
I definitely liked this movie better than it's predecessor. I think if they had just made it into one movie instead of two, it would have been so much better. Oh, well.
I have to admit here that the 3rd book was never my favorite. The same goes for the movie, both parts. That prestige goes to Catching Fire, on both fronts. But I will say, that this fourth installment of the Hunger Games franchise is at least better than the first movie. I've always said that it should have been the one split into two. But, we're not here to talk about the first movie. I've already done that. We're here to talking about this final one.
Overall, the final movie stayed true to the themes of the book. The destruction, the death and the politics are all there. You see the effects of war and how people are compromised because of it. So as an adaptation, I think it stuck true to the book in it's story line and plot points. However, there was still something off about it and I'm not sure if it's the movie itself or my overall feeling about the franchise as a whole and the uneven work they've done with the movies. It is nothing against the actors or writers. I just think the decision makers lost something here.
Anyway, here is my usual list of notable differences:
1) Peeta's recovery. It was non-existence. In the book, there were strides taken to help Peeta recover. He takes therapy and really tries to become better and remember who he was. Non of that was in the movie, which made his back and forth struggle in the battlefield seem off. Why would he be struggling if he didn't know who he previously was?
2) Prim. Most reviews I've read mention that Prim was the one to visit Peeta instead of Delly Cartwright, but they leave out the fact that Peeta's therapy was her idea. She was the one who came up with the plan to reverse the effects of the Tracker Jacker torture. In Catching Fire, we see how string and capable Prim is becoming, something that shows even more in Mockingjay with this plan of her's. That was missing in the movie.
3) Katniss kills a capital citizen. This one is also mentioned frequently in other review, but I find this to be important if we think about Katniss in District 2. She wanted to save the citizens, fight for their lives saying that innocent bystanders should not be treated as the rest. Yet, when her own life is on the line, she doesn't think twice in killing an innocent. I think this speaks to the depth of war and how compromises to oneself happens on the battlefield.
As I said, not a bad adaption. But the whole movie franchise fell flat for me.