For three years and
four films, “The Hunger Games” series has been the gold standard of the
dystopian YA genre that it helped popularize. Now the
series comes to a satisfying conclusion with “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay –
Part 2,” even if it never quite lives up to those previous installments.
Following the path
set by fantasy franchises before it, the story’s final chapter has been split
in two features — “Part 1” arrived last November and provided the setup to the
endgame of “Part 2.” More than the other entries in the series, “Part 2” resembles
a straight-up war movie as Katniss leads Panem’s rebel forces into battle
against the dastardly President Snow (Donald Sutherland), demonstrating a
willingness to go to some extremely dark places, and the movie’s tone is often
relentlessly bleak.
After the talky
buildup of “Part 1” (which I quite liked), it seemed reasonable to expect this
film to jump right into the excitement, so it’s surprising to note how little
action the film actually contains. The entire first half of this movie
continues in the same vein as the previous film; it’s nearly an hour in before
we get to the first action sequence, and even then the film takes several
significant pauses before things start back up again.
But the action
scenes that we do get are excitingly staged by returning director Francis
Lawrence, the best being an “Aliens”-esque chase through the Capitol’s sewers
as Katniss and her unit attempt to outrun a horde of reptilian mutants.
Jennifer Lawrence is
still fantastic; Katniss is the role that made the actress a star, and it fits
her like a glove. While the story’s political intrigue continues to deliver
darkly potent satire, the love triangle between Katniss and her would-be
suitors — poor brainwashed Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) and stoic soldier boy, Gale
(Liam Hemsworth) — is still by far the least interesting aspect of the films.
So while the need to devote time to it as the story winds down is
understandable, those scenes frequently end up deflating the considerable
tension built up throughout the rest of the movie.
In wrapping things
up, the film offers up more endings than “Return of the King,” before settling
on what was by far my least favorite of the bunch. Still, there’s considerable
emotion to be found as we bid these characters farewell. Adding considerable weight
to the proceedings is the sad knowledge that we’re witnessing the final
performance of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s career. Even if “Mockingjay – Part 2”
doesn’t live up to its predecessors, it’s been nice to have a woman-centric
action franchise with real ideas behind it, and as such, I suspect the series’
reputation will only improve with age.
This article appears in Nov 18-24, 2015.
