The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2
"Our lives were never ours, they belong to Snow and our deaths do too.
But if you kill him, Katniss, all those deaths, they mean something." -Peeta Mellark
The new Sci-Fi young adult novel adaptation The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 is directed by Francis Lawrence (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1) and stars Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen, Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark, Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorne, Donald Sutherland as President Snow, Julianne Moore as President Alma Coin, Woody Harrelson as Haymitch Abernathy, and the late and great Philip Seymour Hoffman as Plutarch Heavensbee.
^There must've been tears on every cast member's face when filming the last scene of this movie^
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 is the last installment in the whole Hunger Games franchise (and a mouthful to say out loud). It picks up where Mockingjay - Part 1 left off. Katniss recovers from almost getting murdered by Peeta who was brainwashed by the Capitol. Katniss is shaken up by that and by the events that happened in Mockingjay - Part 1, but she still goes on with the Rebellion and in attempts to film a propaganda movie about the refugees of the Capitol, she gets shot. Luckily she is wearing a bulletproof vest. During Katniss' recovery from the shot (Katniss is very accident prone just like Jennifer Lawrence in real life), she sees and listens to Peeta (now in treatment) blame her for all his suffering. Her depression then turns into anger and wanting vengeance. She decides that it's time to assassinate President Snow (the leader of the Capitol who is responsible for deaths a plenty and Katniss' grief). President Coin (leader of the Rebellion) declines Katniss' wish to kill Snow, therefore making Katniss to take matters into her own hand. She sneaks on an aircraft leaving towards District 2 (the district right next to the Capitol) and is assigned to a team consisting of Gale, Finnick, Cressida, Boggs, and Peeta (who unexpectedly joins). The team's mission is to infiltrate the Capitol ahead of the Rebellion, which is Katniss' perfect opportunity to kill Snow. The Capitol is filled with booby traps and Peacekeepers trying to destroy Katniss and the rest of her team.
However, Katniss' lust for revenge doesn't come without a price. People die. People Katniss knows and loves die. Katniss makes difficult decisions based on morality and what's right. Two things that, in Katniss' case, conflict a lot.
However, Katniss' lust for revenge doesn't come without a price. People die. People Katniss knows and loves die. Katniss makes difficult decisions based on morality and what's right. Two things that, in Katniss' case, conflict a lot.
^Katniss is just dead in those eyes^
Now that the Hunger Games franchise is over, I'm just going to say that this has been my favorite YA (young adult) franchise just behind the Harry Potter franchise. It's amazing how many followers The Hunger Games has gained since the first movie came out in 2012. But I digress, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 is definitely on par with Catching Fire (my favorite Hunger Games film). I thought that Mockingjay - Part 2 really tied Katniss' story and all other plot points well in a neat little bow. Jennifer Lawrence has to get big props because if this were another actress, I honestly feel like The Hunger Games franchise would not live up to what it is now. The start of this franchise was really the first film where Jennifer got recognized by a wide audience. So it's been a mutual relationship. Now that I've seen The Hunger Games at it's conclusion, I feel happy for Katniss, but I also feel very sad that her journey came to an end, a happy yet kind of tragic end.
^We've grown with you, Katniss. We've experienced the good and the bad with you. We love you^
Mockingjay - Part 2 is no doubt a sad movie. Very sad. As an estimate, I would probably say that there were over 50 on screen deaths (NOT a confirmed number) and a handful of those people were characters that we have grown with or just like them even if we just saw them for a little bit. There is one scene where someone Katniss very close to Katniss dies (the readers of the books will know what I'm talking about) in the midst of a huge massacre of children. This scene was so heartbreaking not only because of the important death, but because you think to yourself, "why would anybody bomb a bunch of children trying to run to safety?" It's such a depressing thought, but I feel like it's necessary in order to show how corrupt these two factions (Rebellion and Capitol) are. It just seems like there will won't be any hope for Katniss or anybody for that matter.
^I'll show a car in the same scene blowing up instead of the kids, you sickos^
The downer to Mockingjay - Part 2 is the pacing of the story. I enjoyed the story and much of the dialogue, but the movie didn't flow too well. It was kind of all over the place. For the majority of the film, it was really slow and just kind of explaining the events that we just saw a second ago. It felt as though the movie was feeding the audience a second plate of the main course even though we're full. I'm not exactly how this was in the book though (which I didn't read because I didn't want to have any prejudgements). I'm not going to lie, a lot of the dialogue between Katniss and the other characters was excellent. However, the action scenes really overshadowed the conversations. I thought the scenes where there were explosions or fighting between characters were really cool and well choreographed, there just weren't that many of them.
Then there's the love triangle between Katniss, Peeta, and Gale. Unlike a lot of other films where there are love triangles and you just don't buy into their connections, Mockingjay - Part 2 provides well drawn out emotions between the three characters. In spite of the believable love, the scenes that were put in to pull apart the layers of each character were kind of shoehorned in. At some point between intense action sequences, Katniss, Peeta, or Gale would say something to anger or please the other. Then there wouldn't really be any talk about it until after the next action scene.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 is a very fitting closure to Katniss' traumatic and action-packed journey. The film itself was not very fluid in terms of showing instead of telling, but the parts that they did show were captivating and enjoyable. I will say that the Hunger Games world is very bleak and I would not want to live there at all, but Jennifer Lawrence's Katniss Everdeen really made these four movies a delight to watch.
Pro
- Jennifer Lawrence's Katniss Everdeen
- Cool and well constructed action scenes
- Immersion of the depression and hopeless world
- Satisfying end to franchise
- Love triangle was actually pretty interesting
- Pacing is all over the place
- Explanations of what we just saw
4.3/5
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and for some thematic material
Watch the trailer here
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 is in theaters everywhere now
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