THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 2

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2

Grade: B-

**Currently in Theaters**

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Donald Sutherland and Julianne Moore

Featuring Appearances by: Sam Claflin, Natalie Dormer, Willow Shields, Mahershala Ali, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Jena Malone, Jeffrey Wright, Stanley Tucci and Gwendoline Christie, with Paula Malcolmson as Katniss’ Mother and Patina Miller as Commander Paylor

PREMISE: The battle for the futuristic nation of Panem comes to a dark, violent end as poster girl Katniss Everdeen struggles to keep those she loves out of harm’s way even as she seeks to be the one who fires the last shot of the war.

Rated PG-13 for violence, scary moments, and some intense emotional content

When Mockingjay – Part 2 ended, and the screen went black just before the credits began, I glanced to my right, toward the friend with whom I saw the movie. Looking back at me, my friend shrugged and went “eh”.

That about sums it up. The Hunger Games movie series—adapted from the trilogy of dystopian Young Adult novels by Suzanne Collins—which began a very lucrative theatrical run with such fanfare and glamour on March 23, 2012 (Yours Truly’s 24^th birthday), ends with a muffled thud in this overly-sedate finale.

While it thankfully isn’t the embarrassingly overblown, video-game-meets-fan-fiction mess that was last December’s Hobbit trilogy finale, The Battle of Five Armies, Mockingjay Part 2 is so slow and uninspiring that, despite the promise of the characters’ world getting better in their long march to victory, you as the viewer yearn for the earlier days, when you were still getting to know the glossy, fantastical universe and then-rising-star Jennifer Lawrence, and still sitting on the edge of your seat during the electrifying titular arena conflicts. As was the case in Collins’ book series, with the titular Games went the series’ primary point of interest and excitement, and those ended with 2013’s outstanding Catching Fire. Part 2 might have more legitimately exciting moments than last year’s Mockingjay Part 1 but it’s still just dutifully putting together the last bits of the puzzle. Part 2, the third film in a row directed by Francis Lawrence after the Gary Ross-helmed original, isn’t a bad movie—it just largely seems like the director, screenwriters, and actors are going through the motions to finish things up, a sensation that’s way too familiar in this day and age of dragged-out cash grab franchises.

I daresay even the last Twilight film was more invigorating and ended its series on a note that made its audience more wistful.

Plot

**Viewing of Mockingjay - Part 1, if not all the other films, is strongly advised, as Part 2 picks things up right where the last film left off**

Still recovering physically and emotionally from a most unexpected assault by former fiancée and recently-rescued-POW Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), the face of the 13 districts’ rebellion against the oppressive Capitol, is in agreement with the heads of District 13 that the Capitol needs to be stopped and tyrannical dictator President Snow (Donald Sutherland) needs to be eliminated. The heads of 13, President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore) and right-hand lackey Plutarch Heavensbee (Phillip Seymour Hoffman, in a role he was sadly unable to finish before his death), are only too happy to let their star join the rebels’ armies in assaulting the Capitol, provided a team of well-known rebels goes with her, along with a camera crew that can capture images of their heroes that will further inspire the rebelling citizens of Panem. So, after saying her goodbyes to her sister, Prim (Willow Shields), and friends Haymitch (Woody Harrelson) and Johanna (Jena Malone), Katniss heads to the ruins of the outer rim of the Capitol city. With her are head military honcho Boggs (Mahershala Ali), her weapon-savvy friend and potential love interest Gale (Liam Hemsworth), athletic Hunger Games winner Finnick (Sam Claflin), a pack of well-trained grunts, and a camera crew led by film director Cressida (Natalie Dormer).

While the rebels are now winning the war and breaking through the Capitol’s defenses—sending the pampered citizens fleeing in terror—President Snow isn’t going down without a fight. So, in addition to squads of trained, uniformed Peacekeepers, he fills the ruins of his city with lethal booby traps, including sensor-triggered bombs, mines, flamethrowers, and even wild beasts, meant to ambush and destroy the rebel troops hurrying to the center of the city to converge on the President’s mansion. For two-time Hunger Games veteran Katniss, it’s like a new round in the arena. And the stakes are raised when her squad is joined by Peeta, who’s a well-known face and is there for the cameras, but is obviously still not in his right mind. He might be a danger to all of them. The war is rigorous and costly, but the rebels approach victory. Even so, Katniss begins to sense that the new regime is too eager to take power, and that its reign may not be that much better than Snow’s.

What Works?

When Director Francis Lawrence (no relation to the lead actress) came onto the scene to direct Catching Fire, his arrival was an undeniable gust of fresh air, eliminating the first movie’s distracting shaky cam approach and giving us glossier, more epic action and consistently striking visuals. He’s at the helm again for Part 2, and, again, he does his best to entertain those who haven’t read the books as well as satisfy those who have. Like Mockingjay – Part 1, Part 2 is a faithful-enough adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ work that, if this film isn’t as good as the second film in the series—or even the first—it’s the author’s fault, because Lawrence and his cast and crew are clearly committed to bringing the words on the page to life.

