The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 – Film Review

Duration: 2 hr 17 mins

Rating: 12A

Release Date(UK): 19 November 2015

Genre: Adventure, science fiction, drama, young adult,

Director: Francis Lawrence

Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Sam Claflin, Donald Sutherland, Julianne Moore, Willow Shields…

Description: Panem is in the last stages of the rebellion, the rebels have won over all the districts except two but after that they’ve got the Capitol to face and it may be harder than they thought because they’re not only going into a place packed with peace keepers and people that have spent their lives watching the districts’ deaths for entertainment but President Snow has turned the Capitol into a minefield… also known as the seventy-sixth annual hunger games.

My Thoughts: I have been waiting to watch this film ever since it came out on November 19th but it was only on December 30th that I actually had some available time to go and see it.

My expectations for this film weren’t very high as I thought the book was the weaker of the three (you can read my book review here) but the film proved me wrong and now I’m going to tell you why.

From the very start of the film it was interest, you wanted to know what was going to happen next, you were on the edge of your seat with excitement and this just grew and grew. You were so mesmerised in following Katniss’ every move, her every thought and Jennifer Lawrence does the part so well.

Your love for the characters is a lot more developed by the last film, you don’t want any of them to die; you don’t want any of them to get hurt; you want them to live happily ever after, but you know they’re at war and you’re scared of what the outcome might be.

When I was reading the book you got to the middle and everything kind of slowed down and just stopped but because it was a film and it skipped all of the boring bits there wasn’t a second that you were bored it was just action, suspense and fear every second and it was brilliant!

Although there were a few things that had been changed in the film or missed out that I might have otherwise kept the same it didn’t really matter because I was so drawn in that I hardly had time to worry or think about the things they had left out or changed.

Not only had they changed or left out a few things it was also not in anyway how I imagined it in my head but at the same time it was better and suited it a lot more than how I had imagined.

The whole cast are so amazingly talented and by the end of the film I was really sad that we will never see them all together in the same cast again, there won’t be anymore Katniss, Peeta, Gale, Haymitch or any of the other characters I have grown to adore. And it really breaks my heart and you know what? Not just the characters but the whole thing, there is no more Hunger Games and in a way when I was watching the film I felt like I was actually part of a rebellion, I felt like my country was in a rebellion and I was sat there watching it on the news rooting for my side, for the rebels to win and it was so completely bizarre but at the same time I felt so completely connected and I will never feel that connection again because the Hunger Games is over and every time I re-watch it I’ll know what’s going to happen but at the same time every single time it will feel like the first time.

I am so grateful to Suzanne Collins for writing The Hunger Games and to the cast and crew of the films for bringing the franchise to life. And I am so grateful that they all played a part in teaching me about society, capitalism, politics and every other great thing I learnt through reading and watching The Hunger Games and also for teaching me that you never stand alone, that there is always someone who will listen, who will care, who will fight. And if you really work for it you can always make a difference. I am forever grateful for being taught this lesson…

I started watching this film thinking it wasn’t going to be one of the best of the four but I was really highly mistaken, because although my thoughts on the book were slightly pessimistic The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 has very easily become my second favourite of the four although it’s possible that it’s a tied first place with The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 is still in cinemas so if you can I’d go and see it before it’s too late! Because I promise you it truly is amazing!

5/5 stars!

Please feel free to post a comment telling me your thoughts on the film (or if you’ve read the book you can post your thoughts here) If you haven’t read or watched the film then go and do that now then come back here and post your comments!

May The Hunger Games live on in our hearts…

Warnings: scenes of violence, some kissing, some scenes may be upsetting or scary. For full details click the link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1951266/parentalguide?ref_=tt_stry_pg

Trailer: To see a trailer and read more information on the film and cast click the link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1951266/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Other Information: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 is based off the book written by Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay is the last book in the trilogy – The Hunger Games being the first and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire being the second – and was turned into a two-part film in 2014 with the release of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 and then later on the release of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 in November 2015 which concluded the trilogy.

