We’ve finally concluded The Hunger Games series in anticipation of the newest movie in just a couple of months. Here, I will be covering both movies to finish things off.
Part I
While I said Catching Fire was my favorite of the four, these two movies are also great and heartbreaking in their own right. To start, and I can’t believe I neglected to mention this detail in my last article, Katniss found out at the end of Catching Fire that District 12 was bombed to rubble and was gone for good. Also, Peeta was being held hostage at the Capitol after she blew up the arena’s force field. It’s understandably a devastating blow to her, but she also finds out District 13 is alive and was hidden underground all this time.
The country itself is in complete disarray, with bombings and riots left and right, and they need a leader, something the President of District 13, Coin, asks Katniss to be. She and a few others want her to be the symbol of the rebellion and fight against the Capitol and President Snow. She is hesitant until she sees Peeta for the first time on screen from the Capitol, going along with the propaganda the Capitol is pushing.
One scene that makes me emotional is the next one, where she visits District 12 and sees the ruins it has become. It was one thing to hear about it, but it likely didn’t sink in for her just how devastating it was until she saw for herself. Here, she visits her house, retrieves Prim’s cat, and smuggles it in. I also loved this part because despite making it known she did not like the cat, she would still bring it back with her if it meant her sister would be happy—and she was.
As the movie progresses, Katniss continues to visit different districts to show her support and inspire hope in the rebellion. Still, all the meanwhile, Katniss sees Peeta on the screen, showing him progressively getting physically worse under the thumb of the Capitol. She even attempts to rescue him herself because President Coin wouldn’t at first because of the risks. However, it takes a turn when Peeta musters up the courage to look at the screen and warn everyone that they are coming to bomb District 13.
This moment in the movie has everyone going further underground to some shelters they’ve previously prepared for attacks like this. However, after a harrowing few minutes, Katniss goes back up the stairs to find Prim because she left the bunker for the cat, and they make it back with no time to spare. Katniss is reasonably upset with her initially but concedes and hugs Prim because she knows she can’t leave the cat behind like that. It’s a nice character moment, and while all the movies have multiple scenes with her and Prim, I wish they included more to show their bond and how Katniss only started any of this accidentally because of her drive to keep Prim safe. Of course, it went from that to a whole rebellion, which shows how unstable this society always was if a single girl could set a spark.
Because Peeta saved everyone in District 13 by speaking out and therefore risking his safety in the process, Coin finally decides Peeta should be rescued and be pardoned by them for his treasonous actions, considering he had no choice but to go along with their propaganda or risk death.
The actual rescue went smoothly; the Capitol didn’t put up a fight at all, and sadly, you discover why a short few scenes later. Part 1 of the two-part movie concludes with Peeta attempting to kill Katniss upon seeing her, and it’s a confusing moment of why he would do this. I remember reading all the books multiple times before these movies came out, and even though I always knew what would happen, it was still a gut-wrenching scene to see them finally reunite, only to discover that Peeta isn’t himself right now quickly. You wait throughout the movie to see them back together, especially with how they have finally progressed as a potential real couple and not just an act. All that anticipation is ripped away when you see Peeta strangling Katniss because the Capitol has warped his mind so much that he sees Katniss as a threat to everyone. This scene breaks my heart, but knowing how the rest of the series goes, it leads to more touching moments when Peeta starts to come back to himself–although he’s not the same Peeta as before. These moments I will touch on more in the second half.
This movie finishes with Katniss, injured and unable to speak, watching Peeta thrashing and restrained on a bed through a one-way mirror. It’s a sad moment, and I’m sure it was even sadder for those movie-only fans of the franchise who don’t know what happens next. Even with the knowledge, there’s a sense of hopelessness in this scene of whether they’ll ever be able to come back to each other.
Part 2
Part 2 picks up right where we left off in the first movie, with Katniss recovering from her injury. Katniss wants to kill Snow right then and there, but Coin doesn’t let her go until they take control of District 2. Katniss goes to District 2 to help out, and even though she does convince them, she gets shot, and the country thinks she’s dead for a while. However, her bulletproof vest saved her life, but she is forced to recover once again. Then she goes with a small squad of people, which includes Gale and Finnick, eventually, despite not being totally recovered yet. Peeta goes with them. A lot of this film covers them sneaking around the Capitol to make it to President Snow, with members of the squad slowly being taken out by booby traps and wild beasts the Capitol engineered.
