Mockingjay Part 1 - SPOILERS

[kairparavel]

I think we can just have a new thread for this movie.

Just saw this in the theatre. It started a little slow but as others have suggested this movie doesn't suffer as the book did by being directly in Katniss' head.

I thought once it got going all the performances were solid. It also ended exactly where I thought it would but only one scene further.

The rescue off Peeta. I had hoped it would end with his attacking her, just to mess with non-readers but it actually went one scene beyond to explain what Snow had done to him. Still pretty powerful end.

Looking forward to the conclusion.

I'll keep my reveal in spoilers just because, but we can openly discuss the movie here.

Do we spoiler speculation about part 2 for people who haven't read the books?

[Grand Moff Mithrandir]

Kair,

Could you please fill me in as to what takes place in the opening scene. I walked in as the title went up.

[Grand Moff Mithrandir]

Also, I loved it. It delivered on so many levels. Hoffman was excellent as always. Biggest surprise for me has to be Hemsworth, that monologue he delivered in the ruins was the most moving part of the movie for me.

I still dislike shakey cam though.

[kairparavel]

Katniss was having nightmares, left her medical bed and was hiding somewhere when some folks looking after her brought her back to her bed. She wakes up, hears Finnick crying and investigates, they talk and..I'm missing parts. *L*

Sorry. I'd have to see it a second time (and I will) to retain full scene content/chronology.

[Grand Moff Mithrandir]

Oh that's more than enough.

Is Finnick as interesting in the books as he is in the movies? I like that he's completely the opposite of what he initially came off as.

[kairparavel]

Oh that's more than enough.

Is Finnick as interesting in the books as he is in the movies? I like that he's completely the opposite of what he initially came off as.

Finnick is actually very interesting (imo) and seems more developed in Catching Fire compared to both Gale and Peeta. That might just be because he's independent of the 'love triangle'. I was a little iffy on Sam Clafin's casting but I think he's great.

[Grand Moff Mithrandir]

Oooh about that triangle. I'll admit that it's one of the few things that tick me off a bit. I mean Katniss kind of comes off a bit dickish towards Gale.

[Balerion the one eared cat]

Probable books spoilers ahead:

Hmmmm, I really don't know what I thought of it. Some bits were incredible - The Hanging Tree scene, and the rebellions in other districts, were absolutely flawless. I also loved Katniss' return to District 12 and the District 8 hospital bombing was perfect as well - I especially liked that her whole speech was copied and pasted from the book, like it should have been (same with Finnick's "secrets" speech later on). And as usual all the acting was perfect.

But I had a lot of issues with it. My main problem was the role of the male characters - or lack thereof. I loved that the first two were very much Katniss-focused, as they're supposed to be, because she's in the arena and it's all about her survival. But Mockingjay is all about her being part of something bigger, and I don't think that was shown all that well. Not the rebellion, because I think that was done very well. But other characters have major storylines in the third book, and they were pretty much cut out.

Firstly and most importantly, Gale. He has such a huge role in the books: with Katniss, helping her adapt to 13, looking after her family and generally making sure she survives her mental traumatisation, being her friend and hunting partner and equal; but also on his own, as Soldier Hawthorne, with Coin and Boggs and Beetee. He has a real storyline, and character development (not necessarily a good one, he becomes darker and more ruthless), and a family too - where are Hazelle and his siblings?! - and all this is just neglected. Instead he follows Katniss around like a lost puppy while she fawns over Peeta's image on a screen. Liam is one of the best actors in the film and they failed to utilise this... if anything, it would have brought in more screaming teenage girls and boosted revenue, so that's a missed oppurtunity. I feel like they wanted to downplay Gale as much as possible so that

fans don't,

can't, really, get invested into Gale and so he becomes the villian who killed Prim (when this SO DID NOT HAPPEN), with no sympathy shown towards him, so people fully accept her ending up with Peeta.

Next, Finnick. Finnick, again, has a greater role to play and a greater character arc than crying once in the hospital and then suddenly being miraculously fine, and then reunited with Annie. I get that the whole drug dependence storyline probably wasn't appropriate for a 12-rated film, but his recovery with Katniss was one of the most poignant parts of the book, and once again, we have another character who could have been so much more and instead becomes a (blindingly attractive) plot device for Katniss.

Next was their portrayal of Coin and 13 in general - it seemed a bit too nice for me, instead of the rather Capitol-like, controlling, unforgiving nature it really is under Coin's rule. Coin was just a bit too sincere for me.

Finally, I wasn't a massive fan of the drawn - out rescue scene. I guess it is canonical with the book, but it just seemed to drag a bit for me - it was obvious they were going to get out, and the whole Katniss-Snow conversation felt a bit pointless. I also felt that having Finnick's "secrets" scene battling for attention with the rescue mission detracted from his speech and cheapened it in some way - it's one of Finnick's most powerful scenes, but everyone was more concerned about whether Peeta and Gale were going to get out alive. I would have preferred them to focus on Finnick's words more...

I thought they were going to end it in a very different place. I thought it's be

when Katniss gets shot after the Nut has been avalanched.

