A whole year has passed, in which I have seen the first movie two more, and the second movie seven more times. Don't judge me! I am writing this intro part before having seen the movie, so I am not influenced. I'll be honest, was a tiny bit less excited about this movie.
Contrary to everyone's belief, I am not against the fact that they divided the book into two movies. First reason is that this story is so thick that if they skip just one thing, they would have to cut out whole characters from the stories. They nicely introduced everything in the second movie that they missed out on in the first one, to make sure the ending hits a punch. The second reason is that I trust this director. In an interview after the second movie he said that whenever they got stuck, they just opened the book because after all their intent was to give us the book. The third and final reason is simply that the book had actual places where cliffhangers could be grabbed to cut the story into two. I am actually curious to see which out of all the possibilities they went with!
However, because I am insanely curious, I am dying because I have to wait one more year for the last one! And so I became a bit detached. But three weeks before the premiere I started to go insane, and here we are:
(Spoiler free review!)
Katniss is currently in District 13 with her mom and sister
Prim.
President Alma Coin, leader of the district asks her to resume her role as the image of the revolution as many districts have decided to rebel and they need her alive to keep fighting. She does so, but with the condition of getting the other victors,
Peeta,
Johanna and
Annie Cresta back safely. As the rebellion goes on,
Katniss has a hard time fitting in with the new rules imposed onto her. And after an attack from the capital it seems that she just can't take it anymore.
No, I will not tell you where the movie ends. I will, however tell you that if you thought
Harry Potter 7 part 1 sucked, and that there were already more
Twilight movies than we actually need, not to mention the trilogy of
The Hobbit, and asked yourself, do we really need this? Then the answer is yes. You will not be disappointed!
So many things happen in this book and all the changes were clever and thought through and you just can't help but sit there with your mouth open as there is so much to take in! And the best part of the film is that they dropped boring characters, and concentrated on the important ones. This makes the story even more compelling as you don't have filler actions and scenes. I knew that there was enough material in this book for two movies and I wasn't wrong. And the changes made work perfectly in the universe that the movies have created. Let me explain: the cast and crew opened the books, watched their movies and most important of all, they care about the fans they have.
Here a couple of spoilers regarding the major changes, skip to the next paragraph if you want to be surprised!
Of course
Effie disappears in the book, while here she serves as
Plutarch's assistant in a way. Now, that assistant character is a great example of fillers that the movie doesn't need. While
Effie is a character that the fans have grown fond of and she is not just hanging there in the air, as if she didn't belong, but she is nicely put into the frame of the movie.
Enobaria also disappears, as she is not among the victors who are rescued. But really, she didn't have a role in the last book either way. Also, less emphasis was put on
Katniss and
Gale, which I actually liked because all of my friends who have not read the books keep complaining that
Katniss doesn't have any feelings at all for
Peeta and here the movie makes sure we get the picture that it is the baker boy who won her heart.
Many people didn't like the last book. Well, guess what?
This was better than the book. It simply works. It is a perfect continuation of the second movie, and it ties in the first and sets up everything we need for the last one. It cleverly added information that we only hear from
Katniss in the book and it cut the story into two at the best possible moment. I 100% trust this director and I'm glad I do.
There are movies that you only watch once in your life. And there are movies that you only watch once in the theater. This is not one of those movies.
Until the next item on my list!
PS: This movie might just save 2014 for me!
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Well Susan, if you're up for it, then we can make sure you see this movie at least three times in theater! because I back you up on everything you've just written! The movie was pure brilliance! <3
ReplyDeleteI have seen it that many times since :D
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