Until the scene when they’re in the sewers, Snow thinks Katniss is dead until surveillance alerts Snow that she is alive. He releases mutts in the sewers, ultimately leading to Finnick sacrificing himself and the marriage he just started with Anne to save everyone else. I always hated this part in the series because I enjoyed Finnick’s character; he died so soon in such a sad death. I know the point is that nobody is safe, and it raises the stakes to kill off a beloved character, but I wish it wasn’t so and that he could’ve had a long life with Anne as he deserved.
They eventually make it to the Capitol, and this leads to the worst scene in the entire series. Snow invites all Capitol citizens to seek refuge in his home. So, a large crowd walks to the gates of the estate. Then, there are floating objects with parachutes in the air. Some citizens mistake it for help from the President, but they’re bombs–bombs that Gale helped create. As Katniss realizes they’re bombs before everyone else, she has a few seconds to see Prim at the front of the gates, helping the injured. She only gets to shout her name before the bombs go off. The screen fades to black when Katniss is wounded and unconscious. Though, as the audience, you don’t know right away Prim is dead. The whole reason for Katniss being in the games and accidentally starting a war is that the only person she knows she loves is gone. It is such a gut punch for a loved character to die and a harsh reminder that nobody is safe, especially in wartime. However, it’s also a reminder that Prim died because she wanted to be a nurse and help people, and she did so in a small way.
In a rather unceremonious end, Katniss wakes up from the bombing to find out the war has ended and Snow has surrendered. I used to think this felt out of place as a teen, but the more I thought about it as an adult, the more it’s an interesting subversion of what usually happens in YA stories. Usually, our protagonist is the one to stop the main villain and kill or otherwise incapacitate them. Here, Katniss wasn’t even conscious when Snow was defeated. I believe it’s a subtle nod that in this society, anyone could’ve been the spark to set off the rebellion and ultimately take down the Capitol. Katniss wasn’t a chosen one trope; she started as someone who just wanted to save her sister and sacrificed herself for her, and it snowballed from there to what we have now.
So, Snow has surrendered, and Coin is set to take over Panem. During her conversation with Snow, Katniss also realizes that Gale had a part in this bombing, which has wholly severed their friendship for good and likely any confusing feelings she left for Gale.
On the day of Snow’s execution, Katniss is the one who gets to kill him herself, but instead, maybe fearing another unruly President would just replace Snow, she shoots Coin, and Snow is simply trampled to death by the crowd. Katniss pulls out a nightlock pill to end her life, but Peeta stops her, and she’s arrested instead. She is then pardoned and returns to District 12, where the Victor houses are the only things untouched by the bombs.
Here, you finally get a sense of the grief Katniss is dealing with in the wake of Prim’s death, and she shouts at her cat before breaking down. I only wish they showed more of this in the movie, but everything happened so fast; maybe she didn’t have time to think about it until she was finally alone.
From there, she and Peeta begin to rebuild themselves and create a new life post-hunger games and war. It’s a nice scene with time passing and them spending time together, and this part ends when they’re in bed together. Peeta asks if their relationship is “real or not real,” a reference to throughout the movie where Peeta is recovering from the brainwashing and asks those around him if what he’s seeing is real or not real. Katniss answers back with “real”. It then opens with a brief epilogue of the pair in a meadow with their two children, something Katniss previously swore she’d never do in a world run by the Capitol, and she tells her child how she’ll tell them everything one day.
I thought the ending was really sweet, and despite everything that was stacked against them, they prevailed and were able to make a happy little life for themselves.
The two Mockingjay movies were an enjoyable and heartbreaking watch to end Katniss’s story. Despite the many losses she and everyone else suffered, the ending inspired hope that even in the darkest times, there’s hope for a better future.
I enjoyed revisiting this great series and considering different interpretations of scenes or why something happened from an adult perspective. I hadn’t seen the movies since the last one came out in 2015. It served as a great watch that still holds up well today. With that, I can’t wait to see what the prequel has in store for us in just a few short months!
