Movie Adaptation Review: Mockingjay Part 1

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image source: here. edited by me.

MOVIE ADAPTATION of Mockingjay Part 1

read my review on Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

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

Katniss Everdeen is back, and is more rebellious than ever! I'm not really sure how to react towards this movie, but after I finished watching I was like 'wow that was intensely emotional'. I actually watched the movie with my family, and my dad slept (even snored) in the theater ㅋㅋ. So don't go watch this movie expecting an action-packed movie, because there won't be as much action scenes compared to the previous two. And don't even think about watching this movie if you haven't seen the first two, or at least read the trilogy; because you might end up like my dad. Now here goes my (hopefully) non-spoiling review on the movie adaptation of Mockingjay Part 1. (oh but it may give spoilers if you haven't read the book/watch the previous two books)

Continuing from the previous movie, Catching Fire, Katniss is now in District 13 and is trying to grasp the unbelievable situation that's been happening. She never expected District 13 to exist in an underground compound with so many people and military facilities. She despised the people who saved her, because they left Peeta behind in the arena. But Katniss is the only important person for President Coin (the leader of District 13), because she's needed to become the leader of the rebellion: as their Mockingjay. At first, Katniss was reluctant to do it, but she finally made a deal with President Coin. She will be their Mockingjay but with conditions: they have to save Peeta and the other victors from the Capitol. And it's finally time for them to challenge President Snow.

I hope I didn't spoil things too much with that synopsis, but I think that's only the beginning of the movie. To be honest, I don't remember Mockingjay (the book) in detail, because it's been 3 years since I read it—and I've read so many books after that. But I do remember all the important events that happened in the story, which I think was depicted well enough in the movie. However, if there are smaller details from the book that are missing in the movie, I didn't realized it. Which is why I wouldn't do much comparison between the book and the movie, and will comment more on the movie itself.

This movie definitely focuses a lot more on Katniss Everdeen and not much on anything else. But I'm not complaining, because I think Jennifer Lawrence did an excellent job in this movie. She really showed her amazing acting skills and totally gave me goosebumps in several scenes. The emotions she's supposed to portray was delivered perfectly; whether it was angst, grief, or anger—the acting was so on point, I love it so much. Oh, and of course I still adore her arrow shooting skill—because she's just great at that. And her bow and arrow even had a bit of upgrade from Beetee :))

For all you Gale Hawthorne's fans out there, you can be a bit happier because he finally got a decent amount of scenes! We finally get to see Liam Hemsworth's face a little bit longer, and he's just a very sweet friend for Katniss. Sad for me though, Peeta Mellark only showed up in several scenes—and mostly are through broadcasting (because he was held captive by the Capitol). But then again, all of Josh Hutcherson's acting in this movie are also on point. I'm heartbroken every time I see Peeta's face on screen, like I just want to cuddle him :3 I can't wait to see you back next year, Peeta ♥♥ (with all the romantic aww-moments scenes, of course)

As for the other characters, my favorite would be Beetee, the tech guy who's super amazing and made Katniss her special bow. I think without him, most of their plans wouldn't really work out. And as for President Coin, from first sight I had a feeling that I can't really trust this person—I think that was portrayed rather amazingly by Julianne Moore. But I won't discuss that further; I'm afraid I'll spoil too much ;))

Now moving on to my favorite scenes in the movie!

• When Katniss visited District 8 and met the people who are being treated at the hospital for the propo footage. She was recorded with a bunch of people who were stunned at the sight of her. And a boy asked if she will fight with them. After she answered, they all slowly did the three-finger salute. And I got the goosebumpssss. (three-finger salute)

"Are you fighting Katniss? Are you here to fight with us?"
"I am. I will."

• After the bombing in District 8, I was very very impressed at Katniss' message for President Snow. She exclaimed how President Snow will never treat them fairly by showing what happened in District 8. My favorite line is of course "If we burn, you burn with us!", with flames flickering in the background and I was like "Yeahhhh Katniss!!"


• The scene in which Katniss and Gale shot an explosive arrow at the Capitol planes. It was a pretty epic shot.

• The Districts rebellion acts. The ones that are shown in the movie was District 7—with the lumberjacks climbing up the tree to rebel against the peacekeeepers. And also when District 5, which is in charge of power in Panem, finally rebelled; causing the Capitol to lose electricity and power. Actually there's nothing really special about it, I'm just excited they started to fight back towards the almighty Capitol.

• The Hanging Tree song, which was sang by Jennifer Lawrence in her soft yet strong voice. I feel like there's a deep meaning behind the song; something about sacrifice and death. And I totally got the goosebumps again when the people in other Districts sang along with the hauntingly catchy song. I read an article that discusses the song thoroughly, and you can read it here. Go listen to the song below ;))

Are you, are you
Coming to the tree
Wear a necklace of rope,
Side by side with me.
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met at midnight
In the hanging tree.

• When Peeta finally reunited with Katniss. Oh, but I won't say what happen, because that's going to spoil a lot of things, especially if you haven't read the book yet. But it was intenseee! Oh my God, I literally jumped out of my seat even though I knew it was coming. It was one of the most heartbreaking scene in the book—because I didn't expected it at the time. Both of their acting is just excellent. Really.

Since I didn't remember much about the book and couldn't give a comparison between the movie and the original story, here's a link I found on the internet—that listed 19 ways the movie was different from the book. If you haven't watched the movie yet, I suggest you not to read it—just in case you might spoil yourself. But anyways, even though I don't really remember the book, the movie still didn't surprise me in any way because I know what's going to happen next. However, it did surprise me with the loud sound effects and sudden movements on screen. My brother, who didn't read the book but has been following the movie adaptation said he understood the movie perfectly. So I reckon you can still enjoy this series of movie adaptation without reading the book beforehand :))

In the end, I think the first part of Mockingjay did a pretty good job in making a foundation for what's going to happen in the final movie. The movie used the 2-hour duration they have for all the emotions that needs to be depicted and gives us the information as to why everything is happening. As I've said at the beginning of this post, this movie is not action-packed (although there are some short action-scenes) and it focuses a lot more on building the emotional aspect of the story (I guess). And I don't really want to talk about the romance, because I think The Hunger Games trilogy is a political story that brings out a topic far more significant than a triangle-love-story (that's not even important in the book). I seriously can't wait for the second part of Mockingjay next year, the concluding end to this amazing movie adaptation series! Can't wait for war timee!

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  Salute!   by.stefaniesugia♥ .