Hi guys! As promised here is Blogmas Day One, which gets Blogmas off to a rather unfestive beginning as today's post is going to be a review of Mockingjay, the third instalment in the hugely successful Hunger Games franchise! This review will contain spoilers so if you haven't seen it yet, or even if you haven't read the entirety of Mockingjay- it may not be the right blogpost for you to be reading! I'm writing this based on the idea that you have all read at least the first two novels and are ready to know all about the third.
I'm a big fan of the HG series and while I don't rave about it as much as the likes of Divergent, The Mortal Instruments or the Potter series, it was a stable part of my adolescent reading. I adored the first two books in the series and then read Mockingjay, which in all honesty I loved until the very end whereupon a very swift and painful ending was written onto what was an otherwise excellent book. Whilst I felt it was rushed, I was most traumatised by the death of a very prominent character at the end of the novel, and 12 year old Rachel swore to never read again through the floods of tears I sobbed post-read. I genuinely still cannot believe Collins killed off the aforementioned character, however that will no-doubt be a feature of my review of the final instalment, due for release next December.
I knew before entering the cinema that this was going to be a much, much darker than the previous releases, which is kind of amusing given the extremely dark concept of the entire series. It says a lot about YA writing that the idea of a dystopian society where young children are pitted against each other is a standard plot device. I'd also heard rave reviews of Jennifer Lawrence's performence, which is where I'm going to start my review- as she was, in a word, unbelievable. I loved that her character, Katniss was seen to be suffering from a form of PTSD and that she hadn't just 'been strong, had a little cry to her pals, and then reformed to save the day.' Lawrence plays a truly heartbreaking Katniss who looks like a 17 year old girl who is severely messed up. There are glimpses of her former 'kick-ass' self as she stands up to President Coin, and even more so as she spits the words 'If we burn, you burn with us.' into the camera as she watches the hospital in District 8 burn.
Praise must also be given to the 'side' characters in the film, particularly Peeta, Gale, Plutarch and Finnick. Peeta gets relatively little screen time during the film but props to the CGI department as his transformation as you see him become more and more gaunt from the torture of the Capitol, is chilling. He also looks genuinely raving mad at times after his rescue, and the scene where he launches himself at Katniss not only gave me a gigantic fright, but must also have been exhausting to film.
I've never been a huge Gale fan, and while I normally love the 'best-friend whose in love with the main character' trope [see: Simon in TMI] I never really clicked with him in the books, and especially not in the films. However I have to say that Hemsworth shines in Mockingjay, and the scene where he explains the events of the day District 12 was destroyed had me close to tears, it was nice to see some real empathetic acting from a character that always seemed to get a one-dimensional portrayal in the movies especially. He has grown on my massively, and I shall be most upset to see him royally 'fuck-up' in the final film.
Phillip Seymour Hoffman's performance as Plutarch Heavensbee, President Coin's right-hand man and number one Katniss Everdeen fan-girl in Mockingjay is tinged with the fact that P S-H sadly passed away earlier this year. His acting is excellent throughout and it's a real loss to the acting community, and the franchise, that he is gone.
Now. Finnick Odair has always been one of my favourite characters in any novel, he is obviously extremely attractive but he is also incredibly in love with Annie, and is a close friend to Katniss- particularly in Mockingjay. It's for this reason that I am so glad that he was given the screen time to make his big 'this is what has happened to me' speech to the Capitol, even if it was just as a distraction to aid those rescuing Peeta, Annie and Johanna. Sam Claiffin shone and I am genuinely considering not going to see the last movie as I completely cannot cope with what happens to Finnick either. I may sob throughout the entire film. Credit must also be given to Natalie Dormer, who played an exceptional(ly hot) Cressida, and is just an amazing actress all round, and also to Willow Shields who as always did an amazing job as Prim, who always seems to have the right advice at the right time.
It's undeniable that this film acts as a 'filler' between Catching Fire and the second part of Mockingjay, but it is an exceptional move in itself. The cinematography was amazing, and the CGI work is as always unbelievable. I also love the Hanging Tree song, if not for J-Law's part, then for the extremely rousing Les Mis-esque singing whereupon an entire group of rebels sing the song before destroying the dam in 8, cutting the power to the Capitol and allowing the rescue of Peeta, Annie and Johanna. I have rambled on for far, far too long, but you understand that this is a movie that is more than worth the price you pay for a cinema ticket- and I cannot wait to see how they wrap up the franchise next year, I'm certain it will be epic.
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