Lionsgate
Over the years, I’ve watched the different Hunger Games movies with a mix of reactions. The first may not have been the most coherently directed, but it had a new, visceral thrill and introduced some radical philosophies for a mainstream blockbuster movie. “Catching Fire,” the second movie and book, rehashed much of the dramatic beats of the first book but it introduced a few really great new characters like Beetee (an always great Jeffrey Wright), the arrogant but charming Finnick (Sam Claflin), and the breakout crazy girl Johanna (Jena Malone). It was great to see further use of the most one-note Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks), further expanded in “Mockingjay – Part 1.” That movie I still feel mixed about, because it felt like it was inconsistent; some scenes were jam packed but others were way too drawn out. That said, I was happy to see the new characters like gamemaker Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and leader of the rebels, the icy Alma Coin (Julianne Moore). A lot of great actors for sure.
The fourth movie starts in right after the last one, with Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) recovering from the attack from brainwashed Peeta (Josh Hutcherson). This begins the classic problem of the movies — I don’t buy the romance or the love triangles. Katniss seems to have no chemistry with Peeta other than a sibling one, and her old flame Gale (Liam Hemsworth) is still basically a boring character. He’s tall, handsome, and a capable soldier. No real personality to speak of. Katniss gets involved in the final attacks on the capital city of Panem, where evil President Snow (Donald Sutherland) reigns. A few rousing speeches, a bunch of worried looks, and a lot of worrying about poor stupid Peeta. Everything begins to gather for the final act: the push of the rebels towards hopeful victory.
With the city is filled with traps and enemies, will it be difficult to survive? Sound familiar? Don’t worry, the movie explicitly calls it another Hunger Games in case you were worried it wasn’t repeating itself. That said, this particular one is a different animal. Katniss, against the orders of Coin, decides to go fight in the front lines and further breaks off with her plans to kill Snow. Her team of randoms includes a few interesting characters, like the mildly competent Boggs (Mahershala Ali) and sci-fi stalwart Michelle Forbes (curiously uncredited in the movie). There’s always one of the three good emotional beats with mute Pollux (an old favorite character actor, Elden Henson from The Mighty Ducks and the recent Daredevil series). Jennifer Lawrence gets another decent emotional breakdown later, but the plot didn’t really connect with it.
While the first movies had strong messages that engendered a lot of discussion, this one seems a lot more obvious and unsubtle. Coin is being painted as so obviously a new version of a dictator that it’s actually a bit comical at times. Julianne Moore is great, but really, that’s not a standout — everyone aside from characters like Gale and Katniss’ mother work well. In fact, there are too many characters now, so we get short shrift for more than a few. It’s a delight to see a bit of Stanley Tucci’s propagandist Caesar Flickerman, but Natalie Dormer’s solider/moviemaker Cressida gets a bunch of screen time but little personality.
So getting to the other parts. I found the action scenes also very mixed; some felt rote and others were overly kinetic and hard to follow. But there were also quite a few with story or emotional connectivity, which is what makes action interesting when the movie isn’t a meaningless action movie. If it was, I’d be more forgiving of the plot, but for me there was a lot to live up to. In a lot of ways, I think the final two movies didn’t really pace themselves well. Both suffer from the same problem, with some scenes way too drawn out but others too truncated. There are also so many characters, there’s no way we’ll get satisfying bits from everyone. I found Jennifer Lawrence to be eminently compelling here, which is kind of critical, but once again her character is given very minimal story work. Easier in a book when you get in people’s heads, but in a movie … harder without voice over narration which the movie doesn’t use.
I think that for a certain demographic, the movie will still work really well, but it’s not an overall success, more like an average one. The conclusion was fine, I suppose, but the real problem is that everything gets going back to the Katniss/Peeta romance (sort of with Gale too, but barely), but I never bought any real attraction between them. I got a sense of friendship, camaraderie, and loyalty, so betrayals and redemption can still work, but when the movie throws out a “Well, she’ll pick one of those guys,” I had to roll my eyes. Luckily, it’s mostly minimized, but it’s still closely tied into the denouement and feels a bit therefore like it overrides some of the most interesting thematic elements.
If someone were to release a new cut of “Mockingjay” I think it could work overall in a three hour piece, but it’s actually a combined four and a half hours. As it stands, it’s not paced well at all. That being said, I feel like it’s a good enough way to end it, especially considering the source material already exists. They couldn’t do that much about it, nor about the lack of romantic chemistry between the actors (although they should’ve). I think the first movie still works as a good standalone piece, so there’s that. Now I just wonder what the next blockbuster series will be.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 has a run time of 2 hours 17 minutes, and is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and for some thematic material.
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