Kinda.
First off, I read the book some three and a half years ago. So did I know most of what would happen? Yes. Did I have every detail etched into my head? No.
The movie starts calmly. It has to if you think about what happened at the end of Part 1. We see that Peeta is still in a pretty bad state. And we soon realize that the war is going well for the districts and 13.
What I liked best about this movie over Part 1 and even the first movie in the series is that it played out more like an action movie than the others did. At least in my eyes. It was pretty nonstop from the time Katniss arrived in District 2 until the end of the movie.
When you’re watching it you almost forget that it could ever be adapted from a young adult series. That’s not a shot at the genre, it’s just what I’m thinking.
I thought the cast did quite well in their roles with Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson standing out just above the rest. Peeta was good, bad, and even wildly crazy all in just two hours. Hutcherson did well to convince me of the ongoing turmoil plaguing Peeta.
I have two favorite parts of the movie. There’s a scene in which Katniss and her squad are proceeding toward the presidential mansion through the tunnels beneath the Capitol. They’re resting. But their whereabouts are known and mutts are released to find and kill them. They’re unable to outrun them and are forced to fight. They do. But the space is small and most of the squad is able to escape. Except Finnick. He keeps fighting. But he’s ultimately killed. And Katniss kills as many as she can by detonating the holo. It was one of my favorite moments because once Finnick was alone with a long ladder to climb we all knew he wouldn’t make it. But he fought. And fought. He kind of symbolized the entire rebellion.
The other was the assassination of President Coin. One of my favorite parts of the book and the series. It became apparent once the Capitol surrendered that she’d simply take Snow’s place. And it took Snow to convince Katniss, along with Coin proposing a symbolic Games. Katniss always stood for right, and she wouldn’t just stand by and watch one tyrant be replaced by another.
Guys, I thought the movie was a solid ending to a rather fantastic series. My order of the movies is #2, #4, #1, #3. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll reread the series and rewatch the movies.
Thank you, Suzanne Collins. For giving so many The Girl on Fire.
Johnny Reads 
I’ve already read the series, but you may want to preface this review with a spoiler alert. Just a friendly tip.
I’m seeing it Monday and I know it will be useless trying to brace against the feels.
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I didn’t on purpose. I don’t know why someone planning on seeing it would have any interest in reading my review, because who cares what some random thinks of it?
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Haven’t seen it yet – but I have an eleven year old who wouldn’t let us get away without watching it! Not fussed about spoilers as we’ve read all the books.
One of the best, most interesting YA franchises around by far, raising interesting questions about tyrannical governments and showing young people the folk in charge don’t always do what’s best for their citizens and aren’t always right.
Shows what the best YA can do
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I enjoyed it because it doesn’t fit into the mold that so many YA series do. It’s nice that someone out there us trying to write good stories with a real message.
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Absolutely. Though Suzanne Collins isn’t alone among YA writers for that. Malorie Blackman has written a series of dystopian books which focus on race, Patrick Ness writes fantasy but some of his books touch on sexuality – it’s not all sparkly vampires out there 🙂
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Oh I know there are several others, but then there are a gazillion authors who have no issue writing stories that are hardly distinguishable from others in the genre.
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True. Though it’s tough to write anything truly original. I know I certainly can’t!
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True. Everything’s been written. But it isn’t impossible to put one’s own spin on stories.
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Yes, you’re right – it’s all about ‘voice’. There are no new stories, but if you can put a new spin, add fresh details and have an engaging voice, you may just stand a chance
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Or you can get lucky and be named E.L. James 😂
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Haha!
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🙊
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Thanks, and I’m never worried about spoilers, since I’m the kind of person who sometimes prefers to read the ending of a book, so that I can relax and just enjoy the story,
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Ha. Perfect.
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