I have never read the Hunger Games trilogy, so I went to these movies without the knowledge of how similar they are to the books but they seemed to be pretty close, or so I was told. I had not seen the movies until recently, so it was good to see them all in a close time frame.

With the third book of the Hunger Games split between two movies, this penultimate movie of the Hunger Games series was mostly build-up with a little action. But it was certainly not a boring movie. Picking up right after Catching Fire, Mockingjay kicked things off with drama and kept it up through the rest of the movie.     

While the movie was low on action, the excellent performances by Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss), Woody Harrelson (Haymitch), Donald Sutherland (President Snow), Liam Hemsworth (Gale) and Josh Hutcherson (Peeta) in their recurring roles throughout these films kept the movie tense and interesting. 

Even though they were playing these characters for a third time, the events and changes in the characters’ lives remained evident in the acting. For example, the Katniss I saw in Mockingjay is different from the Katniss I saw in Hunger Games. The events of the past two movies are weighing down upon her and Lawrence did a great job in keeping up with the changes the character went through.

One of the major highlights of Mockingjay (and the Hunger Games movies in general) is that you can tell time has passed with these movies. The direction that started with Gary Ross’s and Suzanne Collin’s collaboration on the first Hunger Games continues into these next two movies. These aren’t just a money grab. 

The author of the books and the director for Catching Fire and now Mockingjay, Francis Lawrence, set out to make worthwhile movies, and that’s what they accomplished. Some details are left out. President Snow’s thought process was a little confusing and the system and society of the Capital was unfavorably foggy, but the actors, the directors and the whole crew put together their best effort to make this not another young adult money maker. 

Mockingjay is very well-made cinematic-wise. As a movie by itself, it carries the torch lit by the first two, carrying all of the characters toward the climactic final battle between Katniss and the Capital.

If you have enjoyed the first two, you will enjoy this one. Even if you haven’t read the books, they are still enjoyable films. I can attest to that. 3/5 paws.