On Friday, November 21st, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part I entered theatres, leaving Hunger Games fans eagerly anticipating part two. With its intense, action-packed scenes, excellent acting, haunting music, and overall eerie effect, fans did not leave disappointed. Mockingjay lived up to its hype; the movie theatres remained crowded until days after the movie released.

“Mockingjay was really good. I loved every second of it and definitely can’t wait for part two,” senior Makayla Brimmage said.

Although the book was not much lengthier than Catching Fire, Mockingjay was split into two movies. Part one may seem to end at an awkward spot, but producers wrapped it up with a chilling cliffhanger. Fans loved the movie, especially actress Jennifer Lawrence’s performance and appreciated how she captured Katniss Everdeen’s emotions and personality perfectly.

“Jennifer Lawrence did an amazing job. She displayed all the anger and frustration Katniss felt,” junior Rebekah Roepke said.

Though the movie may not have reflected the book perfectly, it earned positive reviews. Most fans did not go crazy when there was a missing or altered scene. The acting made up for it, and the plot flowed smoothly. Unlike most book-based movies, Mockingjay lived up to its book’s high reputation and exceeded my expectations along with the other two Hunger Games movies.

“I’m definitely team Peeta, and even though he wasn’t a major part of the movie, I loved the scenes he was mentioned in,” Roepke said.

The love triangle between Katniss, Gale, and Peeta grows into a bigger conflict during the movie as Katniss comes to realize she holds feelings for both males. Although Peeta was not directly involved with Katniss until the end of the movie, Josh Hutcherson did a phenomenal job in displaying a broken and insane Peeta Mellark.

“I certainly wasn’t expecting the ending scene with Peeta, it was intense,” sophomore Chiara Mancuso said.

The movie contains plenty of heart-stopping scenes, but it seems that everyone’s favorite scenes revolve around Katniss’s infamous speech where she recites the popular words “if we burn, you burn with us” and the chilling scene where she sings the “Hanging Tree” song. The scene then switches to an active rebellion where each person sings along with Katniss. The movie did an excellent job in capturing the anger the districts felt during the rebellion.

“‘The Hanging Tree’ scene was my favorite. The song was stuck in my head days after, and I can’t get over how intense the scene was,” Brimmage said.

Although the movie slightly differed from the book, it managed to create the same effect. With its intense scenes, spot-on acting, and chilling cliff hangers, Mockingjay did not fail to impress.

The Chant‘s grade: A-

To view Morgan White’s coverage of the NCG triple feature, watch here.

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