In Review: "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2"

The problem with this movie is simply that it exists. There is nothing particularly wrong with the film. It is just not as good as it could've been if it wasn't separated for its pair. A tactic that has been successful with other films and narratives in the past but did most certainly did not work this time.

The Story

We continue right where we left off - Katniss has been commissioned by District 13 to help start the revolution, her only goal being to kill the malicious President Snow, Peeta has been safely found but has been brainwashed by the Capital to hate Katniss.

This movie finishes the war and finishes the series. I'm not telling you anything else.

The Stars

All of the original characters are back. And once again, Jennifer Lawrence slays it.

The Message

The message is very unclear when you take into consideration how the story ends. Was this just a warning to never let anything like the Hunger Games happen in real life? Or was this more about moving away from an all-powerful government and giving the power to the people? It is unclear how political we are supposed to get.

Overall

The new movie is painstackenly devoted to the source material. Down to the stupid final line- "There are worse games to play." But if the movie makers really truly cared about the source material, they would have kept the final book as one film.

Let's look at the times this tactic has worked in the past. Harry Potter's final book was split into two films. This works because we have one location for the final movie: Hogwarts. It is a natural break in the story: our three heroes decide to fight instead of hide. Twilight's final books was split into two films. This works because our hero has "awakened" as a new creature. The world is entirely different to vampire Bella than it was to human Bella. So new film techniques can be used and even the 3D makes sense here. When it wouldn't have worked in the previous film.

This time, it doesn't work. There is no natural break in the story. There is no character awakening. The location is the same as the last movie. By spliting this book is half, you lose all of the momentum the last part had created. Now, we don't remember who the new characters are, nor do we really care when they die in the beginning. The character development is not as clear or as well crafted than in the book because you can't remember the nuances of the character in the previous film. Nor do you really care now to go back.

The new movie created more money for an opening night and more money from the people who forgot to see the previous film. It does nothing for the story. It does nothing for the characters. It is simply to make more money. And not even more money for the franchise as a whole because this movie wasn't very good, newcomers won't want to go back and watch the old movies.

I hope this movie will stop this trend of splitting films in half. It just doesn't work.

1 out of 4 Arrows