It would have been a perfect OMFGWTFJUSTHAPPENEDARETHEYTROLLINGUSICANTEVEN moment for people who haven't read the book, and that moment is 52% of the way through the book on the Kindle, so it seems a good place to stop. They've got a lot of plot to fit into film #2, which worries me...

Despite all that negativity, I did really enjoy it. Better than #1, but doesn't live up to #2.

Thoughts, anyone? Anymore super die hard book geeks out there?

[andrew_]

This was a prime example of a book only needing one movie. Alas the corporate greed is strong in this franchise and the studio just couldn't help themselves. Half the movie was either unnecessary or plain old boring. Definitely my least favorite movie in the franchise.

In comparison, the Deathly Hallows movies were an excellent choice for a split as they had almost double the amount of source material to work off and half decent narrative structure from the novels that accommodated two endings so to speak.

[Red Tiger]

I will simply be brief: I thought the first movie sucked, the second was really good and this one was meh.

[AndyBaelish]

I thought The Hanging Tree scene was the best scene I've seen all year.

A lot of the movie was just alright, but that scene and the rescuing Peeta were really well handled.

I still really think it shouldn't have been split into two movies.

[williamjm]

I saw it earlier today. I think the film does inevitably suffer from the lack of resolution meaning that it doesn't really stand on its own. There is enough material to cover in the final book that I can see it is difficult to fit into a single film without cutting a lot out, so I can understand why they did it (as well as the obvious financial motivation) but it does mean that it's difficult to really judge it without seeing the second half. A related issue is that most of the book's major setpieces are in the second half meaning that this is very light on action for a Hollywood blockbuster.

That said, I thought that it was a decent adaptation of the first half of the book and they mostly got the best they could out of the material. The casting and acting has been good throughout the series and this is no exception. I think the second visit to District 12 and the 'Hanging Tree' song was one of the highlights, and I thought they did a good job with the suddenness of Peeta's attack at the end.

I mean Katniss kind of comes off a bit dickish towards Gale.

It is one of the main aspects of her characterisation that much of the time she's not very nice towards anyone (except Prim).

I thought they were going to end it in a very different place. I thought it's be

when Katniss gets shot after the Nut has been avalanched.

It would have been a perfect OMFGWTFJUSTHAPPENEDARETHEYTROLLINGUSICANTEVEN moment for people who haven't read the book, and that moment is 52% of the way through the book on the Kindle, so it seems a good place to stop.

It's a good scene but I think I'm glad they didn't end on it because I think that feels like a bit of a cheap cliffhanger, given that it would be blatantly obvious that Katniss wasn't really dead with an entire film left.

[Grand Moff Mithrandir]

Yeah I understand that she's not nice to most people, but I just feel like what she's doing to Gale is leading him on, unintentional as it may be.

[kairparavel]

Yeah I understand that she's not nice to most people, but I just feel like what she's doing to Gale is leading him on, unintentional as it may be.

Katniss is a gruff character who has no real experience with feelings and emotion beyond keeping her family together and providing for them after her father died. She took on an adult role because her mother checked out and someone needed to care for Prim. It stunted her emotionally being Mother Figure Katniss and not adolescent Katniss. Add to that the horror she's experienced twice in the Hunger Games field of battle. Add to that the destruction of her home and the fact that her simple action to save her sister has changed the face of the entire country. It's a lot to carry around while being in the midst of some heavy PTSD. That's probably the one thing the movie doesn't really capture compared to the books. Katniss seems downright well-adjusted in the movies when she's not, At all.

All this to say her being dickish to Gale or leading him on is a highly unfair assessment given what's happened to her personally. She's emotionally crippled and has no idea how to process and deal with her feelings while being in the crosshairs of Snow. What would be the bigger pressing issue to focus on, do you think?

[Grand Moff Mithrandir]

Fair enough. I guess all that just doesn't come across effectively on screen.

[Red Tiger]

Fair enough. I guess all that just doesn't come across effectively on screen.

Yeah, the message comes across a lot better in the books.

[awesome possum]

This will probably go down as the weakest of the four movies, mostly because it just feels like setup for the final one. I can see why they broke up Mockingjay into two movies, as it would have needed to be 3+ hours to fit everything in, but I still felt this one suffered for it.

My wife loved it though.

[Bastard of Boston]

I liked it, though the beginning felt awkward. I thought it hit all the right emotional beats, though, and I was glad they used the freedom of existing outside of Katniss' POV to show the raid. Even though I knew how it would end up, I gotta say, my pulse was racing. I thought they did a great job building the suspense.

[Dolorous Gabe]

Very pleasantly surprised. I wasn't keen on them splitting it up and it does feel like a set-up for the final instalment, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. They made it work very well in my opinion, despite the fact that the story doesn't advance a great deal. In fact for me it felt like they took their time to make it right and do justice to each scene.

Some of the cast surprised me very positively. Hutcherson and Hemsworth particularly.

I actually thought it was the best so far. I liked the first one but it was definitely imperfect. Catching Fire was still good but less so, because I simply cannot forgive the cutting of Haymitch's backstory and everyone involved should have been ashamed for having the excellent Jennifer Lawrence perform that final shot in such a ridiculous way.

[Grand Moff Mithrandir]

Haha oh yeah that final shot. Where she stares intently into the camera to show the viewer how intent she is on revenge.