Review of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (2015) by Diogomendes — 29 Nov 2015

If there's anything good about this movie is Jennifer Lawrence. And she portrays Katniss very well. Everdeen (still a dumb name) is pretty much weighed down by the 3-movie war, and her facial expression is more than an indication of that. So while the movie worked on that aspect, it ultimately dragged too long. I like using the word "drag" because intensifies that notion of something being slowly, really slowly drawn out, which happens here to my annoyance. Another thing, splitting the franchise's major conclusion is beyond irritating. It's tiresome, makes no sense, and affects the two-part films in predictable outcomes. If you want to make a movie about Snow's conflict with Katniss and build the world around them, that's fine by me, but for that, you have a long runtime, and editors. Yes, that's what editors are for. I hate when movies like these start off where the predecessor concluded. It just feels like I'm watching an extended episode of a TV Show and I pause at the very middle, one year later I continue the episode. This year's Maze Runner did it the same thing, though that movie was more of a crapfest.

Visually, it's sound -- no question about it. The CGI is passable, and the cinematography is amazing. The camerawork is fine when the action isn't taking place in the cliché-ridden sewers scene. That scene with the zombies was more clichéd than anyone could fathom. The writers must have found their ways into copycatting similar jump scares, cheap jump scares. There's that scene where a character stares at the bottom of the sewer, and the last second is riddled with zombies coming out of nowhere. Yeah, 3 seconds ago everything was so quiet, I'm not buying that. It's just one of those few familiar YA tropes that really isn't effective.

Do I recommend this movie? Only if you're a fan of the genre or even of Lawrence. I liked the action, the effects, I even liked the theme of the film, but this thing is getting so tiring. It's like eating stale bread from a stale store... oh well.

Final Score: 6.