The Hunger Games: Mockingjay—Part 2 (2015)

Movie Info

This game is for keeps!

The end is here!  The rebel forces of President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore) are moving against the forces of President Coriolanus Snow (Donald Sutherland) to liberate the people of Panem from Snow’s Peacekeepers.  As the rebels move into the Capitol, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) tries to win Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) back from madness.  Katniss is now a symbol that both Snow and Coin must possess and she’s the only hope at ending the Hunger Games forever.

Directed by Francis Lawrence, The Hunger Games:  Mockingjay—Part 2 is the final installment of The Hunger Games franchise.  An adaptation of Suzanne Collins 2010 science-fiction young adult novel, the film is the second part of the previous entry The Hunger Games:  Mockingjay—Part 1 from 2014 and opened to record numbers (though lower than previous entries).  The film was met with generally positive reviews.  The film features the final performance of Philip Seymour Hoffman who completed most of his scenes before his death in 2014.

Wait…Four movies in and NOW you introduce cool looking monsters?

I enjoyed the first Hunger Games film.  The movie was a derivative and toned down version of Battle Royale, but it was still fun.  The second film also was ok, but the storylines were already becoming repetitive.  The third film wasn’t very good and it became obvious that the movie shouldn’t have been split into two separate films.  The Hunger Games:  Mockingjay—Part 2 is better, but it still would have been better as one film.

The movie has the action and story that the previous entry really lacks.  The greed of having two moneymaking films led to two bloated stories.  Much of the first film could have been dropped and there were even scenes that were out and out repetitive within the film.  Here, we at least see more of what made the previous Hunger Games a success.  It has the action, the romance, and the political intrigue that the first Mockingjay lacked…but it is too little too late.  I feel that the story was already tired out.

Who is playing you now?

The casting continues to be quite good, but the characters too feel played out.  Lawrence remains steady and composed as Katniss, and Hutcherson underwhelms and the crazed Peeta.  Liam Hemsworth is the much more interesting Gale (especially as his rift with Katniss increases), and Woody Harrelson would have been better served by a bigger role along with Elizabeth Banks (but supporting characters are often more interesting).  Moore and Sutherland play good bad guys but much of the other supporting cast just feel like battle fodder here.  The death of Philip Seymour Hoffman led to some weirdness at the end with letters instead of replacing him (which was smart but hurt the story).

Let your arrow fly, Katniss

This entry is also visually a bit more exciting than the other films.  The movie also takes an almost unrealistic turn by having out-and-out monsters in the sewers (the Capitol’s hounds) and a woman physically transformed into a cat woman.  I liked when the series stuck to more realism or the film used the Hunger Games arena to explore the fantasy aspect of the world.  I will say despite this criticism that the sewer scenes were some of the better scenes.

Fortunately, I didn’t know anything about the actual plot of The Hunger Games so I didn’t know how it would end.  With novels this is sometimes difficult.  I was glad at least to be surprised by some of the ending sequences and I’m glad to see the series end.  Now, The Hunger Games have brought about a new batch of young-adult films for better or worse.  I have a feeling that despite some of their problems, The Hunger Games will be the “better” rather than the worse.

Related Links:

The Hunger Games (2012)

The Hunger Games:  Catching Fire (2013)

The Hunger Games:  Mockingjay—Part 1 (2014)

The Hunger Games—Book 1