Disclaimer: There are some critiques that may be considered as spoilers for some. You’ve been warned!

I can now proudly say that I’ve completed my first book-to-film series. I normally don’t read the books and see the films in a series – I prefer just the latter – but I decided to do something different with The Hunger Games. After three years, 1,155 pages and 548 minutes of film – yes, I’m a nerd and calculated all of that – it came down to one final installment: Mockingjay Part 2.

The film picks up right where it left off, Panem is in the midst of a war that escalates to the destruction of the districts. The face of the rebellion – and its reluctant leader – Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), will have to risk everything by taking matters into her own hands, reach the Capitol and get revenge on President Snow (Donald Sutherland). But, is Snow the real enemy? Will Katniss’ revenge actually change things in Panem? She’ll have to figure that out along the way.

First thing’s first, I loved the way Mockingjay Part 2 opened up. It began mid-scene, like you’d hit the pause button, gone to grab a snack and hit play again. Brilliant way to open. The acting, of course, was superb. From the aforementioned Lawrence, to Josh Hutcherson – whom I’ve been a fan of for years – to Donald Sutherland as the hauntingly evil Snow. Mockingjay Part 2 continues to follow the book almost verbatim, with just a few changes. For one, the violence in the film is disturbing but nowhere near what’s in the book. There’s no shortage of violence in the cinematic version but, in an effort to keep the film in its YA/PG-13 demographic, some of the more gruesome character perils are omitted or changed – such as Messalla stepping into a light beam and Katniss watching as his skin melts off his body in the book as opposed to the light beam vaporizing Messalla in a million pieces in the film. These slight changes didn’t take anything away from the film for me. Another interesting change from book to film is Greasy Sae. Director, Francis Lawrence, chose not to introduce a new character in his film but it would have been nice to include Greasy Sae. She was mentioned quite often in the book and helps take care of Katniss when she returns from the Capitol after the war. There’s no Greasy Sae in the film, so Katniss is left mourning the death of her sister, Prim, by herself with the family cat, Buttercup.

Other than that, I really enjoyed Mockingjay Part 2. I’m still not sure if I liked this film or Catching Fire the best but, either way, this film undoubtedly kept me on the edge of my seat. Heck, I even jumped in my seat several times although I knew what was going to happen.

I Give It An: A-


Check Out the Trailer Here