The Hunger Games – Film Review

Duration: 2 hrs 22 mins

Rating: 12A

Release Date(UK): March 23 2012

Genre: Adventure, drama, science fiction, young adult,

Director: Gary Ross

Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson, Stanley Tucci…

Description: Katniss Everdeen is a seventeen-year-old girl who has been caring and protecting her younger sister and mother since her father died some years ago. Every year there is a fight to the death between children selected from the poorer areas of the country, this is called The Hunger Games. When Katniss’ sister Prim gets selected to compete in these games, it’s Katniss’ job to protect her sister and so she volunteers to take her sister’s place in the games, but now she’s got to learn to protect herself. And murder innocent children…

My Thoughts: There is no point in commenting on the storyline of this film as I have reviewed the book, and talk about the story there.  So I’m going to talk about all the things that make it a film rather than a book.

I’ve seen this film before a number of times, and I still remember the first time I ever saw it about three years ago, I remember feeling that it was all wrong. That everything looked wrong, but I am going to talk about that now.

Although the interior of bedrooms and houses were different in my imagination – they were much more basic than they are in the film, the characters were amazing! I am so impressed with the cast and how they portray their characters; Katniss and Peeta are exactly as I imagined them to be, they are like spot on character wise; Haymitch was one of the particularly well played characters that stood out to me, he is played exactly the way I pictured him down to every last detail, if I had been the director of this film there is not a single thing I would have changed about Haymitch’s character and the way Woody Harrelson portrayed him; Effie was another, I love how over the top and enthusiastic she is, I think Elizabeth Banks did a really fantastic job.

After re-reading The Hunger Games recently I realised how much they missed out, not important things necessarily so it might have been a bit boring to add them but I feel like they missed out quite a few details about the past and I also feel like they changed Katniss and Peeta’s relationship, I feel like they have different relationships in the film and book, they change the chemistry and don’t explain Peeta’s love for her properly and from knowing people that have seen The Hunger Games without reading the books they think it’s all just an act and that neither of them love each other and I think it should have been clearer in the film that Katniss had confusing emotions towards Peeta. I also feel like they cut out quite a few characters that I considered to be important to the story and important to how Katniss turned out as a person.

I loved the scene of the reaping (the choosing ceremony when they decide who’s going into the games.), I loved the atmosphere of it, the way everything’s so silent and how anti-capitol and defiant it feels. And how abnormal it sounds when Katniss is screaming for her sister and volunteering to take her place and then everyone does what can only be described as The Hunger Games salute. I think that scene is done so well, it gave me goosebumps and brought a tear to my eye. An incredibly moving scene.

Some of the styling things in this film were great as well:

• Katniss’ outfits could be incredible at times, I envied them.
• Katniss’ hairstyles could be impeccably perfect and I envied them to.
• Senacre Crane’s really fancy beard was stunning.

When I watch The Hunger Games it makes me feel disgusted with myself at times, and I know it seems stupid, but sometimes I feel like I’m viewed as one of the capitol people; someone who dresses completely over the top, who has completely over the top hair and make-up and it makes me feel like a horrible rich person who doesn’t have a care in the world really, compared to what poorer people have to go through. Another thing that I dislike when watching The Hunger Games is I honestly believe that we live in a society that is so messed up and sick that maybe in the future we actually will have something like The Hunger Games to keep people in check, and that most of all scares the hell out of me.

Although I previously said that they missed out a load of scenes and characters, the scenes from the book that they did do were spot on, completely spot on there wasn’t a single thing that I would have done differently.

It wasn’t only the reaping scene that gave me goosebumps, there were lots of scenes like that, it was very goosebump worthy.

I loved the danger of it, love might not be the right word. Maybe tension and suspense? I was on the edge of my seat every second and I have to say the ending, it’s the best freakin’ bit in the whole film, it gives me goosebumps and it actually makes me terrified of what the consequences might be because of their errors. It’s just so suspenseful and terrifying. It also made me cry a little bit… just a little bit.

4 and a half stars/5.

If you haven’t already, I would definitely watch this film because it’s really amazing and insightful and I think it’s a film that everyone should watch. Maybe not over the Christmas period though, because it’s kind of depressing…

If you have, however watched this film please comment and tell me your thoughts, or – if you have one – give a link to your own review in the comments section, I would love to read it!

