Friday, November 20, 2015

#1551 date night movie - The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2



Our family has been eagerly anticipating the finale of the Hunger Games movies series Mockingjay Part 2.  I read all three books before the first movie, The Hunger Games, came out and even though the whole premise of that first book was completely horrible and messed up, it's compelling reading. The characters totally drive the story, but by the third book, I was just looking for some resolution. MT didn't make it through the third book, a fact I had forgotten.

To prepare ourselves and refresh our memories, last night MT and I watched Mockingjay Part 1. I made it all the way through but MT fell asleep and missed most of it. When I got home from work today, he was watching Part 1 again, so I watched it too. What the heck? We got done with it around 6:30 and Part 2 was playing at our local cinema at 7, so off we went!

T had to work, so he didn't get to come with us.

The film picks up right where Part 1 left off, so if you haven't seen  Part 1, you should probably watch it before you see Part 2. You could figure it out, but you might as well get the whole story. Jennifer Lawrence is still great as Katniss. Liam Hemsworth is swoon-worthy as Gale and Josh Hutcherson is still confusing (to me) as Peeta. Philip Seymour Hoffman is really good as Plutarch and Elizabeth Banks slays as Effie. And much as I hate to admit it, I actually like Woody Harrelson as Haymitch in these movies. (I have a long-standing problem with Woody, but I have liked him in several movies in the past few years like Friends with Benefits, Zombieland and the Hunger Games movies.)

The movie has lots of action and one scene in particular that made MT jump out of his seat, much to my surprise and delight. I love it when he gets a jolt in a movie! He sort of makes this noise and his arms and legs fly up and then he looks at me sheepishly and says something like, "Holy shit! I wasn't expecting that!"

It's been awhile since I read the book, but I think there wasn't much deviation from the story. Mockingjay Part 2 is a good film and does a good job wrapping it all up. There was even some applause in our theater when it was done.

T just got home from work, changed his clothes and rushed out to meet a friend to catch the late showing of the movie. He's gonna like it.



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