film review of Mockingjay: Kelsey

Film Review: Mockingjay

Review by Kelsey

Jacobson, N. (Producer), & Lawrence, F. (Director). (2015). The hunger games: Mockingjay part 2  [Motion picture on DVD]. United States: Color Force.

           Based on the book with the same title by Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay is the third installment of a three book series. Due to the complexity of the final book it was divided into two parts for the movie. This review is focused on the second part of the story. What stood out to me was the amount of the book that was included in the movie. Although I read the book some time ago, I did not notice a large disparity between the book and the film. Mockingjay starts after Peeta attacks Katniss because he has been brainwashed by the Capitol to believe that she is the reason for all the bad things that have happened. The Capitol set him loose hoping that he would kill her in his unhinged state. He was unsuccessful and over time Katniss with the others is able to free him from his delusional state. While this is going on district 13, which no one knew stil existed, is using Katniss as the face for a revolt to take over the Capitol and rock the foundations of Panem. Katniss is not one to be used, and to the dismay of Coin who wants the rebellion to go her way. As the story goes on, Katniss discovers that she is being used to meet a specific agenda and that none of this will ever end because Coin is as sedistic in many ways as the current leader, President  Snow. Her way of creating friction and dismantling all support for Snow is through the merciless killing of women and children with the appearance of being done by the Capitol. After fighting through the entire rebellion in support of Coin, in a quick moment Katniss realizes that for all of this to end both of them have to be stopped. She hopes to one day be pardoned for her actions, but every action she takes her goal is to protect Panem. In the final moments of the story, she and Peeta have made a life together on the outskirts and had children together. She tells the children that she plays games with her memory in order to remember all the people who are gone; then in a brilliant final line she states “I make a list in my head. Of all the good things I've seen someone do. Every little thing I could remember. It's like a game. I do it over and over. Gets a little tedious after all these years. But there are much worse games to play.”

     Throughout the movie I felt that the storylines matched up closely; however, the intensity seemed to be lacking in the movie. Due to the movie’s rating of pg-13 the amount of violence and gore had to be lessened. The main character in the film also seemed to be portrayed as a hero which is not the way she imagines herself in the books. She seems much more even tempered and steady minded in the film than she did in the story as well. Overall, I felt this is one of the better films I have seen that are taken directly from a book. Many of the important details were not lost and I enjoyed comparing my imagined version of the story with the film makers version.