Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, The (2015)
Ari Drew
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Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth
Directed by Francis Lawrence
Though our coverage of The Hunger Games film franchise has lessened over the years as its chapters have distanced themselves from the Battle Royale-influence that first drew us to the series, we have admittedly still kept a keen interest in where Suzanne Collins’ dystopian novels-turned-films would ultimately lead. With Francis Lawrence’s The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 finally bringing the saga to a close, we find the sci-fi/adventure series taking a notably bleak turn, a tonal shift that conclusively works in the favor of the series. However, as a 137-minute long film adaptation that is mining source material from only the second half of a 400-page book, there is an awful lot of wheel-spinning to endure before reaching that explosively emotional conclusion.
In the midst of a revolutionary war within the futuristic nation of Panem, the film finds Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) reeling from an unexpected attack from her former friend and sometimes romantic interest Peeta (Hutcherson), who has been “hijacked” by the nation’s menacing dictator President Snow (Donald Sutherland) in an effort to thwart Katniss’ charge against the corrupt powers-that-be within the Capitol. Recognizing that Snow will stop at nothing until the revolution is halted, President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore) of the rebel city District 13 tasks Katniss with a mission to infiltrate the Capitol with a star squad of other skilled soldiers, including an unpredictable Peeta and her lifelong friend/second potential romantic interest Gale (Hemsworth). As the rebels battle their way through the streets of the Capitol, which have been armed with dangerous pods set to inflict varying degrees of destruction and terror, it becomes clear that Katniss may have to sacrifice much more than she bargained for in order to finally see Snow’s evil reign brought to an end.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 is in fact the best kind of thrill ride you would hope to find in such an action-packed popcorn flick, but only once it stops retreading the contemplative slow-burn territory that the previous film so tirelessly covered. The finale’s most conspicuous problems are (still) inherent in the decision to split up the final book between two movies, which individually feel like two drawn-out halves of a whole. As Mockingjay – Part 1 focused on a dialogue-heavy, uncertainty-laden setup building towards an expectedly massive battle, the fact that we find much of the same “What should we do?” banter still so predominate in the first half of Mockingjay – Part 2 becomes frustrating — even for viewers like myself who have read and thoroughly enjoyed Collins’ divisive final book in the series. There are only so many empowering speeches and introspective exchanges that you can tolerate before you want to shout, “Just get on with it!”
To its credit, the story spanning across the two Mockingjay films is not a mind-numbing extension of a thin narrative yarn. Rather, it just spends a bit too much time focusing on what we have already established when it could have very easily left the more repetitive scenes on the cutting room floor, such as Katniss meeting with Coin and Plutarch Heavensbee (the late Philip Seymour Hoffman in his final role) more than once. Additionally, screenwriters Danny Strong and Peter Craig questionably retain some of the book’s more on-the-nose dialogue that spells out the state of the Katniss-Peeta-Gale love triangle a bit too obviously. Such moments don’t feel nearly as silly in the novel, but in the midst of the dismal tone that ultimately overtakes the film, they just don’t translate well to screen. Luckily, these moments are brief and are not the focal point of the film, which ultimately does Mockingjay – Part 2 and the character of Katniss a great service.
Once the action really gets going, Lawrence’s film consistently delivers. His directorial approach to the action sequences is gritty and unforgiving, capturing some of the more war-like battles scenes with commendable skill. The most notable of these is a thrilling chase sequence involving monstrously engineered “mutations” pursuing the rebels through an underground tunnel system. The front-lines camerawork in this section is effectively disorienting in the rebels’ race for survival, and the intensely suspenseful scene solidifies the unapologetically dark tone of the film as two notable characters meet tragic deaths quickly and mercilessly. I would have loved to see more sequences like this and those in which the group encounters the deadly pods throughout the city.
While the promise of an action-packed final battle may draw many in to Mockingjay – Part 2, the strongest aspect of the film lies in the decidedly grim and subdued direction its final act takes. This is a great credit to Strong and Craig, who wisely do not veer from Collins’ heartrending turns of plot that culminate in Katniss finally facing President Snow, once again chillingly portrayed by Sutherland as a relentless despot whose humanity has decayed as much as his health. Jennifer Lawrence shines once again as Katniss, who faces an inescapable, isolating darkness that she eventually accepts as a part of life in a world that has long been collapsing around her. In the film’s more emotionally raw scenes — like one in which she returns to her war-torn home and encounters her family cat — the actress is moving in her conveyance of exhaustion and heartache. The story’s final outcome may surprise many viewers who are not familiar with the books, as it makes very bold moves for a young adult series in regard to how it approaches survival, power, and the ways in which people are scarred by tragedy.
Conclusively, it’s difficult not to dwell on how much the decision to split the final book ultimately hampers would could have likely been an exhilarating single-film conclusion, as opposed to two solidly decent, if not occasionally uneven, efforts. In any case, viewers who walk into theaters with their franchise fandom intact are certain to leave feeling satisfied, as Lawrence’s faithful adaptation brings Collins’ final chapter to a satisfyingly dystopian realization. As big time Hollywood blockbusters go, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 does succeed in the end by solidifying the series’ more provocative attributes in way that is ultimately quite refreshing, as opposed to watering them down with syrupy romance or attaching to them an incongruously buoyant sense of closure. If unsuspecting audiences who are not aware of how the journey ends feel notably despondent as the final credits roll, the film will have most definitely succeeded as a work far more significant in its intentions than most would give it credit for.
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Film
Categorized:Reviews
