Mockingjay Part 2 | Movie Review

Back in 2012, myself and a friend were giving it a blind date of sort, with only a catchy title and urge to go and see a movie, we didn't quite know what the Hunger Games were and what there was to expect. Now I compare the first part with a bath inside an ice filled tank. Having never seen such a movie before I was left utterly speechless. Throughout the entire two hour period, myself and my friend did something that was quite impossible for us; we spoke not a single word.  Leaving the theater I knew that couldn't have been it. I longed for more and couldn't get over the fact how it ended. It all began there.

I googled it, purchased the book series, read it in a week just to re-read again, I quoted the script, brushed my hair into the so popular, characteristic braid, stayed a loyal fan, spread the plague, discovered which district I would belong to, questioned if I'd survive the games, who my allies would be and obviously carried on the endless topic of discussion; Team Gale or Peeta? (It was always Peeta by the way).

It wasn't a shock that once final franchise comes out I would be the first in line to get the tickets, squeak and bounce up and down with endless excitement. And there it happened, weekend came around and all I could think about on Saturday evening was when I would finally be able to wriggle in an uncomfortable cinema chair just to see how it ends. I knew they wouldn't shock me. I read the books, I saw hundreds of sneak-peaks and listened to my friends remind of everyone who dies at the end. I knew certain details better than my own wardrobe but the general idea was blurry in my mind, thankfully.

I liked how it began. Katniss's speech gave me shivers, Haymitch caused me to laugh throughout and the pathetic kiss between Gale and the Mockingjay forced me to scream at the screen in the loudest whisper possible. Filled with action, tension and crazy make up, it was exactly what I expected. Giving praise not only to the special effects team and Francis Lawrence for delivering quite a spectacle, I sincerely admire Jennifer's marvelous acting skills. She wasn't how I pictured Katniss, but because she knew how to put on that show and make me fall in love with it, I can forgive the casting directors.

So what went wrong? Surprised that something even might have? Well, I was.

Only when it got to the very end, I understood, how extremely dragged it was. They didn't split a 450 page book into two in order to get in as much detail and excitement as possible. They made a half and half just because they would gain more, which seems quite obvious in today's world. But the final effect really suffered because of this. They stuck to the book as a full on christian to a bible. There was too much of unnecessary detail and even though all the tension built up to the end in some way or another, it was brutally destroyed when the main character lost her consciousness; at the same time we lost the ending. One minute we see a blood bath thinking this is it, the next everything is done and dusted, a perfect order we wanted to see. Too bad we didn't see how they managed to restore it.

Not to go on and mention how they put together the final scene. If you read the book you were probably most grateful for being able to see a flash forward after the rebellion. If you saw the movie, then you probably went out wishing to receive an axe and the directors head on your front porch. The ending of any movie makes what you remember of it. The ending of Mockingjay part 2 makes me remember it as a sweetened, pulled out from the 50's, sickening love affair with fake scenery, cheap costumes and rotten screenplay. Thanks to this, I now consider it a complete disaster, a bit worthless of my time and I won't hide, this really does upset me.

It could have given me butterflies in the stomach, it could have made me scream and shout and praise and admire and freak out about it, it could have given me insomnia. It didn't.

Splitting the book, was the first mistake they made. Sticking to almost every word in the book, was the second. And that cheesy, not explaining anything, ending was the grand finale.

The series was a true passion of mine. I loved it all the way through. I stood up for it when other's mocked certain bits. Now, when it has all ended, I don't regret a single moment dedicated to it. It was worth spending the 7 euro on, but in the end I'm going to continue hating them for ruining a legend.