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THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY- PART 2 (2015): 19 Differences Between Film & Book

  • 10.) In the aftermath of the District 2 ‘Nut’ mine-bombing scene, the film cut to the Capitol with President Snow hosting an extravagant dinner for personnel. He has one of his advisers, Antonius, killed. That was a movie-only scene. The dinner does not happen in the book.
  • 11.) The scene where Katniss kills an innocent Capitol citizen is omitted. The horrors of war can turn even good people into monsters, as the book vividly illustrates by having Katniss shoot a civilian in cold blood. After half her unit is killed by lizard mutts, the remaining soldiers seek shelter in a Capitol apartment, where an unsuspecting occupant is eating a sausage. Seeing the rebels, the woman opens her mouth to scream for help — and Katniss “without hesitation” shoots her through the heart. In the film, the apartments the rebels invade are unoccupied, sparing them the horrible choice.

  • 12.) Lieutenant Paylor has a larger role in the film. Lieutenant (later President) Paylor’s role in the proceedings, popping up for motivational speech in the second act.
  • 13.) No Plutarch meeting after Coin and Snow die. In the book, Katniss and Haymitch met with Plutarch for a post-morten debrief. This scene was cut because of Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s death. In movie, Katniss receives a letter from Plutarch that Haymitch reads.
  • 14.) At the end of the film, numerous plot points were omitted. Katniss’ post-war life is given the short shrift. In the book, she’s forced to wait out her own trial, and then she heads back to District 12 a broken woman, until she and Peeta help each other heal. One beautiful detail from the novel — an illustrated book Katniss and Peeta make together to remember the dead — is omitted. And the coda, which introduces Katniss and Peeta’s two children, suggests that they started a family right away, whereas in the book, Katniss says she agonized about the decision for years. Katniss does not sing Rue’s Lullaby to her baby in the field as she does in the book. In the book, Peeta still suffers from the hijacking, years after the war ends.
  • 15.) Haymitch kissing Effie. That does not happen in the book. Haymitch stays away from personal relationships as does Johanna because of Snow, the Games, and what happened when they left the arena.
  • 16.) Snow is increasing sick. More than the book, the film illustrates President Snow’s failing health; he is constantly coughing up blood, and at one point he collapses, causing his minister of affairs Egeria (Sarita Choudhury, whose character was created for the Mockingjay films) to ask if she should call a doctor.

  • 17.) Finnick’s wedding was altered. In the book, “I kill Snow” is one of Katniss’ conditions for agreeing to be the Mockingjay — but it wasn’t included in that negotiation scene in Mockingjay —Part 1. Katniss finally resolves to kill the President herself in Part 2 after seeing firsthand the condition that Peeta is in after his weeks of torture at the Capitol. She announces her plan to Johanna Mason (Jena Malone) at Finnick and Annie’s wedding. In the book, their wedding cake is an elaborate concoction decorated by baker and accomplished icing artist Peeta, which proves to Katniss that some of his old self still remains.

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  • 18.) Peeta’s most disturbing memory was omitted from the film. Following his brain-hijacking at the Capitol, Peeta has difficulty remembering which of his memories are true and which were created by his torturers. In the book, he has a breakthrough moment when he shares a horrific memory of watching two Avoxes (citizens whose tongues the Capitol had cut out, rendering them mute – one of them Katniss had met in the first book when she still had the power of speech) being tortured to death in front of him. Peeta knows the memory is real because there’s “nothing shiny about it,” a clue that the effects of the Capitol’s brainwashing are starting to fade. In the film, Peeta mentions the shiny-memory difference, but it isn’t tied to such a traumatic and vivid event.

  • 19.) Katniss’ blast burns were terrible and omitted from the film. In the book, large portions of Katniss’ body were burned (including her head) during the explosion that killed Prim. The burns required skin grafts. In the book, when Katniss was on fire, the writing reflected upon the fact that “the girl on fire” was actually on fire. The grafts took days. She walked around the President’s home, burns and all between operations. In the movie, none of that happened. A light burn is seen near Katniss’ neck after the blast, ointment is applied, and she is as good as new.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 stars Jennifer Lawrence, Jena Malone, Julianne Moore, Wes Chatham, Elden Henson, Stef Dawson, Robert Knepper, Eugenie Bondurant, Toby Jones, Meta Golding, Misty Ormiston, Kim Ormiston, Evan Ross, Sam Claflin, Mahershala Ali, Natalie Dormer, Michelle Forbes, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright, Willow Shields, and Stanley Tucci.

Leave your thoughts on the 19 differences between The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 movie from the book (via Cosmopolitan, Thehungergames.wikia, Ibtimes, Yahoo) below in the comments section.

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Rollo Tomasi

Rollo Tomasi is a Connecticut-based film critic, TV show critic, news, and editorial writer. He will have a MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University in 2025. Rollo has written over 700 film, TV show, short film, Blu-ray, and 4K-Ultra reviews. His reviews are published in IMDb's External Reviews and in Google News. Previously you could find his work at Empire Movies, Blogcritics, and AltFilmGuide. Now you can find his work at FilmBook.
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