I finally went to see the long awaited “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2” the day after I arrived home for winter break. Overall, I enjoyed the final film. I had heard from various people that the ending of the film underwhelmed them, but I think that those people forget that the final book itself left little to be desired. Still, I had my doubts about the film since I did not like the book, but the film was surprisingly more excitable. The storyline itself was extremely political and less about the actual Hunger Games, so I can understand when people were waiting on the edge of their seats for action, why they were dissatisfied with the tactical planning that consisted a substantial amount of the plot line. However, I think that the acting and raw emotions during certain character deaths made up for the scenes that fell short of expectations.

I thought that the second part of the film adaptation of Mockingjay was much more action-packed and kept the audience eager to see what would happen next, even for someone who has read the book and knows what to expect. Nonetheless, there were certain aspects of the film as opposed to the book that bothered me while watching it.

The first thing that I had a problem with was the translation of the point-of-view in which the story was written to how it was told on screen. The delivery of first person narration is an aspect that fell short in each of the four films, but in fairness to Francis Lawrence, the director of all but the first “Hunger Games” film, first person narration is hard to capture on screen without the constant hindrance of a voice-over. Nonetheless, I still have a problem with the scene when Gale and Peeta are talking, both unaware of Katniss being awake and listening to them.

I wish that they had articulated her thoughts that she had in the book because they are extremely crucial to her relationship with each of them. Gale, in both the film and the book, said that Katness would ultimately choose whichever one of them that she could not live without. In the film, Katniss remains silent and we are not given access to her thoughts, but in the book, her thoughts make it clear that she could “survive just fine” without either one of them. There is no insight into her thoughts during that scene and I think that dialogue, even if it meant changing the scene slightly so that she confronts the two of them, would have been beneficial considering the importance of her realization.

The other change that I would have made would have been Gale’s reaction to Katniss confronting him about her sister Prim being killed in the bombing that he and other rebels were responsible for inciting against The Capitol. In the book, he showed little remorse when she confronted him about the moral issues that result from the bombing. He stated that if they had not done it, their opposition would have at some point in the future. However, in the film, he is close to tears, expressing his regret to her that he did not take care of her family the way that “he was supposed to.” The change that was made is too substantial since in the original story, it showed how narrow-minded Gale had become as a result of the war and how he had also become more of a soldier than he was a friend.

Overall, I think that the changes I would have made would have improved the strength of the film by making it more true to the book. Nevertheless, the film was well done and although some people view the ending as anti-climactic, I consider the happiness that Katniss finds to be refreshing from the heartbreak that was relentlessly aimed her way throughout the rest of the series.