Mockingjay Pt. 1 (the movie)

      So of course I saw this opening day, but I’ve just had enough time to get my thoughts together. Ever since I read this I was trying to decide why they wanted to split the movie into two parts because there wasn’t much action in the first half of the book. Granted the book was still good, but the first part was Katniss and everyone getting used to the fact that she decided to be the Mockingjay finally. I just didn’t see why they needed to split it into two parts. 

     But once I was in the theater and I saw all the other people in there that had not read the books and didn’t understand a lot of what happened in the movie, I finally got it. They were looking for shock value and money. I say that because The Mockingjay had the biggest opening weekend of the entire year, which is nuts since it’s already November. I know they can only hope to replicate that when Part 2 comes out next year. I say shock value as someone who has just read the book herself. Seeing where this one ended, there’s no way I’d wait to see what happens in the next movie. I’d either go out and buy the book or check it out from the library to read it to find out what happens. I’m not sure how those people that watch the movie first instead of read the book can handle it. 

     If you’re a fan of the series and you haven’t seen it, expect to find some unexpected scenes that weren’t in the book. I was a bit surprised, because like I said, the beginning of the book was a bit slow, but there were some scenes that weren’t in the book and some that were only mentioned in passing, but the book didn’t go into full detail about it. So, when it was shown on the screen, I was taken aback. I cringed quite a bit throughout the movie because there were so many frightening scenes. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t like super freaked out, I was just surprised is all. 

     Lastly, I want to talk about the acting. As always, it was amazing. But this time, I want to focus my attention on Josh Hutcherson instead of J. Law. He played the role of a tortured Peeta to a T! He was absolutely amazing and so very convincing. Especially at the end when he does that thing with Katniss? You know what I mean…. He scared even me and I KNEW it was coming. Like it really looked real. Then the way he was all wide eyed and crazy looking, it was a great scene. And the ending scene was good as well. The way he was thrashing around, I felt even more sorry for him. My heart broke for him all over again. 

     Overall, I did like the movie. Do I feel like it could have been one movie? Yes. But I will most definitely be there on opening day to see part two. 

Overall, I give this