The Hunger Games: MockingJay Part 2

Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2

Director
Francis Lawrence

Cast
Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth

Well, we’ve made it to the conclusion of the games!
The good news is if you’re a fan of the original novels, the movies are very faithful to the story. I read the novels years ago, and with each new book I actually became more disappointed. By the time I got to the end of the final book, I couldn’t believe the choices that the author was making. Needless to say, I was not a fan of the last book in series.
Now when Francis Lawrence took over the film franchise from Gary Ross on the second movie, he somehow made the blah book work as a decent action movie. I was impressed by that and really excited to see how Lawrence would elevate the story in the final book. Mockingjay Part 1 was an okay setup to the conclusion, it laid out the pieces of what should’ve been an action packed finale. It’s shocking to see that Part 2 is easily the worst paced film in the franchise, it’s incredibly slow. There are two really cool action sequences right in the middle of the story, but then it’s back to people sitting around and talking some more.
The big climatic scenes just kind of happens with a thud and the ending is dragged out a little bit too long.
The performances from everyone are still solid, even though there really isn’t that much for the actors to sink their teeth into.
It’s nice that this story has a very definitive ending and people will be able to enjoy the bittersweet conclusion, but unfortunately the movie has the exact same story weaknesses that I felt really hurt the novel. Maybe it’s not fair to compare the two different forms of media, but it’s still storytelling.

Now let’s get Kiefer Sutherland to play a young President Snow in the eventual Hunger Games prequel I’m sure Hollywood is going to make.

2.5/5
-Markellus