I have read the entire series through 3 times so I am pretty familiar with the story line. I honestly felt like this was a pretty good interpretation of the novel. There are obviously always going to be some kind of significant changes that need to be made to create a screenplay but I felt like it was handled pretty well in this case. Is it annoying that they made it into two movies? Well, yes. If you are a fan though it just gives you more to love, right?
So first, Effie. Obviously if you are going to bring in someone like Elizabeth Banks to play the part you aren't going to just tuck her away from part-way through the second movie until the end of the fourth. I thought it was appropriate to have her in District 13 to play the role of Katniss's stylist in place of Cinna's team which were brought in to 13 in the novel. It is a working substitution that I don't think anyone should be glaring at considering how many characters this story has anyway.
I really appreciated the visuals of the rebellions taking place elsewhere in Panem. They don't really detail them too terribly much in the book if I remember correctly. The damn explosion causing the power outage to the Capitol was a nice sequence, very powerful particularly with the addition of the song, The Hanging Tree. I also appreciated the scene with the loggers scurrying up the trees before exploding the ground beneath the peace keepers. These details give some nice perspective on what was really going on outside of 13 that you don't really get in the book.
I know that they will further develop the Katniss, Gale, Peeta love triangle in the third book but I like the chemistry between Katniss and Gale in this movie, particularly given how hung up Katniss still is about Peeta. Oh and the choreography of Peeta's attack on Katniss was very well done. Even knowing it was coming, I was still surprised with the intensity of it.
Finally a note on casting. I really like Mahershala Ali (Remi for you House of Cards fans) as Boggs. He plays strong and quiet very well. I think Natalie Dormer was a good choice as well for Cressida and I suspect we will see more from her in the second installment than we did in this one. I will say that I am not loving Julianne Moore as President Coin. I think it might just be how crazy they made her eyes look but we'll see. As her true nature surfaces in the next installment I might grow to like that choice better.
Can't wait for November to see it all wrap up. I am kind of hoping that I'll get to see a little snippet or teaser when I go to see Insurgent on Friday with my coworker.
For those wondering if I have a hang up on young adult dystopian fiction, don't worry. I started an interesting new book this week called The Lost Wife in which a couple are reunited at their grandchildrens' wedding after being separated during WWII in Europe. So far it is very good.
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