The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (2015)

[MmzHrrdb]

It's a sad truth of life now that movie franchises never truly end. The Harry Potter franchise that successfully profited from the "series that grows up with you" gimmick now has a spin-off in the works with planned sequels that's unlikely to mature further with an R rating. Lord of the Rings spawned a lengthy prequel trilogy that has been widely deemed as an unnecessary disappointment. And even the formerly anti-sequel Pixar are churning out second chapters to some of their classics (including their most controversial upcoming project; Toy Story 4). Indeed, while The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 is being advertised as "the last shot" and "the epic conclusion" and whatnot, it would be a genuine surprise if some kind of prequel or spinoff wasn't announced within the next 6 months. So even though Mockingjay Part 2 is probably not the last we'll see of Panem and the districts, it's still a surprisingly satisfying "finale."

With the districts aligned and various captives recently rescued, Katniss Everdeen and a small squad of friends and soldiers set out to Panem in an assassination mission against President Snow. Peeta, struggling to recover from the physical and psychological torture of the last film, has also been included on the journey, despite his involuntary attacks on various crew members, specifically Katniss. As Katniss and Peeta try to reconstruct their relationship, they must also reconstruct their world into the peaceful one from generations ago.

The first 45 minutes are fairly troubling, acting as a regurgitation of the ideas from Mockingjay Part 1. Katniss is back to posing for film crews as the face of the rebellion, there's more faux political satire, and we continue the predictable character arcs. This only serves to make the decision to split Suzanne Collin's last book into two parts seem even more unnecessary.

Thankfully, after the actual mission begins, Mockingjay Part 2 manages to revive some of what made the first two installments so gripping. There are a couple thrilling action sequences (one is seemingly plucked straight from Maze Runner: Scorch Trials, but is still a lot of fun), and moments of grim deaths and violence that are fairly powerful. This may be the bleakest chapter in the Hunger Games franchise, which is no small achievement.

The love triangle (it's hard to even call it as such when it's painfully obvious where it's going) attempts to soften the edges of the dark and tragic story. Yet, it really just cheapens the film and the characters. And though the films would be a lot stronger if the romantic element had been extracted, they do serve an effective purpose, which is enticing audiences that normally wouldn't watch movies with such weighty material. And though its slight pandering to accommodate specific audiences may prove irritating (any moment involving children is particularly clumsy), one can't help but admire how much blatant violence and thoughtful material is being provided for said audiences.

Jennifer Lawrence delivers another impressive performance as a character that's gotten less and less interesting over time. It's notable just how much Lawrence manages to get out of a character that's been largely reduced to an absolute girl scout at this point. Love interests Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth fare better than they had in previous chapters, thanks to a script that gives them a lot more to do than before. Donald Sutherland is the highlight of the cast as he is clearly reveling in every moment as the sick, deliciously evil President Snow. His scenes are among the film's best.

The rest of the enormous supporting cast are very good as well. Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Patina Miller are excellent as somewhat flat characters. Jena Malone adds a much needed edge to contrast the heroics of Katniss. Woody Harrelson and Elizabeth Banks get small token appearances (the former of which filling in for a scene clearly meant for Philip Seymour Hoffman had he not died before filming was over). Stanley Tucci's presence here is completely shoehorned, but he's always a welcome addition no matter how contrived it may be.

Though it takes a long time to get started (and the epilogue runs a bit long), The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 is an entertaining and, at times, impressively powerful film. It has no shortage of problems, and lacks subtlety, but director Francis Lawrence has done a commendable job of (temporarily) capping off a largely intriguing franchise. There's some real food for thought here, and while cynics may insist it's been done better in other movies, one has to at least appreciate a film that attempts to cover such serious themes when aiming for a teenage audience.

Score: 7/10

[dardan]

Damn, this is an extensive review. Do you write for some website/ post these elsewhere?

[MmzHrrdb]

Damn, this is an extensive review. Do you write for some website/ post these elsewhere?

Not really. I post these on Letterboxd as well, and I share them on Facebook and Twitter. I occasionally (like four times a year) contribute to The Movie Waffler (http://www.themoviewaffler.com/). I just like writing my thoughts down; watching movies no longer feels complete when I don't write about them afterward.

