 Tagline: Fire burns brighter in the darkness When Katniss destroys the games, she goes to District 13 after District 12 is destroyed. She meets President Coin who convinces her to be the symbol of rebellion, while trying to save Peeta from the Capitol. The worldwide phenomenon of The Hunger Games continues to set the world on fire with The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1, which finds Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) in District 13 after she literally shatters the games forever. Under the leadership of President Coin (Julianne Moore) and the advice of her trusted friends, Katniss spreads her wings as she fights to save Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) and a nation moved by her courage. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 is directed by Francis Lawrence from a screenplay by Danny Strong and Peter Craig and produced by Nina Jacobson's Color Force in tandem with producer Jon Kilik. The novel on which the film is based is the third in a trilogy written by Suzanne Collins that has over 65 million copies in print in the U.S. alone. Written by (c) Lionsgate Storyline: With the Games now destroyed and in pieces, Katniss Everdeen, along with Gale, Finnick and Beetee, now end up in the so thought "destroyed" District 13. Under the leadership of President Coin and the advice of her friends, Katniss becomes the "Mockingjay" and the symbol of rebellion for the people. Written by floraxie06 Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, March 21, 2016 A lot of industry news reports crossing the online landscape as this review was being prepared dealt with the perceived disappointment of The Divergent Series: Allegiant at the box office, a perhaps ominous sign for franchises which have sought to adapt so-called Young Adult literary sensations which began lives as printed trilogies, but which due to the ineluctable greed of Hollywood bean counters end up as "four sided" film entries. Those selfsame bean counters had their (grubby?) little hands full poring over the receipts that The Hunger Games quadrilogy raked in, though it's notable that while The Hunger Games, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 all set box office records of one kind or another, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, an unabashed success by virtually any other measure, still didn't quite perform as well as its three forebears. That situation (one which seems to be echoed by the "underperformance" of Allegiant) might suggest that there's a certain perhaps unavoidable attrition to franchises which require a multi-year commitment on the part of audiences. It also might suggest that audiences have been growing tired of franchises which seek to extend their cinematic lives by splitting final volumes into two films, as was previously the case with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. What's kind of interesting about The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 is that it doesn't really coddle the audience, especially any newcomers to the franchise, with what might be the cinematic equivalent of "previously on [insert name here]" which often starts out various long running television outings, whether they be fictional or reality based series. Instead, the film simply pretty much picks up exactly from where The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 ended, expecting any viewer to either already know what's going on or at least be willing to go with the flow until they can figure out the admittedly not overly complex topography for themselves. Note: Care has been taken not to post any out and out spoilers, but certain plot points of this film and (especially) its predecessors need to be discussed overtly, which some may feel constitute spoiler material. Those sensitive to this are encouraged to skip to the technical portions of the review, below. Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) are ensconced with the rebel forces, albeit under radically different circumstances. Katniss is initially recovering from some bad wounds (courtesy of Peeta, in fact), but is at the center of efforts by Alma Coin (Julianne Moore) and Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman) to create propaganda that will foster a climate to overthrow the Capitol and officious President Snow (Donald Sutherland). Peeta on the other hand is tethered to a hospital bed, where various folks (ultimately including a reluctant Katniss) attempt to snap the young man out of the torture induced brainwashing Peeta underwent at the hands of the nefarious Snow. When Katniss tries to forge a perhaps unlikely peace between various rebel and loyalist forces, she ends up getting the wrong end of a bullet, a moment which suggests the unlikely outcome that the franchise's heroine has met her fate just a few minutes into the final film. That of course turns out not to be the case, but it brings Katniss into contact with Johanna Mason (Jena Malone), a young woman who was a cellmate neighbor to Peeta in Snow's torture chambers. Johanna later gives Katniss an important piece of (convenient) information which allows the so-called Mockingjay to attempt to infiltrate the Capitol in order to personally take out Snow herself. And it's here where The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 starts to show both its seams and some fitful attempts to overwork the source material in order to provide enough content for two (rather long) feature films. It's obvious the film is careening toward a showdown between Katniss and Snow, and on one level it's commendable that the adaptive screenplay by Peter Craig and Danny Strong avoids at least a couple of pitfalls on this preordained path. But on another level, a lot of the second act of this film feels like padding, sidebars that accrue for little other reason than to forestall the inevitable. That seems especially true with regard to the kind of silly "romantic triangle" between Katniss, Peeta and Gale (Liam Hemsworth), an element that never seems to find any real emotional power. Something that also tends to hobble this final chapter is the absence of over the top set pieces designed to satisfy the adrenaline needs of action junkies. Once Katniss and her crew start invading the Capitol, there are a couple of traditional sequences featuring things that go "boom", and there's a rather well done sewer sequence that may remind some viewers of certain Ray Harryhausen offerings, but otherwise this is a curiously static film in a number of ways, with characters pretty much just sitting around waiting for something—anything—to happen. Even the film's climactic moment lacks the sort of visceral intensity that often accompanies huge blockbusters like this, though it's notable that there is an emotional component at play here that is just as frequently missing from many huge constructs which seek to provide a closing moment of hyperbolic energy. Ultimately, though, that may actually work in the film's favor, for a remarkably quiet coda seems to want to establish some emotional resonance that no amount of overwhelming special effects ever can. Katniss' saga has been long and winding (perhaps too long and winding, some might argue), but its resolution brings a bittersweet and elegiac quality to the franchise in a way that is rather unique for tentpoles like this. I personally found The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 the "weakest link" in this franchise, and in some ways Mockingjay Part 2 repeats some of the same mistakes of its immediate predecessor, including a tendency to drag things out seemingly for no other reason than to eat up running time. But despite a relative lack of huge (or at least consistent) action elements, Mockingjay Part 2 manages to work up an element that the first part seemed to forget at times: emotion. Despite a somewhat somnambulistic performance by Jennifer Lawrence, Mockingjay Part 2 manages to be compelling and even meaningful, offering a rare kinda sorta happy ending for the typically pretty dreary dystopian future young adult genre. Technical merits continue to be strong, and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 comes Recommended. [CSW] -2.3- It was actually a bit depressing. There are some good action scenes and some nice special effects here and there. But glacial barely covers how utterly painfully slowly this moves along. Scene after scene after scene - and even a few of the action scenes just kind of fizzle out. Then we're back to a close up of someone weeping, again, or some corny battle speech. There was something lacking in all of the characters that somehow just didn't ring quite true. It was almost as if they all were resigned to their fate in advance. It just gets tedious to sit through after a while. I know that the ending was an attempt to be upbeat but it ended up being a bit cheesy and almost embarrassing. Cast Notes: Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss Everdeen), Josh Hutcherson (Peeta Mellark), Liam Hemsworth (Gale Hawthorne), Woody Harrelson (Haymitch Abernathy), Donald Sutherland (President Snow), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Plutarch Heavensbee), Julianne Moore (President Alma Coin), Willow Shields (Primrose Everdeen), Sam Claflin (Finnick Odair), Elizabeth Banks (Effie Trinket), Mahershala Ali (Boggs), Jena Malone (Johanna Mason), Jeffrey Wright (Beetee), Paula Malcomson (Katniss' Mother), Stanley Tucci (Caesar Flickerman). IMDb Rating (02/10/15): 7.3/10 from 583,227 users
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