Anyone just seen Mockingjay?

[hathorcat]

I thought it was lacking

But then I cant decide if I have just been so excited that I got let down a little? Not enough action...too much build up for me. I know the last one is going to be epic and this felt like tiding me over from the last movie to the next rather than a standalone movie.

[pony_magick]

^ But then it is meant to be part 1 of 2, so technically it is only half the story line. Quite a few of my work colleagues thought that as well - I went with work for free ticket.

[hathorcat]

Yes but I still went with the expectation of what the previous 2 movies were which were films that could stand on their own a little - this felt like it could have been shrunk down to 45 mins and shoved on the front of the next movie.

All that aside I did enjoy it - I love the books and movies so far - I just wanted a bit more meat

[Midnight_Dream]

As a reader of the books I didn't care for it all that much, too much was left out and the pacing felt a bit weird to me. I did like some things they added in to add more depth to the story, like seeing the Districts rebel, since we are not singled to Katniss' point of view. And they did leave key points in, so it wasn't terrible, but it just wasn't as good as it could have been. Some of the dialog was a bit off too at points, but I can overlook that.

Katniss in the book is A LOT more damaged mentally then Katniss in the movie and spends a lot more time in the first half of the book recovering in the hospital of thirteen along with building up a friendship with Fennick that I am very sad the movie left out. Also, the book goes into more detail about the way things are run in thirteen and I enjoyed that. Needless to say, I would read the book if you haven't already, but the movie version isn't terrible.

[EeveeMUA]

I seen it yesterday. I've never read the books, but I loved the fist two movies. This one, I thought, was okay. I'm taking it as just a filler movie as it's the first of a two part installment, and you only get half of the full story. I just found it a bit boring compared to the other movies so far. I did still enjoy it though and I'm very much looking forward to the next one.

[Bergamot]

Midnight, I felt the same about Finnick. He was really important in the books, but the movie totally glosses it over.

All in all, I think the movie was pretty good, though. Adapting a first-person story to screen must be very challenging!

[Midnight_Dream]

See? That is what the movie fails to capture, while the first half seems boring it really isn't supposed to be. It is supposed to show you Katniss' struggles with coping with the two Hunger Games she just participated in and the fact that she was saved and Peeta, the guy she tried so hard to save, got left behind. She is also dealing with the burden of being the Mockingjay, the people's symbol for rebellion, and lifted up into being this important person which she never wanted to be; as she says many times in the books, Peeta would have been the better choice.

Of course, since we are not inside Katniss' head during the movies and seeing things through her eyes this is all harder to capture and while I think the movie could have done a better job they didn't do that badly really. Jenifer Lawrence really does pull off a good Katniss, even though movie Katniss is a LOT different than book Katniss.

My advice would be to read the books if you haven't, they are a very quick read. :3