Hello everyone!
I seem to always start the blog with the same two words - oops! Oh well, I guess I'll eventually figure out a better greeting or something. In the meantime, I'm going to jump right into the movie review for this week, and I think you're going to like the topic. Or I hope you will!
This past weekend, I got some much-needed friend time in, as a couple of my girlfriends got together for a movie night. Honorary mention goes to: boyfriend of one of them, who had to put up with FOUR women all on his own through the movie, and then the subsequent conversation after it was over. Thumbs up and a whole lot of stars, considering it really can't have been easy, but we DID have a blast, all of us! The Mockingjay was picked because, back when the last part of the Hobbit was playing in cinemas, there was a consensus that it would be viewed in theatre, and then we'd get together for the Mockingjay later on, all of us, in the comfort of someone's home, where we could just relax, unwind, and comment to our hearts' content. That's precisely what we did, and if the movie itself lacked in substantial action, at least there were four others around you who felt the same way and you could complain out loud!
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The movie picks up right where we left back with Catching Fire, which means Katniss and the gang (including, but not limited to Haymitch, Gale, Primrose, and Effie) are in District 13, underground, recovering from the rather disastrous 75th Hunger Games. If you recall, Katniss pretty much blew the arena up. Badass, right? Only problem is, she now suffers from nightmares and short-term memory loss, and just general after-concussion situations. Finnick isn't any better, I think he's actually even worse than she is, but more on that later. Most of the movie is filled with Katniss becoming the Mockingjay (a symbol for revolution against the Capitol), her filming scenes for 13 to broadcast over the other districts (honorary mention number two is Natalie Dormer in her role as Cressida; dayuum!), retaliation by the Capitol, and us watching Peeta growing more and more like poor Bella Swan during her pregnancy. Well, okay, that one was harsh, the emaciation that's shown on screen was actually chilling, and big kudos to the makeup department for doing their job fabulously. Basically, the most action we see is when District 8 is targeted by the Capitol jets, and when Gale and co go into the Capitol to free three other captives (Peeta among them) from the president. And what do you know, it turns out Peeta has been tortured and programmed into wanting to kill Katniss. Cue end slate.
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That's a two-hour story in one paragraph, and we're waiting for part 2 for the complete finish to the story. Now, I won't lie and say I'm dead-crazy about this; if I had to choose between Hunger Games and Divergent, I'd pick the latter every time. That being said, however, the actors all deliver outstanding performances, but the cut was a little bit difficult to understand sometimes if you haven't read the books.
What I'm talking about is how the audience perceives the problems Katniss faces on a completely mental level, not physical; in the book, something I remember quite vividly, is that she is struggling with her memory, and uses some simple exercises and tricks to ensure she doesn't forget stuff (or uses it as an excuse not to be where they need her to be, kind of nifty). Also, Finnick is in a pretty bad place himself, and he works on sailor knots ALL the time to keep his mind busy with something else. But in the movie, that falls kind of short.
I didn't even notice it myself - but that's probably because I've read the books. I saw Katniss playing with a small pebble-thing, and Finnick doing the knot one time, and I was happy they put it in there. But the fact hit home for me when not only one, but all of my friends there asked what the point of the pebble was when it was shown the second time.
So if the audience has to explain something to another audience member, you know the presentation could have been better, and my friends did admit to not noticing anything really wrong with either Katniss or Finnick, which is a bit of a problem since their drive comes from their desperation sometimes. That's not to say that the movie was bad or anything, but it was probably confusing to non-book readers who didn't quite get the point of certain things.
I did like the cycle feel, though: we start out at the hospital, with Katniss on the bed, and we finish there as well, with her watching Peeta. They've come full-circle in that space of time, so now we can only hope to break it and move on.
And there's a whole lot to move on to! The rebellion. The march against the Capitol. President Snow's fate. The organization of Panem. Gale and Peeta.
ESPECIALLY Gale and Peeta.
(Third honorary mention: Finnick pointing out to Katniss that she's in love with Peeta. I mean, the guy was already going for sainthood anyway, that one just cinched it.)
All in all, this was a solid movie, although more a bridge between what happened in the second one, and what will happen in the fourth, so probably not that exciting for a lot of viewers. Never fear, more is yet to come!
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What did you think of the Mockingjay?
xx
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