Warnings: alcohol is consumed, some kissing, gore, violence and some scenes might be upsetting. For full details click the link to the IMDb parental guide: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1392170/parentalguide?ref_=tt_stry_pg

Trailer: To see a trailer and read more information about the film and cast, please click the link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1392170/?ref_=nv_sr_2

Other Information: The Hunger Games was originally the first book in The Hunger Games trilogy written by Suzanne Collins and published by Scholastic.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Book Review

Title: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay

Author: Suzanne Collins

Length: 438 pages

Release Date (UK): 25 August 2010 

Publisher: Scholastic

Description: Katniss now lives in District Thirteen, after being rescued from the hunger games. But she’s got even more things to fight for, her home was destroyed by the capitol and President Snow has Peeta. Katniss doesn’t like to imagine what they’re doing to him to try and get information he doesn’t have. But now more than ever the rebellion needs to succeed, the rebels need to overthrow the capitol and Katniss is determined to be the one who assassinates President Snow. Whatever the cost.

My Thoughts: I’m very excited to be going to see Mockingjay – part 2 next week and as you might know I’ve been re-reading the entire Hunger Games trilogy. I loved this series ever since I first read it and I still love it now after reading it about four or five times.

Mockingjay is slightly different to the other two, as this is the only one in the trilogy where there isn’t an actual hunger games involved, I personally like the fact that the first two books both feature a hunger games and I think that makes them a bit more interesting and unique because usually you wouldn’t expect an author to do basically the exact same thing in her first two books but it really worked and it made for a great couple of books. Given that this book is different it’s unique and special in it’s own way, and I liked seeing the rebellion start and seeing what happened during and I felt like we got to know another side of all the characters and learn a bit more about them as people and it was really great.

I particularly liked that we saw more of Katniss and Gales’ relationship, because I feel that before this book you knew they had a strong friendship and Katniss’ feelings for him were unsure but I didn’t feel like we really knew him or understood his personality and in this book we got to see more of that.

I do feel like they kind of made Katniss a bit too damaged and weak in this novel, she went from being the all powerful face of the rebellion to kind of becoming a bit disorientated and pathetic. I found myself missing the old Katniss.

The start of this book is amazing and really compelling and it’s such a page-turner and I find myself constantly desperate to know what will happen next and it’s really exciting and there a things that leave me completely shocked and then you get to about halfway through and everything comes to a stop, it’s a bit like ending up in an unexpected traffic jam, everything’s going fine and then suddenly you’re at a stand still, and I feel like nothing really happened in the middle and it was kind of dull and un-motivating and I found myself just leaving it lying around for days unable to go back to it, but I pushed through and I got to the end of the book and after you get passed that small middle bit the ending is really good and really dramatic and completely action packed and I just loved it so much, there isn’t a second that goes by that you’re not on the edge of your seat, isn’t a second where there isn’t a huge amount of suspense. I know how hard it must have been to write this last book, the trilogy has been such a success and I can only imagine the amount of pressure that Suzanne Collins must have felt when trying to finish the trilogy, and I know lots of people criticize the last book and have criticized the last film but I personally am really sad it is over, and I think it had a really satisfying ending and I am very happy with it. Suzanne Collins should be really proud that she wrote such a great trilogy, one that will stay with me forever.

I would rate this 4/5 stars. And I really think you should read this book and the rest of the trilogy (obviously)!

If you have read this book and would like to share your thoughts, please leave a comment on this post or comment with a link to your own review, I would love to hear from you!

Other Books In The Trilogy: The Hunger Games (first book), The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (second book).

Other Books By The Author: Year Of The Jungle, When Charlie McButton Lost Power, The Underland Chronicles.

Other Information: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay was turned into a two-part Lionsgate motion picture starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson… Part one of the two was released November 19th 2014 and part two was released on November 18th 2015. Both of these films were rated 12A.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – Book Review

Title: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Author: Suzanne Collins

Length: 472 pages

Release Date: 2009

Publisher: Scholastic

Description: Katniss is alive, but she shouldn’t be. There can only be one victor of the hunger games but now there are two. Katniss and Peeta both won because of their love for each other, or that’s what Katniss wants people to think, but after hearing of possible uprisings in other districts she’s not so sure that they do, the districts are in rebellion against the capitol and it’s her fault. So now more than ever she’s got to really be in love with Peeta, convince not only the districts but President Snow himself. Or face the life threatening consequences.

