I'm prefacing this review under the assumption that you've already seen Part one of Mockingjay and the two films preceding it. I will avoid spoilers for the final chapter but beware of spoilers for the first 3 films.
Catching Fire Review
Mockingjay part 1 review
Hunger games is a series I started out loving. I loved the first movie, and it grew going into the second. Then there was the colossal letdown that was Mockingjay part 1. I hated the decision to split the movie into two parts, and that feeling is still there. This movie was a whole lot better than part 1, But it would have been a whole hell of a lot better with another hour of intense character building and tension, started with a good set up.
Part 1 now ends up as a 2 hour 'wait till part 2' and part 2 is a 2 hour 'where was part 1?'. Part 2 picks up exactly where 1 ended, with Crazy Peeta and injured Katniss. (still think they should have ended with the head whack)
first thing's first, the acting. While part 1 felt a bit phoned in, this one actually let the actors have some juicy bits. Jennifer Lawrence gets to show off some ridiculously intense acting chops (especially late in the movie, book readers know when I mean) Unfortunately she has sad face for the whole film. Her constant scowl starts to get a bit annoying as the movie goes on, even through that she manages a very deep and broken character.
Josh hutcherson is great as broken Peeta. He's the most interesting of the main characters. The tension posed by his unpredictability made for some of the best character moments int he movie. I really enjoyed his evolution over the course of this movie.
The rest of the cast did a great job, no one really stood out this time but they all did their jobs really well.
moving onto the writing. I can't say a whole lot of details since the best writing in the movie pops up in the last hour, the interplay between the members of the group is pretty cool as well.
One big problem I had with the movie is the assault on the capitol. it was interesting. but it almost seemed like it was 14 people walking into traps. they never made reference to the locations of any other groups doing the same thing. we all know Katniss wanted to shoot Snow. but they said there were going to be other groups attacking yet we never see any of them.
on top of that they mentioned they were going to be behind the main fight, meaning the main fight is ahead of them, why didn't they trigger the pods when they went through? you think a giant random oilpool trap would have been pretty noticeable. and why were there 3 traps set up right next to each other. A pair of giant machine guns, then a bomb (that only kills a 3 foot radius) then a gigantic oil vat turns the plaza into Inkville (with another random string trap?)
yet after that theres not another trap for quite a bit, then two more random big traps, phaser lights and buzz saws. (on a set recycled from Hanna, just like the song when flickerman interviews katniss after she won the first movie)
it seemed like there were large gaps of the city where there were just no pods anywhere. then other areas had tons in a very small area. I know it's just the 'gamemasters' making stuff up but it felt like just outside of where they were was a void of nothing.
The special effects were really solid throughout, and they have grown exponentially since the poor effect of the Dogs in the first movie. The mutts this time were great, I loved the amphibious looking creatures in the sewers.
Overall I really enjoyed this one, It makes up for the terrible third movie but still doesn't quite reach the heights of the second film. I recommend it, but you have to sit through the first half to have any clue what's going on.
Final Verdict: 87
Catching Fire Review
Mockingjay part 1 review
Mockingjay: Part 2
Part 1 now ends up as a 2 hour 'wait till part 2' and part 2 is a 2 hour 'where was part 1?'. Part 2 picks up exactly where 1 ended, with Crazy Peeta and injured Katniss. (still think they should have ended with the head whack)
first thing's first, the acting. While part 1 felt a bit phoned in, this one actually let the actors have some juicy bits. Jennifer Lawrence gets to show off some ridiculously intense acting chops (especially late in the movie, book readers know when I mean) Unfortunately she has sad face for the whole film. Her constant scowl starts to get a bit annoying as the movie goes on, even through that she manages a very deep and broken character.
Josh hutcherson is great as broken Peeta. He's the most interesting of the main characters. The tension posed by his unpredictability made for some of the best character moments int he movie. I really enjoyed his evolution over the course of this movie.
The rest of the cast did a great job, no one really stood out this time but they all did their jobs really well.
moving onto the writing. I can't say a whole lot of details since the best writing in the movie pops up in the last hour, the interplay between the members of the group is pretty cool as well.
One big problem I had with the movie is the assault on the capitol. it was interesting. but it almost seemed like it was 14 people walking into traps. they never made reference to the locations of any other groups doing the same thing. we all know Katniss wanted to shoot Snow. but they said there were going to be other groups attacking yet we never see any of them.
on top of that they mentioned they were going to be behind the main fight, meaning the main fight is ahead of them, why didn't they trigger the pods when they went through? you think a giant random oilpool trap would have been pretty noticeable. and why were there 3 traps set up right next to each other. A pair of giant machine guns, then a bomb (that only kills a 3 foot radius) then a gigantic oil vat turns the plaza into Inkville (with another random string trap?)
yet after that theres not another trap for quite a bit, then two more random big traps, phaser lights and buzz saws. (on a set recycled from Hanna, just like the song when flickerman interviews katniss after she won the first movie)
it seemed like there were large gaps of the city where there were just no pods anywhere. then other areas had tons in a very small area. I know it's just the 'gamemasters' making stuff up but it felt like just outside of where they were was a void of nothing.
The special effects were really solid throughout, and they have grown exponentially since the poor effect of the Dogs in the first movie. The mutts this time were great, I loved the amphibious looking creatures in the sewers.
Overall I really enjoyed this one, It makes up for the terrible third movie but still doesn't quite reach the heights of the second film. I recommend it, but you have to sit through the first half to have any clue what's going on.
Final Verdict: 87
I agree with your review. For me, the fact that Philip Seymour Hoffman died before finishing the film is noticeable. I am guessing that the letter Haymitch reads to Katniss at the end was actually supposed to be Plutarch visiting her in person, which would have had much more of an impact. But, the filmmakers used the best option. - Kathy Fergusson
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