By Noah Michalski ’18, Contributor
The epic conclusion to the film adaptations of Suzanne Collins’s highly acclaimed dystopian series, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 lives up to its expectations. Picking up where Mockingjay – Part 1 left off, Katniss Everdeen (played by Jennifer Lawrence) continues to inspire revolutionary action as the “Mockingjay” before leaving for the capital to assassinate President Snow. As the final installment in the Hunger Games and a great film in its own right, Mockingjay – Part 2 is a must-see for fans of the series.
The final film in the series, Mockingjay – Part 2 defines itself by alternating between fast-paced outbursts of action and its characters’ deep, emotional confrontations. Tension starts out pretty high and rises from there, putting viewers on the edges of their seats. The movie isn’t 100% loyal to the book, but it’s for a few good reasons: many readers thought that the book was muddled and confusing, with scenes that didn’t contribute to the main idea. Powerful themes that should have driven the story never developed enough to become important. Mockingjay – Part 2, though, does a great job tying together most of the book’s parts, even if some are slightly altered. The movie’s dark themes also make themselves evident – the omnipresent terror of war and the poverty, starvation, torture, and suffering that it brings are shown several times. Equally visible is the subtle but powerful sense of hope in every character. The film’s final few scenes end the film perfectly, fulfilling the book’s ideas and leaving a profound impression on the viewers. And for those still left wanting more from Collins’s dystopian world, don’t worry; although Mockingjay is the third and final book in the Hunger Games series, Lionsgate CEO John Feltheimer has shown interest in a possible sequel or prequel movie.
The film has received generally good ratings, with critics giving it an average score of around 6.5 – 7 out of 10. Many praised Jennifer Lawrence’s excellent acting, along with that of Josh Hutcherson, who stars as Peeta Melark, Liam Hemsworth, who plays Gale Hawthorne, and other lead role actors. The powerful underlying themes were also credited and the special effects, while not anything extraordinary, are still top-notch. Most criticism came from the splitting of the book into two separate movies, as well as from the seemingly too-peaceful epilogue and lack of an intimately-understanding relationship between Katniss and Gale. The leading response on Rotten Tomatoes, a popular film review website, sums it up well: “With the unflinchingly grim Mockingjay – Part 2, The Hunger Games comes to an exciting, poignant, and overall satisfying conclusion.”
Overall, Mockingjay – Part 2 is an excellent movie and finale to Suzanne Collins’s series. I highly recommend the film for casual and diehard Hunger Games fans alike, and while you could just wait for it to come out on Netflix, Prime, or Hulu, I urge you to watch it on the big screen. Just make sure you’ve seen the other three first!
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunger_Games:_Mockingjay_%E2%80%93_Part_2
http://www.anderson5.net/cms/lib02/SC01001931/Centricity/Domain/222/Mocking%20Jay.pdf
Image Source abcnews.go.com
