The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 Review

The highly anticipated sequel to ' The Hunger Games: Catching Fire ' is a beautifully tragic and a visually stunning work of art.

The story picks up right where we left off with the previous movie with Katniss being full of regret

because she was saved instead of Peeta and the other tributes. It quickly evolves in this movie about a war and what it means with the underlying theme of the consequences of the games over Katniss and what PTSD can do to you.

Jennifer Lawrence brings a marvelous performance and successfully portrays this complex character.  One of the most memorable scenes was when she got back to District 12. We also see Josh Hutcherson a.k.a. Peeta go through many transitions and his acting has only improved since the first film. The newcomers,  Julianne Moore and Nataly Dormer are scene-stealers.

Many people,  including myself, we're afraid that 'Part 1' is going to be dull and boring. It was nothing whatsoever. The pacing was on point and the same goes for storytelling.

The director,  Francis Lawrence, has delivered the best experience you could possibly expect from the first half of the book. There is, in fact,  humor added which was missing in the previous installments. He had also done this remarkable job at expanding the universe with showing us more from the different districts. The CGI work is better than ever before and so are the cinematography and editing.

The score is also very fitting and has borrowed a few things from previous installments. The awaited 'Hanging Tree' song is very unique and got stuck into my head.

In short,  I can easily say this is the best book-to-movie adaptation and even surpassed the book in a few ways.  The acting and storytelling are phenomenal and the ending is sensational.  The film ends on such a high note and cliffhanger which leaves the fans yearning for the fourth and final installment of the series.

Make sure to let me know what you thought of the movie in comments down below. :)

                                                               Rating:
                                                        10 out of 10 stars

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins Review - No spoilers

As the movie is only a few months away I decided now it's the best time to write a review of the book. "Mockingjay" is the third novel in "The Hunger Games" series and it's the conclusion of it.

The book is the definitely the darkest one in the series. In it you get to study even deeper the effects of the games over Katniss a.k.a. PTSD and paranoia. She is still the tough girl we met a while back but only more careful and mature. She tries to take after her friends and family like never before and yet she is not capable to fully protect them from The Capitol. She suffers and tortures herself from the fact she hadn't been able to keep Peeta safe.

She becomes a symbol for the rebels and tries her best not to fall apart in front of everyone that counts on her. Due to the 1st person point of view we're able to find out what she really feels and get to relate to her. This POV though, feels kind of limited. It would have been better if it were written in 3rd person's view or in a dual one. I just felt like I needed to see what really happens in the Capitol and see what's going on with Peeta. Fortunately, in the movie we will see what's been going on in the Capitol.

Honestly, I don't think I loved the book. I am not saying it was bad, by all means. It was a really good novel just love is not the right word. This book was the most severe one of the three. It had much more emotional depth and it was harder to read. It was a really fast-paced book and a few times I needed to stop reading and reconcile what had happened.

The author puts a few questions to wonder upon like if you should show mercy to those who haven't shown one to you or where would you draw the line and how far are you willing to go to save the ones you love.

This is not an anti-war book as some might think. At least I wouldn't say it is. Actually it tries to make us ask ourselves what justifies war and where we should draw the line. Not for us not to fight but to know exactly what's worth fighting for.

                                 “Fire is catching! And if we burn, you burn with us!”

Several main characters die. It hurt me while I was reading the scenes but I felt they were necessary. The last, several pages were the thing that made up for the entire intensity and heaviness worth it. I am not sure which is the right word for that but maybe bittersweet. It has this sort of message that lives still goes on even though we can't really imagine how it would.

Despite the fact many people think the ending was disappointing it wasn't to me. Actually, it is the thought that it's the end that does. I felt as if I had lost something after I read the last word. I am glad it ended the way it did because, honestly I can't think of a better way it could have been written.

“My name is Katniss Everdeen. I am seventeen years old. My home is District 12. I was in the Hunger Games. I escaped. The Capitol hates me. Why am I not dead? I should be dead.”
Overall, I felt this book was good but not as good as "Catching Fire" but still managed to be the epic conclusion I was expecting. It was an emotional ride that just ripped my heart out and was so fast-paced I barely got a chance to catch my breath.

The third movie hits theaters in November worldwide.

                                      My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars