OPINION: 'Mockingjay Part 2' perfect way to finish franchise

<p>“The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2” is the fourth movie in the series and was released in theaters on Nov. 20. The movie focuses on Katniss Everdeen bringing together an army against President Snow.&nbsp;<em>PHOTO COURTESY OF IMPAWARDS.COM</em></p>

“The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2” is the fourth movie in the series and was released in theaters on Nov. 20. The movie focuses on Katniss Everdeen bringing together an army against President Snow. PHOTO COURTESY OF IMPAWARDS.COM

Alexandra Smith is a freshman journalism major and writes for the Daily News. Her views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper. Write to her at ajsmith9@bsu.edu.

This column contains spoilers.

Happy Hunger Games! Kind of. The latest installment of the “Hunger Games” franchise has finally been released, and I would say the one-year wait was mostly worth it. Book-to-movie transitions can be hit-or-miss sometimes, but I would call this a hit. Sure there were some changes, but only the nitpickiest of people would have too much of a problem with the film.

First of all, let’s take a minute to appreciate the amazing job Jennifer Lawrence did. Her portrayal of Katniss was stellar, as always, but in this film, the scene that made her stand out was after Prim died, when Katniss returns home to District 12 and finds Buttercup in her house. I could feel her grief and anger in that scene, as if someone had killed her real-life sibling.

Other notable performances included Woody Harrelson and Julianne Moore. Harrelson effectively portrayed the sarcastic, jaded victor, delivering all one-liners perfectly. Moore was cold and calculating as President Alma Coin of District 13. I could feel how power-hungry and manipulative she was from my seat.

The inevitable action scenes and deaths, which included many special effects, were great as well. The “pods” in the Capitol (which were basically booby traps for those roaming the streets) were well-developed, flashy and terrifying. For example, the killer oil thing (there is no better description) looked like a combination of smooth oil when it was rising and sharp rocks when it “splashed.”

The sewer Mutts were scary. Just plain scary. First of all, they entered in classic jump-scare fashion. I could feel the entire theater holding its breath – I know I was. When the moment finally came, they were unveiled as white, zombie-like creatures with lots of teeth and no eyes. They had really long arms and were as ruthless as possible. No, they weren’t the Mutts from the book, but they served their purpose well.

Something else to address is the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman in 2014 and how his death affected the movie. Director Francis Lawrence refused to use CGI to recreate Hoffman, and as a result Hoffman’s character, Plutarch Heavensbee, played a smaller role in the film. A few changes were made to accommodate the scenes that would have included him, which I found painfully obvious, but Lawrence said no CGI, so I have to give him credit for making it work.

Alexandra Smith

One of the only major changes from the book was the ending of the film, which showed Katniss and Peeta (along with their new family) as mostly happy. In the film, they seem almost normal, only slightly affected by what they’d been through. Katniss still has nightmares, but that’s really the only bad thing happening in their lives. Plus, it is implied that they still have contact with Katniss’ mother, as well as some other survivors. In the book, they were more isolated, with the effects of the Games and all that followed more ingrained in them. This might seem picky to point out, but I think it’s important to note, because Suzanne Collins didn’t write a happy ending; she wrote life, and what happens after a war. The movie seemed to do away with that and gave audiences the standard “happily ever after.”

Now, with a $160 million budget, I do have one complaint: the color palette. I know the subject matter is dismal, but there was just so much gray. Everything about District 13 was gray, which is understood because it’s made of concrete underground, but that means other places shouldn’t have been. Even though the Capitol was crumbling, I expected more color, maybe remnants of citizens' lives or something else to show it was a once-lively city. This also created a problem because many of the other scenes were too dark. The transition from the dark underground to the bright gray (who knew gray could be bright?) scenery above ground was jarring at times.

I’m not an expert on camerawork by any means, but I just couldn’t handle some of the action scenes. There was so much shaking at times that I couldn’t get a grip on what was happening. During the sewer scene, the combination of a dark setting and fast camera action made it hard to follow who exactly was getting killed and who was still fighting.

Despite its few shortcomings, “Mockingjay, Part 2” has everything a fan could ask for: great acting, top-notch special effects and consistency with both the other films and the books. The film is a perfect way to finish the franchise.

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