The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2 was released in theaters on Thursday, November 20.

Theaters were packed with many anxious audience members who could not wait to see how the series would end. Unlike The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1, Part 2 lived up to high expectations. The movie did a great job of finishing the series while still remaining true to the novel written by Suzanne Collins.

Mockingjay, Part 2 begins with Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) trying to find a way to return Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) to his normal state after the Capitol “hijacked” (brainwashed) him. She is still District 13’s face of the rebellion at the request of President Coin (Julianne Moore).

War has grown stronger between the rebels and the Capitol. Katniss, along with Finnick Odair (Sam Claflin), Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth) and her camera crew, face the battles that come their way while trying to stay safe and protect the ones they love. The rebel army gets smaller in size but never in heart. They continue to fight for the freedom they think they deserve no matter how strong the Capitol is.

The movie filled viewers with many different emotions, ranging from sadness due to the loss of many beloved characters, to excitement from all of the action-packed scenes and finally, to closure. Even people who were not fans of the book were captivated by the movie and how it made them feel.

“Reading the book was slow but the director took the intensity to a whole other level, leaving me on the edge of my seat the whole time,” said senior Cali Bracken.

A major aspect of the movie that many people were skeptical about was the role of Philip Seymour Hoffman who played Plutarch Heavensbee, the commander of the rebel forces of District 13. Fans wondered if he would be in the movie due to his death in February 2014. Hoffman must have filmed most of the scenes before he died because he was featured throughout the film. However, there is one ending scene in particular that shows Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson) reading a letter addressed to Katniss from Plutarch. The part in the book that correlates to this scene actually has Plutarch meeting with Katniss face-to-face.  This change hints at the possibility that this scene was filmed after Hoffman’s death.

Overall, the movie deserves four out of five stars because of its great ending and emotional impact. However, splitting the last book into two movies created some pacing issues throughout the last two movies, especially in this one. This is overlooked though because the movie did finish out the series strong. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2 left the audience stunned in their seats, reminiscing about the series after the movie was over.

If you have not seen the movie yet, it should be the first thing you do this weekend.