Review: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2
The warrior is tired. More than ever, Katniss Everdeen bears the emotional and physical battle scars of being the symbol of the insurgency. Yet the cause for which she has long fought, at times reluctantly, seems no closer to being won than when she first volunteered herself in place of younger sister Prim as tribute in the 74th Annual Hunger Games. She has fought for her sister, for her fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), for the rebellion and its leader President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore), allowed herself to be used for the greater good, always for others and never for herself. However, this reimagined Joan of Arc does want one thing perhaps above all else: the death of the Capitol's President Snow (Donald Sutherland).
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 means to bestow that long-awaited resolution to its heroine as well as the international audience that has made this a most profitable franchise. The film begins immediately after the shocking reunion that closed Part 1. Peeta has been rescued from under Snow's captivity, but the purehearted boy has been tortured and brainwashed by Snow to view Katniss as the enemy, adding another layer of complexity to his relationship with Katniss. Manufactured as sweethearts for the viewers, Peeta's feelings were never anything less than true whilst Katniss played her part for the ever-present cameras but reserved her heart for childhood love Gale (Liam Hemsworth), who recognised the increasing sincerity of her feelings for Peeta even before she dared admit it to herself.
Now Katniss is even more on guard as she and the small squad including Gale, Peeta, Finnick (Sam Claflin), Cressida (Natalie Dormer), and team commander Boggs (Mahershala Ali) navigate their way through the largely vacated but heavily booby-trapped Capitol to reach Snow's palace. Peeta is violent, unstable and traumatised - he's an obvious liability to the group and a potential threat to Katniss, who fears Snow has programmed Peeta to kill her. Her belief in Gale is shaken by their differing ideologies. "It's war. Killing isn't personal," he reasons, justifying the innocent blood he's willing to spill in order to win their freedom. For Katniss, every life lost has always been personal. Meanwhile, Boggs warns Katniss that Coin is not to be trusted. Indeed, Coin is as ruthless a strategist as Snow in her manipulation of Katniss' image as the Mockingjay. When Katniss disobeys her orders and joins the front lines, Coin spins her insubordination to serve her political agenda. "Whatever she's doing," Coin tells Plutarch Heavesnbee (the late Philip Seymour Hoffman), "we conceived it. It was our plan all along."
The Hunger Games has always been the most character-driven of its ilk, which always puts it head and shoulders above the other films it has spawned (The Divergent Series, The Maze Runner). More than the inventiveness and the thrills of the deadly games themselves, the suspense was rooted in how Katniss came to and reconciled herself with the choices she made. Killing was always personal and when the names of the fallen are uttered - Rue, Mags, Cinna et al - their absences are keenly felt. If Part 2 feels a bit of a letdown, it is mainly due to the decision to split Mockingjay into two parts. This lessens the overall impact of the film, and most certainly dilutes the death of one particular character, who deserves at least a moment of grief rather than the glossing over given them here. In fact, the majority of the characters are given short shrift and the actors (Hoffman, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Jeffrey Wright, Stanley Tucci) who brought them to remarkable life are reduced to mere cameos. Of course, the events of the source novel may dictate this, but perhaps it would not have been so glaring had Mockingjay been a single three-hour final entry.
Still, there is much to savour about Part 2, namely a phenomenal action sequence that has Katniss and her crew battling a ferocious horde of faceless mutants in the dank and labyrinthine tunnels of the Capitol's underground sewer system. Above all, there is Jennifer Lawrence who has well and truly made this role her own. It's no surprise that Part 2 opens with a close-up of her face. Throughout the series, that face has been in many a close-up as Lawrence conveyed a gamut of emotions. Her eyes speak volumes - just the evolution of her gazes at Peeta tells you everything you need to know about the state of her heart, and the final look shared between Katniss and Gale devastates like a punch in the gut. There is no doubt that The Hunger Games turned Lawrence into a superstar, but she gave it more than it gave her. Her intensely committed performance made Katniss Everdeen a heroine for the ages.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2
Directed by: Francis Lawrence
Written by: Peter Craig, Danny Strong; adapted from the novel by Suzanne Collins
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Donald Sutherland, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Jeffrey Wright, Stanley Tucci, Sam Claflin, Jena Malone, Natalie Dormer, Mahershala Ali, Michelle Forbes, Wes Chatham, Elden Henson, Willow Shields, Paula Malcomson, Sarita Choudhury, Patina Miller, Gwendoline Christie
