Review of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (2015) by Tjman09 — 22 Nov 2015

Mockingjay Part 2 serves as an entertaining, and somewhat satisfying finale of the strung out franchise. To be clear, the film is entertaining, and fans of the previous films will surely be happy, but just know the franchise clearly peaked with Catching Fire. The Franchise has since bloated it’s final film for no other good reason, than to make extra money. All-in-all Mockingjay Part 2 is action packed, often entertaining, but falls victim to a somewhat weak script.

Mockingjay Part 2 gives us what Mockingjay Part 1 didn’t, more action. Mockingjay Part 2 reverts back to the formula that made Catching Fire so great, while continuing the story of Mockingjay Part 1. By that I mean that the film gives fans a good mix of entertaining action sequences mixed with romance. However, at this point the romantic triangle feels so forced it’s more of a distraction, than a sub-plot.

The action helps make the film entertaining, but what really makes the film is Jennifer Lawrence’s commitment to anchoring the films. At the this point Lawrence has made Katniss Everdeen an extension of herself, to the point that she embodies the character. The grim tone, mixed with the meandering story make Mockingjay Part 2 entertaining from start to finish. However, the film does contain some major weaknesses, especially in it’s script.

While the story is full of twists and turns, it’s still a little to bloated, as it would have been better if the studio had just made Mockingjay into 1 movie. The dialogue, is inconsistent and often too on-the-nose, with characters delivering out of place exposition. While the story has a very good plot twist near the end of the film, it doesn’t handle it well, as the story just jumps all over the place in the end. The film also offered very little new substance to the franchise, in the end it would have been a great finale to a singular film.

Through all of it’s issues, Mockingjay Part 2 helps the franchise come to a satisfying end. Mockingjay Part 2 improves on what Mockingjay Part 1 did, and is probably the better film, but still isn’t as good as Catching Fire. The film is thoroughly entertaining, and is full of action despite it’s script’s weaknesses. In the end Mockingjay Part 2 is a good way to spend 2 hours, and is a good ending for the Hunger Games franchise.