A Dramatically Satisfying Conclusion

​While staying faithful to the book, Mockingjay – Part 2 hits a progressively grim tone until the very end. Nevertheless, the film still manages to entertain and sends our heroines off on a satisfactory note.

---

​Last year's Mockingjay – Part 1 brought tension and character development even though it was a bit slow at times. Should Mockingjay of been one film instead of two? Probably, but that’s Hollywood for ya. Still, director Francis Lawrence (Catching Fire and Mockingjay – Part 1) and his team manage to entertain and bring out the big guns for the final showdown. And like I said last year, all of you Hunger Games bigots can piss off because this is Jennifer Lawrence’s show and she’s marvelous!

Lawrence does it again as the brilliant Katniss Everdeen, sending raw emotion and grief through her character's bones. The film manages to hit all of the page-turners from Suzanne Collins' bestselling third novel. The big final is filled with action, death and consequences. It stays grim until the very end, but will leave fans and viewers alike satisfied. In my opinion, the third book was the weakest of the trilogy due to a messy change in direction and the grand spectacle of book two (Catching Fire).

Nevertheless, the book series came, killed and conquered as did the movie series. All of the actors (Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson, Julianne Moore, Sam Claflin, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright, Stanley Tucci and Donald Sutherland) performed in top-notch for their final series appearance. As for Hoffman, this was his final film appearance ever on the big screen … sad. Continuing from the last film, the war of Panem escalates to the destruction of other districts, Katniss, must bring together an army against President Snow (Sutherland), while all she holds dear hangs in the balance. 

​Sutherland has never been better, while Lawrence delivers the tension that she bought from the very first film three years ago. The film hits the big visual fireworks and racks up the body count bags along the way. It should have been titled "The Hunger Game of Thrones." The star of the film, for me, goes to Hutcherson who plays the beloved Peeta Mellark. He brought on the acting chops and stole multiple scenes with his burning emotion and PTSD symptoms.

​The darkness of the theme showed the audience how power can corrupt heroes as well as villains. The “Girl on Fire” grapples with love, fear and a mortal composition. Mockingjay – Part 1 goes out in style and surpasses its turmoil; while the epilogue unveiled a rather light and sweet note for the series that should leave viewers satisfied … I know I did. Katniss and Peeta’s journey has finally been concluded leaving the Hunger Games no more. 

Mockingjay – Part 1 is rated PG-13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned). For intense sequences of violence and action, and for some thematic material.