As big a phenomenon the Hunger Games series has been both on film and in its original form, like all franchises, things must come to an end someday. The film adaptations have reached the big finale in the form of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2, and while enthusiastic fans of the series will likely be pleased with how things wrap up, other moviegoers might be disappointed. Suffering in the same way The Hobbit did by being needlessly stretched into two films, poor pacing and some missed storytelling opportunities end up stopping the film, much like its predecessor, from reaching the heights of the first two entries in the series.
The film immediately picks up from Mockingjay - Part 1, with series heroine Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) still shocked by the changed behavior of her longtime friend and Hunger Games partner Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), who was captured by the dystopian Capital and is still recovering from being brainwashed. As a long-brewing war between the Capital and the rebellion of oppressed citizens begins, Katniss still desires the opportunity to finally kill the oppressive President Snow (Donald Sutherland), but the rebel's leader, President Coin (Julianne Moore) refuses, citing Katniss as a valuable symbol of hope for the rebels.
A frustrated Katniss ends up sneaking onboard a plane headed to the Capital as part of the final assault, and eventually teams up with a squad that includes both Peeta and Gale (Liam Hemsworth), another longtime friend. Their attempts to reach Snow's mansion lead them into the path of numerous traps Capital officials have set up, from motion-activated flamethrowers and machine guns to carnivorous sewer-dwelling mutants. Eventually, Katniss witnesses the final major assault by the rebels, but even when the war reaches its conclusions, some new issues and moral grey areas appear that leads to a shocking finale.
This synopsis might make it sound like there's a lot going on throughout the film, but honestly, the first two acts of Mockingjay - Part 2 feel very stretched out, no doubt a culprit of the decision to tell one book's story over two movies. The journey of Katniss and her comrades to reach Snow should feel urgent and gripping, but there's a lot of unnecessary downtime (Not one, or two, but four separate setting up camp and sleeping scenes!), and the action scenes that break up the monotony generally don't feel as inspired as the ones in earlier entries, though admittedly the build up to the sewer mutant's appearance is successfully tense.
It also feels odd that Katniss herself feels like one of the least developed characters this time around. The most interesting character arc far and away is Peeta's, as he struggles between his old self and the unstable murderer the Capital turned him into, to the point where he feels like a threat to the cause and wants to be executed. Gale, a character who's mostly sat on the sidelines previously, also shows a more hardened edge here and ends up being more complex than most viewers probably suspected.
It's worth noting that the actual climax in terms of action feels like a missed opportunity due to sticking only to what Katniss witnesses, with only one quick scene and then a jump to the aftermath. This is likely a result of the source material sticking to a first-person view, but previous films added scenes that Katniss wasn't around to see, so a deviation here would have been welcome. Finally, one of the film's later deaths that should hold a lot of importance is shot in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it fashion, and feels like it should have an immediate reaction from certain characters, which is instead held off until the final scenes for some reason.
With all these complaints, it may sound like this film is disappointing all around, but to be honest, it's actually once things have settled down and the film reaches its last half hour that things get inspired. Both Mockingjay films drop hints that the lines of good and evil may be more blurred than Katniss thinks, and the reveals dropped are interesting and horrific to think about. Also, once everything's truly settled and we get to the final scenes, there's a good sense of closure all around, and many fans will likely be happy with where Katniss ends up in the last moments.
The fact that Mockingjay - Part 2 ends on a better note than what it started with is reliving, but much like The Hobbit, these last two entries end up feeling that they could have been much more if combined into one film and given a better pace. Fans who care less about in-depth moviemaking and more about seeing their beloved books brought to the big screen will likely have less issues, and the solid last act is a welcome one, but this feels like a series that ended up peaking in its first two entries compared to the two-part finale.
Final score: A high 6 out of 10
Originally written November 22, 2015
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