As the title suggests, this post is filled with spoilers for the final Hunger Games movie, Mockingjay - Part 2.
So, if you have yet to watch the film, please stop reading this right now.
Disclaimer though - this post won't be as in-depth as the one I did for SPECTRE as I don't know that much about The Hunger Games and the easter eggs, references and what not.
This post will just be me talking about a number of plot points which I both liked and disliked.
So, without further ado...
SPOILER TALK
Let's start with the pacing of the movie as a whole.
1. Pacing issues
The film starts right after the events of the previous entry, with Katniss having her neck brace removed after being assaulted by Peeta.
After some terrific acting by Jennifer Lawrence when she attempted to heal her vocal chords, we suddenly get shifted from recovery stages to being thrown right into the thick of the civil war.
I didn't like how it transited, I found it really odd.
This odd pacing continued throughout the movie, with action sequences (as little as there were) either coming too soon or too late to keep me engaged.
The gap in between action sequences were just filled with exposition that was frankly unnecessary.
I felt that if they had just forgotten about these redundant plot fillers that they shoe-horned into the movie just to make it worth the viewing (it ultimately isn't worth it), the movie would have flowed much better.
2. Invincible Katniss
Soon after going back on duty as the symbolic Mockingjay, she is wounded again - this time by a gunshot wound.
But of course, she didn't die.
These close encounters with death for Katniss just keep coming and coming, and the gunshot was just one of a few instances in this movie alone where she should have rightfully died.
3. The Capitol are the dumbest people alive
More than twice did the Capitol presume Katniss and co to have been killed in action (the rebel's gunshot, the rocket launcher, and one more which I forgot).
It's so silly, especially for the rocket launcher one because there were so many buildings which surrounded that mini arena.
Did the troops and their strategist not realise that Katniss and her team could have been hiding in any one of the other buildings?
Moreover, the TV was on and the curtains were closed in the surprisingly lavish room Katniss was hiding in.
I don't know about Hunger Games logic, but I know for sure that when curtains are drawn with a TV set on on either side of it, the light that the TV emits will be projected on the curtains.
Moments like those really took me out of the movie.
4. Taking too much of a risk by giving Peeta a gun
Are the team deluded or something?
Who the bloody hell would have thought that un-cuffing someone who is still recovering from being brainwashed by President Snow was a good idea?
And to do that AS WELL AS giving him a gun? Gah, someone just has a death wish, huh?
Ultimately, AS EXPECTED, Peeta ends up going a little mental and goes on to cause a number of deaths to members of the team.
Oh, I TOTALLY didn't see that coming.
If only they had just kept him handcuffed, and then show how he managed to either free himself or show how something led to him being freed from custody.
That would have made the "twist" so much better and unexpected.
5. The black guy dies
Sigh.
Could this movie get any more predictable?
Why oh why does the black guy have to die every single time? It's so annoying.
The manner in which he died really sucked too, stepping on like some kind of mine?
Shame. A moment of silence for the black guy whose name I don't even know who led Katniss' little army.
(Cue the Mockingjay hand gesture and whistle).
6. Finnick's death
Okay, this death really really sucked.
It sucked not because it was done badly, but because of how much of a loss Finnick was to the team.
As I said in my spoiler-free review, Finnick developed from being one of my personally most-disliked characters in the Hunger Games movies to becoming arguably my favourite character apart from Katniss.
Furthermore, he got married in the movie as well.
So yeah, no hate for this bit. It was well executed.
Just wish that they didn't have to kill Finnick. You could've taken Peeta away, I wouldn't have given a single shit whether he lived or died.
7. Dodgy CGI
The movie is plagued with some pretty poor CGI throughout the movie.
When going to a movie of this scale and budget, I expect the CGI to be at least realistic-looking.
In Mockingjay - Part 2, the CGI simply wasn't up to standard.
For instance, there was the battle on the underground weapons base which went on behind Katniss and co. That looked really fake.
Plutarch's CGI model was really dodgy too, although it is understandable as he presumably had passed away before filming had completed.
On the point of the battle of the weapons base though, that's my next point.
8. The battle on the underground base
I think it really sucked how a potential action sequence was scrapped in favour of a scene where Katniss is having some quiet moment with Gale?
That was so silly.
Katniss could have been on one of the helicopters which carried out the attack on the mountain, and that would have been a welcome addition in place of yet more redundant expository scene.
9. Assassin's Creed: Katniss and Gale
The moment where The Hunger Games turned into Assassin's Creed. HAH! GAYYY.
Also, who would have thought that dressing up in those ridiculous hoodies would make them inconspicuous in the crowd of citizens heading towards President Snow's mansion?
It's completely ridiculous, and those two even stopped in their tracks and turned backwards when the border check required their faces to be checked by the guards.
How on earth weren't they spotted.
10. Primrose's death
Just as I thought the movie couldn't get any worse after the ridiculous hoodie disguise.
The completely anti-climactic death of Katniss' freaking sister through the surprise bombs from President Coin just left me so annoyed.
Right after the bomb blew Prim to smithereens, the screen just cuts to black as Katniss takes yet another hit.
Ridiculous. There was little to no emotion felt at all after her death.
And when emotion kicks in, it comes far too late when Katniss returns home to rage at her cat.
11. The totally unexpected death of Coin
Seriously. Who wouldn't have seen that coming?
According to my Hunger Games fan-sister, the death of Coin in the book came totally out of the blue.
In the movie, however, they foreshadowed Coin to have some sort of ulterior motive behind her plan to take over Panem.
If only they maintained that peaceful and innocent tone the character had in Mockingjay - Part 1, then the twist would have been so much better.
Also, what happened to Snow? Did the crowd run up and kill him? We don't know.
And what about Katniss? I couldn't understand whether the crowd was angry at her or what. Is she in trouble with the law?
Sigh. Messy.
12. The ending
Honestly, I felt that the ending was really rushed.
Yes, I expected Katniss to end up together with Peeta.
But the ending being so happy and peaceful just didn't resonate with the tone of the rest of the movie which was filled with death and darkness.
The ending really really sucked, and how awkward Peeta looked in bed with Katniss didn't do it any favours too.
So there you have it. My spoiler talk for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2.
Hope you enjoyed reading this post, and there'll be more to come in the near future.
Cheers!
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