[ShogunRua]

Lord of the Rings spawned a lengthy prequel trilogy that has been widely deemed as an unnecessary disappointment.

When you present yourself as a 16 year-old expert on the film industry and its trends, you shatter the effect when you write such objectively false claims.

The Hobbit movies have been an unbelievable success, making $2.93 billion at the box office alone on a production budget that is probably even less than the reported $625 million. When one considers DVDs and ancillary rights, we're talking about 3 movies that have cleared well over $5 billion.

The only universe where that might be an "unnecessary disappointment" are the animated films represented so well in your avatar and reviews. Certainly not the real universe we're living in.

[dardan]

The Hobbit movies have been an unbelievable success,

Commercial succes =/= good movie.

Recommend watching this series on what and why exactly is so shitty about the trilogy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TijkFnT8D-U

[Pickpocket]

The Hobbit movies have been an unbelievable success,

Commercial succes =/= good movie.

Recommend watching this series on what and why exactly is so shitty about the trilogy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TijkFnT8D-U

They had The Two Towers on at the gym yesterday was thinking about checking these out. Goddammit it's already ruined

[MmzHrrdb]

Lord of the Rings spawned a lengthy prequel trilogy that has been widely deemed as an unnecessary disappointment.

When you present yourself as a 16 year-old expert on the film industry and its trends, you shatter the effect when you write such objectively false claims.

The Hobbit movies have been an unbelievable success, making $2.93 billion at the box office alone on a production budget that is probably even less than the reported $625 million. When one considers DVDs and ancillary rights, we're talking about 3 movies that have cleared well over $5 billion.

The only universe where that might be an "unnecessary disappointment" are the animated films represented so well in your avatar and reviews. Certainly not the real universe we're living in.

It's been a while Shogun. How are you doing?

I was actually talking more specifically about the prequel's critical reception. While the films were indeed financially successful, the majority of people found them much too long and unnecessary. And I say this as someone who liked the first two Hobbit films.

And as already mentioned, commercial success doesn't imply that the movie is good, or even that it's well liked. The Pirates of the Caribbean sequels are easy to label as disappointments, but they made tons of money. And you'd be hardpressed to find someone who genuinely likes the Transformer films, but those are major cash cows.

Also, definitely never claimed to be an "expert" on films, seeing as I've seen so few of them.

[ShogunRua]

The Hobbit movies have been an unbelievable success,

Commercial succes =/= good movie.

Recommend watching this series on what and why exactly is so shitty about the trilogy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TijkFnT8D-U

The specific phrase was "widely deemed as an unnecessary disappointment." Any movie franchises that make billions of dollars in profit cannot, by definition, be described by that. Your, mine, or anyone else's opinion on its artistic merits is irrelevant.

I was actually talking more specifically about the prequel's critical reception.

That's fine. Write that they're crappy movies or whatever. They're definitely major successes and even exceeded expectations, however, not disappointments.

[MmzHrrdb]

.

I was actually talking more specifically about the prequel's critical reception.

That's fine. Write that they're crappy movies or whatever. They're definitely major successes and even exceeded expectations, however, not disappointments.

It's all semantics, but fair enough. I probably should've been more specific.

[dardan]

.

I was actually talking more specifically about the prequel's critical reception.

That's fine. Write that they're crappy movies or whatever. They're definitely major successes and even exceeded expectations, however, not disappointments.

It's all semantics, but fair enough. I probably should've been more specific.

No, not fair enough and no you shouldn't have been more specific.

you shatter the effect when you write such objectively false claims.

Objectively, disappointment doesn't just encapsulate or implicate financial success and as such it was retarded for Shogan to not only interpret it that way, but on top of that use it to claim you don't know shit about film. This was especially retarded considering anyone claiming to be able to say whether or not someone is a 16-yo expert on 'the film industry and its trends' should have known that The Hobbit was considered crap amongst critics and much of the audience (the Hobbit trilogy is almost 3 tiers below LOTRO) and subsequently that this was what was being referred to.