My Thoughts: If you’ve read my review of The Hunger Games then you already know that I’ve read this trilogy a number of times, and every time this book has always been my favourite.

Catching Fire has a lot more going on than The Hunger Games did and that’s a good thing, there are also some new characters introduced that you can like which is another good factor, because in the first book there were only about four characters in total that we were supposed to care about. But in Catching Fire all of the characters develop and it’s got a stronger storyline going than just a girl that volunteers to save her sister’s life and ends up in a deadly field with a load of other children wanting to kill her, this book has much more meaning than that, and I think for that reason it’s more compelling than the first book was.

Katniss and Peeta have a much stronger relationship than I ever remember them having the other times I’ve read the books, and I feel like it’s really good that Katniss doesn’t know who she loves most; Gale or Peeta, and I think I might have said this in my review of The Hunger Games but usually I hate love triangles, they really irritate me and I always think that if you can fall in love with another person whilst being in love with someone already then you can’t love the first one very much and so I just find it ridiculous – but this love triangle, the one between Katniss, Peeta and Gale really, really works. And I think it’s clever how Suzanne makes Katniss love them both, because she has to pretend to love Peeta and she’s never thought about her and Gale as anything but friends but then after having to kiss Peeta in front of cameras and everything and knowing that Gale will see it she starts to realise that she doesn’t necessarily want him to see it, and I think because she’s forced to love Peeta whether she does or not makes her question whether she actually does or not and I think it’s a really clever way of doing it and it really works, obviously I was always on Team Peeta but I really love Gale as a character as well.

I like that President Snow becomes a fully established bad guy in this book, in the first book we know he’s evil because he’s the president and the lives they live are horrible and it’s his doing but once he singles out Katniss and tries to make her life a living hell and threatens her family and everything I feel like then he’s properly evil, he’s a proper baddy and it makes the book more interesting knowing that the president is out to get Katniss unless she does everything he asks.

This is by far the best book out of the series and one of my favourite books ever, if you haven’t read it then why the hell not? If you have read it then please leave a comment on this post and let me know what you think! And if you think, ‘oh I don’t have to read the books because I’ve read the film.’ you are so wrong! There is so much more that happens in the books! And all the bits that don’t make sense in the film make sense when you read the books. I know so many people that get confused over Katniss’ feelings and emotions and that’s because they’re not properly shown in the films but they are in the books, just remember the films wouldn’t exist if the books didn’t so why would you avoid the thing that brought the films existence?

5/5 stars!

Other Books In The Trilogy: The Hunger Games (Book 1), Mockingjay (Book 3).

Other Books By The Author: When Charlie McButton Lost Power, The Year Of The Jungle, The Underland Chronicles,

Other Information: Catching Fire was turned into Lionsgate film in 2013 starring Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss), Josh Hutherson (Peeta), Woody Harrelson (Haymitch), Elizabeth Banks (Effie)… to see a trailer and for full details on the film click the link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1951264/?ref_=nv_sr_4

The Hunger Games – Book Review

Title: The Hunger Games

Author: Suzanne Collins

Length: 454 pages

Release Date: 2009

Description: Katniss Everdeen is sixteen-years-old, sister to twelve-year-old Prim and daughter to a father who is now dead and a mother who would have let both herself, Prim and Katniss starve if Katniss hadn’t taken it upon herself at a young age to feed and provide for them all. But Katniss has never had to fight so hard for survival, until now. The time has come for the Hunger Games contestants to be chosen, contestants who will get put into an arena and have to fight to the death, there can only be one survivor. Twenty-four children all fighting not to starve, freeze and be murdered. Katniss, after a heroic act of taking her sister’s place is now one of those contestants but despite her ability to hunt and provide for a family of three can she protect herself when it matters most?

My Thoughts: Now I know there are hundreds of reviews of this book and all the others already out there, but the release of Mockingjay Part 2 is tomorrow and although I probably won’t see it tomorrow, I will see it soon and every new film release I re-read all the books and re-watch all the films and I thought, this is the last film, after this film The Hunger Games is officially over, no more books, no more films so why not review them all while people are still mourning over the end of The Hunger Games? Why not review all of it during this massive event? So that’s what I’m going to do, over the next few weeks I’ll be reviewing all the books and all the films, finishing with Mockingjay Part 2 and then I will curl up in my bed and cry (Okay, I’m joking about that part, but it will be pretty sad, the end of another great book/film trilogy.)

