Normally, I don't hold the book against the movie derived from it. They are two very different artforms. But in this case, two padded two-plus-hour movies should have been shortened to one three-hour film.
Mockingjay Part I ended with the rescue of Peeta from President Snow's people, and Katniss's horrified realization of how far Peeta's torture has twisted his mind and emotions.
Once again, this movie is over a year old, not to mention the book came out seven years ago, so I'm not bothering with a SPOILERS warning.
Part II frankly plods through the last part of the story. There's a great many scenes that could have been trimmed since they were made to show off the special effects, not really advance the story.
There was also a certain numbness in Katniss, which I don't blame on Jennifer Lawrence's portrayal, but are more the fault of the direction and script. At this point in the book, Katniss had a single-minded determination that wasn't truly reflected in the movie.
Also, they left out Katniss's attempted suicide after killing interim President Coin. That attempt was a direct result over losing Prim despite all of Katniss's efforts. These two changes left me rather indifferent toward the character.
I also need to re-read the book because I was fairly certain Snow finally succumbed to the poison he'd been ingesting over the years, laughing and choking as he enjoyed turning Katniss against Coin in the end.
Overall, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part II was technically proficient, but left me emotionally cold. I give it 6 stars out of 10.
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