Shining moments, but overall dull (from a fan of the books)

Rating: 6/10 (24 November 2014)

When I read Mockingjay, I really liked all the character development that happened in the first half of the book. Seeing it translated to screen was disappointing and boring. Jennifer Lawrence stole the movie once again with her phenomenal acting, but I thought that Katniss's character was handled poorly. Her PTSD was prevalent in the book and here it only took hold in a couple of scenes. Phillip Seymour Hoffman was the other standout for me, giving depth to Plutarch. I especially enjoyed the scene where he is in command while being bombed, as he brought real emotion to that scene. Apart from those two, I thought the acting was overall flat. Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth both had strong moments, but for a lot of the film they paled in comparison to Lawrence. I also didn't like how they put Effie in district 13. She felt awkward and it made me uncomfortable rather than making me laugh. I was also disappointed with how Finnick was replaced by Gale in many of his scenes with Katniss. Finnick and Katniss had a really great bond in the book as two of the only people who understand what they are going through and a lot of that was lost by the script and by Sam Claflin's on-and-off performance. There were shining moments, such as Katniss singing "The Hanging Tree" and the bombing of District 8. I also liked that they let the audience see the rescue of Peeta and the others. However, Peeta's clearly CGI weight loss was sloppy and annoying. And, other than a few scenes, the movie was mostly just people talking which is not what we come to the Hunger Games to see. I enjoyed it in the books, but it didn't translate well on screen. It was also frustrating that despite the fact that they are making two movies when they only need one, they still could not fit in many important scenes from the book. Overall, this was the weakest movie to date and I can only hope that Mockingjay Part 2 provides the epic finale we are all hoping for.