Ehh...

It was good enough, I suppose. JLaw was aces as always. PEETA was the weak point, as always.

B+?

Jennifer Lawrence does the same look the whole time and her crying acting is getting worse. Still she is better here than she was in American Hustle so she's getting back on the right track even though she isn't quite back towards her high yet.

The adult cast does a particularly strong job here and there's definitely anticipation that builds up throughout the film for what's to come in Part 2. Considering I didn't overly love Catching Fire, I would put this at about the same level as that film. It's just fine in the end with the first film still being by far the best.

seriously, lol at you hating on the best part of the film.

Wait, why do you think the first is by far better than Catching Fire?

The first one just has the breath of fresh air to it that the second one just couldn't quite replicate in my opinion on screen. I find the second book to be better than the first but the movie equivalent just couldn't pass it in my opinion. It still had it['s solid moments. Though all these films need more Stanley Tucci and Donald Sutherland's mane.

Ok! I don't understand how you could like the second book better but the first movie better considering how much more book faithful the second film is, but that's your opinion!

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1

"It's the worst torture in the world; waiting when you know there's nothing you can do" says Julianne Moore. Nah, the worst torture in the world is watching a Hunger Games movie. Mockingjay Part 1 continues the shit fest that is The Hunger Games franchise. It's just dull. There is no build up to any of the set pieces. The action isn't filmed. The script just hides everything. It's claustrophobic in this sense, and not in a good way. It's not a "see it from their perspective" type thing. It solely limits the viewer's enjoyment while they wait through mind-numbing dialogue and lots of gazes. Why does it cut from anything remotely good? They stormed the Capitol to rescue Peeta and it just cuts to Katniss in a diner! Fucking stupid. It just focuses too much on the rebels. Show me the Capitol!! It's such a shit film. It shows people talking about attacks but never shows the actual attack. And when they do show some "action", we get Katniss casually running away from the falling tower with all the urgency of trying to catch an elevator before its doors close. Amateur acting. Bad direction.

Which brings me to Jennifer Lawrence. She is such a bad actress in these movies. I have no idea why, as she is good in other films. She sleepwalks through the film, and does a lot of gazing. Sometimes with a tear, other times with a vacant expression. And Hemsworth is such a useless character. He literally has nothing to do. I can't imagine why he signed on to do this shit. He must be so envious of his older brother. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is the only likeable person in the film. Maybe Julianne Moore too. But the rest are devoid of all talent.

The Capitol seems like a bunch of pussies. They just allow anything. Attack our planes. Attack our guards. Take back your prisoners. Do anything, and we will not retaliate. Pathetic. Kind of stupid really. It's an entire franchise without a threat. Also, I don't really get why it's so important that "YOU SHOULD HAVE SAVED PEETA". Why does she love him so much? That entire string is laughable. The screenplay is just a fucking joke. I swear Suzanne Collins wrote these books while looking at an Indian menu (Masala and Peeta, seriously?), and Face/Off just happened to be on TV (Caster and Pollocks, lol).

It's just another teen piece of shit. Nobody dies. Nothing actually changes. It's just like a TV series in that respect. Just nothing happens. Katniss and Peeta have a little scuffle. Some people do a LOT of talking. Then it ends. Rubbish.

D

Why did you even watch this when you disliked the first two?

Well, I didn't pay to watch it.

Both of my film friends saw it and liked it, and I love the banter. I also love to criticise this franchise because it's so shit. It's an easy target.

I suppose I'm also baffled how these films a) make so much money, and b) get good reviews. So I keep watching in the hope that when I watched previous ones I was just in a bad mood and that somehow negatively affected my enjoyment. But after 3 movies, each one being crap, there's no way I was conveniently in a bad mood each time, so the conclusion is just that they are crap and the world has lost their mind. I'll round out the franchise, though.

Maybe you just like different things from most people.

Too generalized, of course. My favourite film of last year was Interstellar.

I don't think anyone really knows. I've read all the books and I'm still scratching my head about this, it just seems very forced.

It's because she sees him as one of the few good people left in her life, and she essentially hates herself and wishes she was dead.

Well that really isn't communicated at all well in the films. Gail seems pretty good, as does her mum and sister, plus the other guy that was in the Hunger Games with her. Plus the computer nerd guy. There are loads of good people still in her life.

Peeta is the worst. Though he was acted better in this than the previous 2.

It's hardly worth mentioning, but yes, Peeta has raised his game from the worst actor in any film ever made in The Hunger Games and Catching Fire to ordinary crap actor in Mockingjay Part 1. Well done to him!

She doesn't really trust Gale or the computer nerd fully because of how closely aligned they are with Coin and District 13, which really comes into play in Part 2. The only people left she trusts fully are Peeta and her family, but now Peeta is gone.

This is what I do not understand, at all. Why does she trust and love Peeta SO DAMN MUCH? She's only known him for, what, a year or two. She's known Gail for many years. He is her hometown sweetheart. And why would you not trust someone that is aligned with District 13? I was under the impression that the Capitol were the enemies, not the people of the districts.

I can certainly say this did not translate well to screen. She felt she had been used and betrayed in the arena since they did not tell her about the revolution, and she feels she cannot trust the rebels because they have not been honest with her in the past. This may be a spoiler, but the whole point of the second half of the book is that District 13 and the rebels are no better than the Capitol.

Katniss only wants what she can't have. So when Peeta is there, she isn't interested in him. When he's captured, or indoctrinated he seems like the sexiest person alive.

She is actually not a great person. Good with a bow, but she makes poor choices and doesn't realize what is really important.

I don't get how this isn't a 12 minute movie.

Re watching the film, I see how the filmmakers were trying to make this a standalone film: The point is to rescue the victors from the Capitol. But the film doesn't really dwell on this in the middle with the District 8 bombing and the Hanging Tree sequence, so it gets forgotten about and feels sort of forced to make it the conclusion. I still liked it very much, but they should have made it more obvious that was the goal of the film as a whole in order to make it feel more like a coherent picture.