The “Hunger Games” series has been a fantastic ride. As someone who doesn’t care for the books, I found myself eating up the movies, especially “Catching Fire”. Now comes the much-anticipated conclusion, “Mockingjay Part 2″. I’ve been very excited about it, if a little apprehensive. My fear was that Part 2 would just feel like a second part of one movie, rather than its own thing. But still, I had high hopes for “Mockingjay Part 2″. After knocking it out of the park so thoroughly with the others, Lionsgate had to have something amazing up their sleeves.
Too bad it sucks.
The story of “Mockingjay Part 2″ is pretty much a continuation of Part 1. Katniss is now in District 13, and after a bunch of buildup the time has come to strike at the Capitol. Sounds fun, right? The problem is they squandered a cool premise on a poor story. There’s a ton of big reveals that are completely mishandled, either obviously telegraphed or treated like they’re nothing. SPOILERS For example, when Boggs tells Katniss that rebel leader President Coin is banking on her dying so she can become a martyr for the cause, it happens with no buildup but is also not very surprising. It’s kind of like telling Katniss “Hey, that obviously evil new president wants you to get yourself killed. Have a nice day.”
Oh yeah, here’s a still of a scene with an obvious plot twist.
Unlike the other films, “Mockingjay Part 2″ is boring. Aside from a very tense sequence in the Capitol sewers, nothing kept me on the edge of my seat. There’s long stretches where Katniss and friends are waiting around for something to do, then something happens, then it’s over in five seconds. Much of the film is just padded out to fill the overlong runtime, especially the endless epilogue. You can tell while watching that “Mockingjay” really should have been one film, but the lure of double the money was just too much for Lionsgate and they paid for it.
Also, would it kill you to have a little levity? I get that the world of “The Hunger Games” is dark, but you’ve got to give us some semblance of hope! In “Mockingjay Part 2″ there’s never a sense of fun to go along with the darkness. It’s just drab, dull and depressing. By the end of the film Katniss has completely pissed away any good will she once had, the rebels turn out to be just as bad as the Capitol, and you can count the sympathetic characters on one hand. Again, I’m fine with darkness, but “Mockingjay Part 2″ has no levity or balance whatsoever.
Now, “Mockingjay Part 2″ does have some redeeming qualities. Most of the acting is still top notch. Even though I found Katniss going off the deep-end from anti-hero to straight up villain, I still thought Jennifer Lawrence did an excellent job. When does she not? I also thought that Josh Hutcherson was really given his time to shine and showed a lot of emotional vulnerability that made Peeta very sympathetic. The older veterans are also very good, particularly Donald Sutherland as the deliciously evil President Snow. Seriously, this guy could be running a children’s hospital and you’d still cower in fear.
Unfortunately, as a larger package “Mockingjay Part 2″ fails miserably. It’s a disappointing conclusion to an otherwise great franchise, possibly the biggest letdown of the year for me. I think this one is down to its slavish faithfulness to the book. If there’s one thing that struck me about the movie, it’s how un-cinematic it was. If you want your book to make a compelling film, you have to adapt, now just translate what’s on the page. That makes a boring movie.
Now I’m kind of hoping for some prequels to redeem the “Hunger Games” name. Maybe “Panem Begins” or “President Snow: The College Years”.
Score: 3/10
Pierce at the Movies 