Review // The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2

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Katniss Everdeen finally gets her showdown in the Capitol with the evil President Snow in the final chapter of the Hunger Games franchise, Mockingjay – Part 2. As was to be expected from a series that has grown increasingly gloomy over its four-film run, the final chapter is the most dour and oppressively self-serious yet, concluding the biggest young adult phenomenon since Harry Potter with what amounts to a long, frustrated sigh.

We pick up with Katniss Everdeen as she and her rebel friends are holed up in some base or another attempting to figure out what Snow and his Capital cronies did to poor old Peeta. Unable to separate his real memories from false ones planted by his torturers, Peeta’s only desire is to kill Katniss, the girl he once loved. Shaken by the sorry state of her sort-of boyfriend, Katniss volunteers to aid the shifty President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore) in whatever way she can to defeat Snow. Together with her sort-of boyfriend Gale (Liam Hemsworth) and a crew of elite rebel fighters – including the propaganda producers Cressida (Natalie Dormer), Castor (Wes Chatham) and Pollux (Elden Henson) – Katniss heads to the Capital which has been cruelly booby-trapped by Snow’s retreating armies.

You have to give author Suzanne Collins credit for taking the effects of violence on her characters very seriously, but by the fourth film Katniss is like Debbie Downer every time she steps into a room. You can’t really blame her of course, I mean she’s seen nothing but death and violence for her entire teenage years. But being gutsy enough to explore the psychological ramifications of violence is one thing, making them interesting to watch is another, and director Francis Lawrence (along with screenwriters Peter Craig and Danny Strong) has completely misfired in the “watchability” department. Filmed in greys, blacks, and the most boring blues available, the characters wander through Leonardo DiCaprio’s Inception dream city while trying to avoid being killed by absurd and over-complicated traps. As deaths stack up we’re supposed to be ruminating on the futility of violence and the corruption of power, but I just found myself pining for the good old days of throwing a bunch of kids in an arena and watchin’ them fight.

This oppressive dullness is reinforced by the near invisibility of the franchise’s most interesting characters. Woody Harrelson’s Haymitch makes some appearances in the first half but doesn’t tag along for the invasion, Elizabeth Banks’ Effie Trinket might get four minutes of screen time, and Stanley Tucci’s wonderful Caesar Flickerman enjoys just a single scene. Instead we get all sorts of moments with Donald Sutherland’s astoundingly one-note President Snow (have we ever learned of his motivations in the slightest besides the fact that he’s evil) and a lot of poorly-written angst between Gale, Peeta and Katniss. Even the propaganda angle, which has always been one of the more interesting motifs in the series, is basically dropped as soon as it’s introduced.

Like always Jennifer Lawrence is more than capable in the lead role, but poor Katniss hasn’t got much left besides scowling and tears. Because of this, the conclusion of the franchise is more of a relief than any sort of bittersweet goodbye. Thanks to the Hunger Games theatre goers can now look forward to a wave of teenage dystopia titles bombarding the theatres (The Maze Runner: Scorch Trials, The Divergent Series: Allegiant, The Mortal Instruments Origins: Clockwork Angel) but frankly I’ve already had enough. The only character I sympathize with anymore is Haymitch. But hey, good work Katniss, and good riddance.

Reviewed by Evan Arppe.