The Hunger Games:
Mockingjay Part 2

It’s over! Finished! Adios! See you later!

Was it worth all of the hype and anticipation? Let’s call it a fair farewell.

Proving this is a Part 2 in every sense of the word, this film picks up exactly where the last one left off ( you might as well watch Mockingjay Part 1 on DVD, hop in the car, drive to the Cineplex, buy a bag of popcorn, and walk into the theater to make it a more seamless experience).

Jennifer Lawrence is back as Katniss Everdeen, but she is haunted by the horrible experiences she has endured throughout the story. She’s even starting to see evil on every side as President Coin (Julianne Moore) continues to use our heroine as a propaganda tool, and President Snow (Donald Sutherland) is committed to destroying her to quell the rebellion.

However, Katniss is ready to take action in her own hands, and goes rogue by sneaking to the front lines, crossing over into the Capital and swearing she will do whatever it takes to kill Snow and end the war.

Most of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 can be summed up too simply.

Action.

Fights.

Running.

Moments where they re-group.

More action.

More fights.

More running.

Yet, just when you are about to give up on the film as nothing more than a mindless exercise going through the motions, director Francis Lawrence and writers Peter Craig and Danny Strong (based on the novels by Suzanne Collins) find the spark and intellectual challenge that made the series interesting and rewarding.

The last third of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 saves the film.

Suddenly, Katniss has to make big, complicated decisions. Lawrence is challenged to bring Katniss out of her funk and tortured psyche to have the strength to be the leader and savior everyone else has deemed her to be.

Then, in the end, Katniss, thanks to Lawrence, becomes a damaged hero who has earned our respect and pity as she shows us this young lady will never truly recover from the pain and death she has witnessed and inflicted. This ability is what makes Lawrence a great leading actress as she captivates the audience with the look in her eyes and the tenor of her voice. She makes Katniss a contemplative, modern action hero.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 isn’t the electric ending you might hope for, but it is the fitting ending the series deserves.

Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and for some thematic material.