Young Adult Month - The Hunger Games: Mockingjay part 2

In the not too distant future, after a disaster takes place

A nerdy guy with Rage Issues, among the last of the human race

He was just a media nerd, he ranted a lot, it was quite absurd

But he was special for some reason, so bad men decided it was Rage Issues season

He’ll star in 3 movies, 4 if we squeeze him dry

He’ll go and join a rebel force, as he’ll slowly lose his mind

Now keep in mind, he’s just a guy, no different from you or me

So, he’ll have to learn how to survive, with the help of YA Movies

Franchise Roll call:

The Hunger Games

The Maze Runner

Diiiiiiiivergent

If you’re wondering how he posts his thoughts, and who he’s posting for

Repeat to yourself, it’s just a theme, and stop thinking any more

It’s Young Adult Month!

Part 2 of Mockingjay was the least successful Hunger Games movie, earning $650m on it’s $160m budget. You could argue this was a souring towards YA movies in general, as both of the next franchises would see diminishing returns towards the end of their run, but it could also be the problem of splitting this book into 2 parts.

The critical reception was only slightly improved with a 70% Rotten Tomatoes rating with an average 6.5/10, the audience score went down to 66%, with an average 3.6/5.

Young Adult Month - The Hunger Games: Mockingjay part 1

In the not too distant future, after a disaster takes place

A nerdy guy with Rage Issues, among the last of the human race

He was just a media nerd, he ranted a lot, it was quite absurd

But he was special for some reason, so bad men decided it was Rage Issues season

He’ll star in 3 movies, 4 if we squeeze him dry

He’ll go and join a rebel force, as he’ll slowly lose his mind

Now keep in mind, he’s just a guy, no different from you or me

So, he’ll have to learn how to survive, with the help of YA Movies

Franchise Roll call:

The Hunger Games

The Maze Runner

Diiiiiiiivergent

If you’re wondering how he posts his thoughts, and who he’s posting for

Repeat to yourself, it’s just a theme, and stop thinking any more

It’s Young Adult Month!

And we’re back with the Hunger games with Mockingjay part 1

With the success of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows being split into 2 movies, it was decided to do the same thing with Mockingjay. The thing is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is a much longer book and it needed to catch up with details omitted from previous very long books. Hunger Games: Mockingjay is a medium sized book, and the previous films had been largely pretty good at not omitting major details from the book (going from the Dom’s Lost in Adaptation here)

So, it’s not difficult to see this move as a major cash-grab on the part of the studio. The difficulty comes in altering the structure of the story to fit this. I will admit that my thoughts on this have been changed slightly. Unlike the other 2 books, I have read Mockingjay, I happened to stumble across it relatively cheap so I do know where these films branch off from the books.

Still, the success was felt, the film earned over $750m at the box office on a $140m budget (a notable downgrade from Catching fire but still) but took a hit critically with now a 68% Rotten Tomatoes rating with an average 6.3/10 score and a 71% audience rating with an average 3.8/5 score. What does that mean for the film itself? Here is my take.

Young Adult Month - The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

In the not too distant future, after a disaster takes place

A nerdy guy with Rage Issues, among the last of the human race

He was just a media nerd, he ranted a lot, it was quite absurd

But he was special for some reason, so bad men decided it was Rage Issues season

He’ll star in 3 movies, 4 if we squeeze him dry

He’ll go and join a rebel force, as he’ll slowly lose his mind

Now keep in mind, he’s just a guy, no different from you or me

So, he’ll have to learn how to survive, with the help of YA Movies

Franchise Roll call:

The Hunger Games

The Maze Runner

Diiiiiiiivergent

If you’re wondering how he posts his thoughts, and who he’s posting for

Repeat to yourself, it’s just a theme, and stop thinking any more

It’s Young Adult Month!

And we’re continuing with the Hunger Games with Catching Fire. Released in 2013, the first thing of note about this movie is the change in director. Francis Lawrence takes the helm with this movie sees it through to the franchise’s conclusion, Gary Ross stepping down due to the ‘tight’ scheduling of the movie.

They also had an issue that Jennifer Lawrence was working on X-men: Days of Future Past (where she plays Mystique) at around the same time, so scheduling had to be agreed between Fox and Lionsgate.

Still, it was successful earning over $800m on a $140 budget and has a respectable 89% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the critic score of 7.6/10 and an audience rating of 89% with an average 4.2/5.

Young Adult Month - The Hunger Games

In the not too distant future, after a disaster takes place

A nerdy guy with rage issues, among the last of the human race

He was just a media nerd, he ranted a lot, it was quite absurd

But he was special for some reason, so bad men decided it was Rage Issues season

He’ll star in 3 movies, 4 if we squeeze him dry (la-la-la)

He’ll go and join a rebel force, as he’ll slowly lose his mind (la-la-la)

Now keep in mind, he’s just a guy, no different from you or me

So, he’ll have to learn how to survive, with the help of YA Movies

Franchise Roll call

Hunger Games

Maze Runner

Diiiiiiiivergent

If you’re wondering how he posts his thoughts, and who he’s posting for

Repeat to yourself, it’s just a theme, and stop thinking any more

It’s Young Adult Month!

After the success, such as it was, of the Twilight series, Lionsgate and other studios greenlit a bunch of other book adaptations aimed at Young Adults. The best and most popular of these, in popular consciousness at least is The Hunger Games. Released in 2012, the movie gained popularity, making nearly $700m on a $78m budget. And it was critically well received too, with an 84% rating on Rotten Tomatoes with an average 7.3/10, with an 81% audience score, averaging 4.1/5.