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| Courtesy of Lionsgate |
Those
who have been waiting a year to see if The Hunger Games sticks the landing can
rest easy. Mockingjay – Part 2 does right by most of its characters (aside
from three glaring exceptions that aren’t exactly the movie’s fault) and doesn’t
shy away from some ugly truths about humanity that Suzanne Collins emphasized in
the series’ third and final novel. That means the film’s second half will
likely divide audiences, but anyone who thought this story about war with a
totalitarian regime was heading for “…and they all lived happily ever after”
were kidding themselves.
I
still don’t think Collins’ 400-page book should’ve been stretched into a four-and-a-half-hour
movie (it’s honestly a blatant cash grab on the studio’s part), but director
Francis Lawrence, along with screenwriters Peter Craig and Danny Strong, finds ways
to make the best of an unnecessary situation. The extra time allows them to give
the talented supporting cast a little bit more to do, as well as beef up the film’s
many action sequences.
If
you’re a newcomer to the series, it would be foolish to watch Mockingjay –
Part 2 on its own. The film doesn’t even pretend to catch viewers up on past
events or introduce the characters. It literally picks up where Part 1 cut
off last Thanksgiving, with a brainwashed Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson, quite
good this time around) trying to kill his best friend Katniss Everdeen
(Jennifer Lawrence, great yet again – it happens so often we’re starting to take
her for granted).
Seeing
how much the evil Capitol tortured Peeta is what makes Katniss stop fighting a
slow, gradual war through District 13’s propaganda messages, orchestrated by
President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore) and Plutarch Heavensbee (the late Philip
Seymour Hoffman). Instead, she decides to take it upon herself to assassinate President
Snow (Donald Sutherland).
Upon
arriving in the Capitol, she immediately learns it’s a foolish decision. Snow
anticipated the rebels’ arrival and placed thousands of traps throughout the
city. She and her hastily assembled squad – including a still-recovering Peeta,
third-side-of-love-triangle Gale (Liam Hemsworth) and several other familiar
faces – have little chance of success, and even if they do take out Snow, there
are other characters who lust after the dictator’s immense power.
Although Mockingjay – Part 2 is well over two hours, it moves like crazy once Katniss
and her team arrive in the Capitol. There are action sequences every few
minutes, all of them packed with tension because the previous films have already
established the story’s very real stakes and a rapidly escalating body count.
Unlike
the terrible Twilight movies, which are (thank God) already fading from the public
consciousness, there are no cop-outs where characters somehow escape mortal
danger and then act like nothing ever happened. In this world, people that we
like die. Often. In terrible, heartbreaking ways.
There’s
a particularly brutal scene where the heroes are attacked by subterranean
creatures that’s straight out of a horror movie. It’s one of many reasons I’m baffled
the film somehow managed to get a PG-13 from the MPAA.
One
of the most admirable qualities about Mockingjay – Part 2 is that it doesn’t
shy away from realistic depictions of PTSD. Katniss and Peeta are the most
obvious examples, but every character in the film battles it in some form or
another.
Each
actor, whether on screen for two hours or just a few scenes, manages to
communicate years of trauma without pages of dialogue. Often, he or she can speak
volumes with posture or a facial expression. But if you’re looking for powerful
words, Lawrence’s final moving monologue brings home the message that the
horrors of war don’t go away, even years after the war is over.
The
film is also admirably faithful to Collins’ point that it’s not always
altruistic motives that topple dictators. Often, it’s because the craving for
that kind of power is too tempting for other leaders to resist. The subtle
points about the importance of propaganda and President Snow’s on-the-nose comments
about war refugees (more timely than ever, unfortunately) add depth and
complexity to this message.
These
ideas aren’t exactly uplifting, but they make the story far more realistic and
prevent Katniss’ narrative arc from being reduced to tired “chosen one” and “which
boy with she pick?” tropes. Heaven knows we already see enough of those at the
multiplex and in young adult lit.
Performance-wise,
I can’t really add anything I haven’t already praised before. Everyone’s great,
although many in the ensemble cast feel sidelined this time around. Enough time
has passed since Hoffman’s death that seeing him again felt like getting
punched in the stomach, especially since he’s in the opening scene.
Francis
Lawrence works around the actor’s unfinished scenes almost seamlessly, aside
from a glaring exception late in the film. When Haymitch (Woody Harrelson)
reads Katniss a letter Plutarch wrote to her, it’s obvious that Lawrence was
supposed to be sharing the scene with Hoffman. I can’t imagine that was an easy
scene to shoot for anyone.
The director’s
big misstep is how he handles two monumental deaths that occur in the last
half-hour of the movie. One doesn’t play out with the impact it should, while the
other is so blatantly foreshadowed that my audience was laughing for minutes
before it happened. That probably wasn’t the response the filmmakers were going
for.
Still,
I remain highly impressed with how The Hunger Games saga unfolded. Very few
long-running franchises maintain momentum until the end, but the cast and crew
of Mockingjay – Part 2 prove they were committed to sending the series out on
a satisfying note. As a result, we have one of the rare instances where the
movies improve on the original source material.
The
Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of
violence and action, some disturbing images and thematic material.
Grade (for both parts):
B+
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