Anyway, the book. So, this is about the fourth or fifth time I’ve read this book but the good thing about it is, it never gets boring and somehow there are always bits I’ve forgotten or bits I’ve remembered in the wrong order and therefore everything that happens in the book is still kind of a surprise and it’s great! I love it! I also think it’s a great skill to create a book that you can read over and over, but we’ve probably already established that Suzanne Collins is a skilful writer.

I think the characterization in The Hunger Games is really good, there’s enough characterization that you kind of get a feeling of who each character is and what role they’ve got to play in the story but yet you still know there’s got to be some development before you can really start picking favourites or before you can really know who the character is, and personally I don’t feel like Katniss is a very likeable character in this book, but who can blame her? She’s been starving all her life, she has no money, she lives in a terrible world where everyone is controlled by richer, more powerful people that have the ability to kill them whenever they like, she doesn’t have time to think about her likeability. I feel like we know we’re supposed to like Peeta but at the same time he’s just kind of soppy and annoying but we still love him anyway, it’s pretty hard not to right? And you know that in the next book and the book after that the characters are going to develop and you’re going to know who you like and who you don’t. I think there’s quite a bit of character develop just in this book to be honest, and by the end of it I already had some favourites and people that I thought could turn into some really great characters. I also thing the relationship between all the characters is really good, there’s kind of a bit of every kind of relationship in this book and I really like it.

While I’m talking about relationships I would like to quickly touch on Katniss and Peeta’s relationship, it has been about a year since I read this book last and I always forget how much of a relationship Katniss and Peeta have in the arena and how important I think that is to the story, although in some places it can get a tiny bit cheesy I feel like they’re relationship in the arena is one of the most important parts of the whole book, I feel like when they’re with each other they’re learning a bit more about themselves and we’re learning with them, they’re developing their own character by being with the other character and I think it’s really clever.

One of the things I like best about this book is the awareness of society that it brings, reading this book I realised how we – in some ways – live almost exactly like they do (although luckily children aren’t being thrown into arenas and killed viciously by each other. But how long is it until that starts happening?) what I mean by this is, in The Hunger Games everything that they do is basically based on other people, everything they do in the arena to get help from their mentors and sponsors is based on how other people will be watching and viewing it on their television. Everything is about how other people see you, and I think there is a truth in that for everybody, definitely for me, my life is basically controlled by thinking about how other people are going to view me, inside or outside of the house. What I wear in the morning, what I wear at night, is all about how other people will see me and what people will think if they see me in the street or in a shop or wherever. I feel like living in the society I live in, and many other people live in, it partially takes away your ability to be yourself, I try my very best to be myself but there’s only so far you can go being yourself before society creeps up on you. And in that aspect I feel like we are very much in our own version of The Hunger Games.

It’s really hard to know how to review a book basically everyone has already read.

I feel like if you really think about The Hunger Games and try to analyse everything that happens in it and all the characters there are you can probably relate yourself to at least one of them, even though you may not want to because maybe you’re one of the rich horrible people, but maybe you’re not. As well as being a good book I think The Hunger Games has really strong messages about society and politics, and how we all behaviour towards each other and how it’s viewed by other people and I just feel like this book is a real eye-opener to some things and I think Suzanne Collins has done a really good job writing a book like The Hunger Games and as a writer myself I really wish I was the one who came up with this idea.

If you’re one of the people that hasn’t read The Hunger Games I suggest you go and read it now because it’s a really good book and hey, maybe you’ll learn something! If you’re one of the people that has already read it then, good job! Why not read it again? And if you want to let me know what you thought of the book please let me know in the comments!

4 and a half stars/5

Other Books In The Trilogy: Catching Fire (Book 2) Mockingjay (Book 3)

Other Books By The Author: Year Of The Jungle, When Charlie McButton Lost Power, The Underland Chronicles,

Other Information: The Hunger Games got turned into a Lionsgate film in 2012 starring Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson, rated 12. For full details and a trailer click the link: http://m.imdb.com/title/tt1392170/