Wow. This movie.

If you have not seen the previous two movies in the “Hunger Games” series, you might have been missing out before. But now, after seeing the third, “Mockingjay”, I’ve come to the undeniable conclusion you are seriously missing something big.

If you have not already seen the movies, somewhat of a spoiler alert coming up (not anything too big).

I am not one to enjoy leisure reading, and therefore I have not read any of the books of the series. Consequently, going into the movie, I had no idea of any of the plot line. The movie might have been less thrilling if I had read the book before hand, like many of the viewers, but I was kept on the edge of my seat throughout the entire duration of the movie, due to various plot twists and shocks I didn’t know were coming.

Jennifer Lawrence is also one of the most phenomenal actresses I’ve ever seen in a movie. Her character in this movie is a traumatized, troubled girl with an incredible amount of pressure on her shoulders to be the “Mockingjay” of the districts’ revolution, while constantly attempting to protect those whom she loves.

Lawrence is capable of portraying these harsh aspects of the character while still providing a lovable, natural disposition to Katniss, and that is very impressive. The numerous other unique characters, including Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorne, Julianne Moore as President Alma Coin, and of course, Philip Seymour Hoffman as Plutarch Heavensbee, really make the movie excel above and beyond.

The special effects and background of scenes in the movie will nearly take your breath away. There is a scene in which Lawrence returns to her home district traveling by a high-tech, innovative plane. When Lawrence arrives to the district, a continuous camera scene shows her jumping down from the futuristic plane, the plane flying up and away behind her, then a pan of her district’s immense damage and rubble caused by bombing, then her falling to her knees at the scarring sight.

The setting of this scene included probably 50 yards wide and long of bones, rocks, debris, and dust. A final shot of the scene shows Lawrence standing in the middle of this rubble, which allowed the viewers to truly understand the importance the scene meant to the movie.

And this was only one of many. Nearly every scene and effect impressed me to an exceptional degree.

Maybe it is because I am not a harsh movie critic, but I truly can’t think of anything “Mockingjay” could’ve done a better job with. The characters, the plot, the special effects, the settings, and the acting was all the best of which I’ve seen in a long time.

Although I don’t watch many movies often, so my opinion is somewhat skewed, “Mockingjay” might be the best movie I’ve seen in my lifetime.