My Movie Grading: D
The fact that I'm a huge Hunger Games fan isn't the only reason I'm grading this year's Hunger Games franchise part 3 (but part 1 of the last book) a D but because what happened to the portrayals of the character's. I read the last book almost two years ago and though I may have had to refresh my memory before going to see it but reading a few pages of each chapter - I remember quite clearly how the characters acted or how I interpreted them to feel. Jennifer Laurence's third time portrayal of Katniss has become even more meek that the first and second. She cried, she was moody, she was sad, she was timid, she was weak - not at all very close to how I felt Katniss actually felt in the books (well not all the time). I grew tired of tears early on and by the end, I was all to excited that it was over. It was such a disappointment! Liam Hemsworth's portrayal of Gale was even somber and sad. He always looked like he was two seconds away from breaking down and crying. Not what I expected! President Alma Coin played by Julianne Moore was even more disturbing as she even played a less feisty and meek President Coin. I totally interpreted her character from the book as being a total hard ass. She seemed to be on the fence about Katniss - not agreeing with her most of time and always just very cold. She was the exact opposite in the film. Last but not least but a sad and disappointing end to Phillip Seymour Hoffman's portrayal as Plutarch. He always seemed very strong willed and like a leader in the books but in this film he was very complaisant, willing to please and just not very much kick or fight. This made me sad because his portrayal in "Catching Fire" was very feisty, quick to have a solution and had leadership qualities - all of which he lost in this film. The character portrayals of Boggs, Castor, Pollux, Finnick, Cressida & Messalla were all uneventful as they didn't have many parts. Let's hope that the final edition - Mockingjay Part 2 has the thrills and frills that we all appreciated from the book.
That's my take,
L.