The Hunger Games: Mocking Jay - Part 2 (2015, Movie Review)
Friday, November 27, 2015
Wow, this series just flew by, it feels like yesterday the first film came out. For those not familiar, this is the fourth and final entry in “The Hunger Games” films series, which is based on the bestselling book series of the same title. I was a fan of these books long before I saw any of the films, and I’ll admit, while the first film was good, it never came off as anything special. However, each sequel just got better and better, leading to this forth film which is a worth conclusion to the franchise and probably my second favorite of the films behind the second film.
In this final chapter Katniss Everdeen leads a small band of rebels into the heart of the capital city in an effort to take down the malevolent President Snow, and end his tyranny before he brings the nation to ruins. The journey will be anything but easy as the city has become one big booby trap, filled with troopers, monsters, and more traps. Yet, an even more devastating challenge awaits Katniss, that of discovering who her real enemy is, and making peace with her old lover Peeta, who was previously brainwashed as a secret assassin to be used against Katniss. Now there are monsters in this film that may seem a little out of place, especially considering that they look just like the Alien monster from the "Alien" franchise, but I actually found them to be an exciting part of the film.
The whole series has always revolved around our lead heroine fighting to survive in a giant battle arena, but things have changed for the best in this film. The killing arena has now become a giant city full of several exciting obstacles that come in a wide variety. Best of all is that in the past every survivor was forced to kill one another, but now they’re finally a team, they’re one unit, they all have each other’s back, and it allowed me to get behind this film and our hero’s more than any of the previous films. The passing is also very good, and by that I mean it’s actually very slow passed film but it’s never boring, and when the action dose pope up ... it’s exhilarating! The acting once again is phenomenal, and of course it’s Jennifer Lawrence who steals the show as usual. Seriously, Jennifer Lawrence was just awesome, and I love how she holds her feelings back, while showing just enough genuine emotion that gets the best of her.
Overall, I found this to be an excellent finally for the series, and probably one of my favorite final chapters to any film franchise I’ve seen. The Epilog was long enough without feeling tedious. I also loved that the climax was very subdued, it didn’t go for the typical overblown final battle that ends most long running franchises, instead it focused on our characters and brought their journey to a perfectly satisfying conclusion.
I give “The Hunger Games: Mocking Jay - Part 2” 4 stars out of 5.