pretty, but nothing could save anything created from that source material.

The only reason I'd ever watch any of the films is simply because Donald Sutherland plays an absolutely epic villain. (I hope he got a suitably awesome & gory death! )

The premise of the setting and story are great.
The fact that's it's tween fiction and that the movies are aimed at hormonally raging teenage girls is vomit inducing however.

Experiment 626 wrote:
The only reason I'd ever watch any of the films is simply because Donald Sutherland plays an absolutely epic villain. (I hope he got a suitably awesome & gory death! )

The premise of the setting and story are great.
The fact that's it's tween fiction and that the movies are aimed at hormonally raging teenage girls is vomit inducing however.

Honestly I didn't get the vibe that the beyond the first movie this was aimed at hormonally raging teenage girls. I think that's actually a large reason for it's success. It doesn't go down the Twilight route nor the route of the other failed Tween fiction films that try to start a series (Mortal Bones, Vampire Academy, etc...)

For a tween movie, it does try fairly well - with District 13 breaking the Geneva convention three times in the same scene.
Defo got the feel in the first movie that it was aimed at teenage girls, but the later movies were better.

Honestly, I think is adaptations of the source material they're all pretty bang on. Not seen the new one yet, but in the first three, I was hugely impressed by the 'accuracy' of the set/costume designs, the plot that remained 90% unchanged, and the atmosphere that was just 'right'. The first is on par with the book, the second maybe even better than the book (personally I find Catching Fired the weakest book, as the pacing is all over the place, the film sorts that out) and the third I'll judge when I've seen both halves, but so far, so good.

Compared to recent book adaptations that have been largely crap (Percy Jackson, Eragon) or taken huge liberties with the source material (Northern Lights, Narnia, half the Potters), The Hunger Games is definitely a cut above, I think.

I'm told that the last two films didn't pad the book out (unlike the Hobbit trilogy), but it did throw me off somewhat - I'd totally forgotten who the bald girl was, for one thing.

Julianne Moore's performance as President Coin did remind me of Mary McDonnell as Laura Roslin, for some reason. The soft-spoken voice, probably.

 AndrewGPaul wrote:
I'm told that the last two films didn't pad the book out (unlike the Hobbit trilogy), but it did throw me off somewhat - I'd totally forgotten who the bald girl was, for one thing.

Julianne Moore's performance as President Coin did remind me of Mary McDonnell as Laura Roslin, for some reason. The soft-spoken voice, probably.

Except Julianne Moore can act, and act well at that.


Thought the movie was good, but the ending "twist" (that Coin bombed all the refugees, not Snow) was pretty obvious from the outset. They did a good job of introducing badass characters shortly before their demise, though Finnick's death hit hard :( The heroic last stand thing always gets me. Anyway, as far as wrapping up a series, it was a satisfying ending. Unlike, say, Harry Potter where the writing drops off a cliff (blah blah wrote it first blah blah blah), the ending leaves a few things 'unknown', but overall I'm not left with any questions that detract from the actual finale.

That said their final "plan" of "let's try to walk straight in with our hood up because there's no way they'll be checking" was just downright idiotic. Then again, she's a hunter, not a military strategist so whatevs.