Plot: Following the events of the last film, Katniss has become more determined then ever to take down President Snow after the Capitol brainwashed Peeta. So after defying President Coin to join in the fight at the Capitol, Coin creates the "Star Squad" and has her assigned to join them and follow in secretly behind the actual invasion of the Capitol. But along the way, Coin sends Peeta to join them, resulting in the conflict to either keep him as they attempt to kill Snow once and for all, or to kill him while he's a danger to the team.
My honest feeling with this movie is that it gave me same feeling as the first movie and the books, in that at the end of the day, all it did for me was give me the conclusion of the story leading me to mentally shrug and go "well okay then." and that's it. Don't misunderstand me; it's still good, and it is better than the first movie, but it did not get me quite as invested as well as the other sequels did.
First off, the characters are still done very well. We see and understand the conflict with Katniss with her desire to kill Snow and the struggle of whether or not to kill Peeta while he is a complete threat to the team. Some of the other characters in the Squad you can tell where kind of rushed into introductions and their relationships with each other and so on, in a way that's very similar to what happened with a lot of characters in the last four Harry Potter movies. But just like with those Harry Potter films, you can kind of understand why they did that, given how there's only so much you can do even with a 2 hours and 17 minute running time...key word being kind of, but I'll get to that in the next paragraph. And I sort of liked what they did with the love triangle, giving us the small conversation that Peeta and Gale have that was kind of done and a mature way.
But with that said, I will say in hindsight that the film does drag itself a good amount. Not a whole lot of excitement happens, and I'll even agree with Chris Stuckmann that it didn't feel like it was as big of a deal at it should have been. When exciting stuff does happen, it is good, and it really makes sense that the Capitol would have all these different traps and other obstacles that makes it feel like they are back in the hunger games. But aside from that, it's really nothing much apart from going on and on with creating propaganda and honestly, being a little too repetitive about whether or not to keep Peeta or how Snow has to be stopped and that Katniss intends to kill him and so on and so forth. They definitely could have left some of that out and at least give us a little more of the squad.
One thing that some people seem to have an issue more commonly than not is the ending. First off, I want to point out that the climax (so to speak) was the most emotionally moving part of the film in a really screwed up way. There was a particularly brief moment that involves a little girl and her mother that kind of gave me the creeps and made me imagine being in her position. But without giving too much away, there is a turn during the end that most people who didn't read the book found to be disappointing. This isn't to say that the ending doesn't make sense, because it really does when you really think about all the political stuff and the turmoil that Katniss goes through throughout the series. But with that said, it's really understandable that they would feel that way given how, again, all of these films have been building this up with, people constantly talking about how evil the Capitol and/or Snow is and that Snow needs to die.
And that's my review for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2. I know this review kind of gives an equal amount of talking about what is both good and bad about this movie, but in the end, while it is the weakest of the sequels, it still is good and it does give an ending that at least people who have read the books will be satisfied with. If you haven't read the last book, you'll probably have to think deeper into what is happening to get how it makes sense, but if it's a disappointment for you either way, I understand.
Rating: 70%
No comments:
Post a Comment