As was the case with the previous film, most of Mockingjay – Part 2 is competent—it works—but, for an action-packed finale, Part 2 is surprisingly underwhelming. That said, the director does engineer some large-scale action sequences that are grittier and more intense than anything in the earlier installments, and does his best to bring a real sense of art to the proceedings as well, with a camera that finds ways to capture quiet, lovely images. There’s a really spectacular chase scene that lasts about ten scintillating minutes that’s by far the best thing the movie has to offer, in addition to a quiet series of closing scenes of the main characters getting on with life that have a simple, lovely poetry to them. And to the filmmaker’s credit, by the end, there’s little attempt to cling to a glamorous, Hollywood-ized style that might please audiences more.

Even though the finale was split into two parts—as is in vogue with lucrative franchises these days—Part 2 still doesn’t have quite enough for its many significant cast members to do. A few who were major players in previous films (like Jeffrey Wright, Jena Malone, Stanley Tucci and Elizabeth Banks) are inserted wherever they can be but are largely afterthoughts. They still manage to be effective, though, especially in the case of Malone's chatty, cynical Johanna. But the MVP of the series remains Josh Hutcherson, who, once again, manages to bring legitimate feeling to his every line, even in this constantly-brooding atmosphere. Donald Sutherland remains a huge asset in the expanded villain role that was the best and most obvious change from the books to the movies. And you wouldn’t think the secret to making a moody actress like Jennifer Lawrence more impressive would be to get her to play even more low-key, but the overall lack of noise and hysterics in her performance in Part 2, compared to the previous films, makes her one big emotional blow-up here all the more searing.

What Doesn’t Work?

I re-watched Mockingjay – Part 1 the other night for a refresher, and then I watched Part 2 this afternoon, and I can safely say what I thought before—though dutiful in recounting the developments of the bestselling book that bears their names, these movies are, frankly, not very entertaining. Director Lawrence and his cast do what they can, but it’s not enough. There’s a lot of people standing around in dimly-lit interiors looking serious and muttering at each other. There’s a lot of the blank Jennifer Lawrence stare. There are obligatory, chemistry-free scenes between Lawrence and a disappointingly-bland Liam Hemsworth that are supposed to be fraught with romantic tension but instead remind you of the worst moments of the Twilight series. There are performances by Julianne Moore, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Elizabeth Banks and Woody Harrelson that cover the exact same notes as in previous films, only this time it’s with less interesting material (Moore, in particular, could almost be reading off a teleprompter).

Part 2’s worst sin, though, is not going all the way with its material. I understand this series’ box office is predicated on teenage girls and therefore can’t really afford to drive viewers sobbing from the theater, but this movie barely sniffs the rabbit hole Collins’ text went down. It’s ironic that I’m complaining about this when it was the “Mockingjay” book’s turn into pitch-black depressing territory that scared off a lot of the series’ readers, but Collins, for her other faults, at least refused to overlook the obvious, real effects of war and loss and emotional trauma. It made for a heavy read, sure, but it was respectable and memorable. I do understand it’s difficult to convey a lot of inner turmoil from a first-person book into a movie, but you have an actress in Lawrence who has proven, both in this series and other parts, that she is unafraid to play ugly or unpredictable or hysterical (as evidenced by the fact that her one aforementioned blow up in this movie is one of the few moments in Part 2 that really delivers). I also understand this is a PG-13 movie, but given the traumatic events depicted in this film and its three predecessors—not to mention the things PG-13 movies in general can get away with these days—the overt restraint in the second half of the movie is devastating to the film's impact. There may be those who didn’t read the books who think this movie packs a punch—boy, could it have packed one if it had cut Lawrence loose as Katniss’ life unravels in the late going, if it hinted at a little more of the burgeoning madness the book chronicled. Basically, it’s too tame, and it takes away that much of the effect this underwhelming flick could have had.

Content

The Hunger Games series has never been a fantastically family-friendly one, and it still isn’t in Part 2 when there’s more war and less adventure. There are a couple of big surprises, one just the scary beginning of a chase through dark, confined spaces by creepy, eye-less, tooth-gnashing zombies that try to kill our heroes (and get a couple of them). There are scenes of bombings and explosions that obviously kill and maim people, even if the gore isn’t directly shown. There’s a hint of blood, too, and, overall, just a dark, heavy-handed vibe.

Bottom Line

When Mockingjay – Part 2 ended, and the screen went black just before the credits began, I glanced to my right, toward the friend with whom I saw the movie. Looking back at me, my friend shrugged and went “eh”. That about sums it up.

Part 2 isn’t crap, but, like Part 1, it fails to capture the excitement of the earlier films in the series. Yes, a lot of this is author Suzanne Collins’ fault, since this movie adheres quite closely to her text—everyone knows the third book was just not as good as the others. There’s one spectacular chase scene, a couple surprises non-book-readers won’t see coming, and fans of Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson and Elizabeth Banks won’t be disappointed, as their faves are back and doing what made them likable in the first place. But, overall, Part 2 isn’t very entertaining. Worse, it’s overly-restrained, seriously limiting the emotional impact this very affecting story could have had on the big screen. Its quiet closing scenes are touching, but, ultimately, this series lands with something of a thud.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (2015)

Directed by Francis Lawrence

Screenplay by Peter Craig and Danny Strong

Based on the novel “Mockingjay” by Suzanne Collins

Rated PG-13

Length: 137 minutes