Fish and Cherries Productions

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay: Part 2 is a good finisher for the series, but it felt far too tame for its own good. While I praised the last film for doing a great makeup job for when Katniss got strangled, I felt this one did a disservice to the makeup team by opting out of showing Katniss’ post-battle burns. There was also a scene in the sewers that was scary enough on its own, to be sure, but the book described the monsters they were fighting as being reanimated corpses of past tributes, something the film didn’t capitalize on at all. Also, for all the importance put on Peeta’s “Real or Not Real” ordeal, there was no mention of any of the false memories. Both elements would have been amazing in showing how twisted the Capitol was and the psychological burden this would put on our heroes.

So that’s a lot of negativity thrown at the film, but what did I actually like? Well, for starters, everyone’s acting is still superb, with Jennifer Lawrence turning in a brilliant performance near the end. The gizmos and traps are also wonderfully inventive and there’s a good sense of dread when going through the polished, dangerous streets of the Capitol. I also appreciated Stanley Tucci’s return as Caesar Flickerman, as the character’s presence in the third book was sorely missed, though his fate still remains annoyingly ambiguous at the end. And in the end, it’s still Hunger Games, with all of its character turmoil, exploitation of media smears and power, and ending on a really bittersweet note that befits the series. I can see some people being turned off by the lack of action for most of it, but I enjoyed it all right.