Review of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (2015) by Samichsupernova — 17 Mar 2016

A fitting if artless end to the Hunger Games series, with the exception of a bunch of added scenes this is pretty accurate to the book, but the amount of padding both here and in Mockingjay Pt. 1 really dilutes the experience, ruins the overall pacing, and creates an oppressive atmosphere without adding much to the thematic content.

Nothing in the film is quite as believable as it should be, and scenes that should hit hard don't have too much impact, or they have their impact delayed. For instance, the much-hyped sewer sequence features the only decent action in the film and is admittedly freaky and tense, but the way it concludes seems tossed together and I didn't really believe it. There's a scene at the gate of Snow's mansion that is pretty sloppy. The writing was fine and much of it was true to the book but they did not go far enough into ideologies IMO. Given that they were going to add a bunch of stuff anyway, I wanted discussions on the immorality of war, on whether or not the rebels should even continue to have districts, and whether or not there should even be a central government anymore after the war.

The performances are fine as always, though the movie still lingers far too much on Lawrence's Katniss, who's intense and determined and finally trying a little tenderness, but doesn't have that much to do, nor does she have a complete arc in this film that results in a change in her character. The film wants to get into her head space, but she still seems like a bit of a stranger. IMO the film does not really capture the inner turmoil she went through in the book, especially during the last act of the story, where it seemed like she was totally losing her mind. She does have a big breakdown that is well-acted but for the rest of the film she plays it pretty one-note. Philip Seymour Hoffman's death is also felt in the last act, but at least it gives Haymitch something more to do. Elizabeth Banks has one scene where she bids goodbye to Katniss and steals the show. Aside from the brooding Gale and Peeta and Coin and Snow (the two best supporting performances in this film - I wanted more of Donald Sutherland's scenery-chewing), the rest of the cast don't do much because the director is so focused on Katniss' brooding self.

It's whatever and by the end of it I was actually legitimately bored. That should NOT happen. I read all of these books in a weekend because I was so addicted to them. But the movie just drags on and on with inconsequential scene after scene that does little to advance the story, characters, or themes beyond what has already been established. Given the source material, I thought this could be the strongest of the films, but in fact, it might be the worst. A lot of its impact is flat-out diluted due to sloppy directing and editing choices. For fans of the franchise, it's still worth watching and it does provide a subversive and fitting conclusion for this series. I just wish it were more artfully done and made with more confidence.