Film review – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2

I’m one of the Hunger Games’ unlikely fans: I didn’t think I’d like it, but the first two were brilliant (we should see more of Donald Sutherland). Mockingjay Part 1 was okay (kind of), and having seen Part 2, I’m pretty sure that’s where they should have stopped at Part 1

Yes, it was beautifully shot: the actions scenes were real edge-of-your-seat stuff, and the sets were breathtaking. The acting didn’t disappoint (no one’s going to win an oscar, but the performances were creditable).

So, my only real problem was with the movie itself: what was the point? Aside from the obvious (to make the studios a big pot of money), I struggled to see what they were aiming for. I had a similar problem with the Fantastic Four, except that film had been cut to fit into ninety minutes, Mockingjay 2 had been stretched to cover two and a half hours.

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There was an awful lot of travelling about; a lot deep, meaningless conversations in rooms alternating between pitch black and blazingly lit; the heroine wandered back and forth between home and the frontline while sighing and gazing into the middle distance… I started wondering if this could have all been wrapped up in Mockingjay Part 1 with a bit of judicious editing. Maybe not, but there certainly wasn’t enough here for two and half hours.  I guess that the studio (quite rightly) wanted to feel that the audience was getting its money’s worth; I’m just not sure this was the way to do it.

Still, if you’re a Hunger Games fan then you’re going to see it to find out what happens, and so you should. (Just don’t worry too much if you show up late). There are a few interesting twists along the way, though you won’t be hard pressed to see them coming, and as I said, Donald Sutherland was manically brilliant.

Five out of ten.

 

5 thoughts on “Film review – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2”

  1. The biggest mistake was splitting one book (which was roughly the same length as the first two) into two movies. Books 1 and 2 got 2 hour movies that were concise and interesting and well presented. Why did the third book need two movies, for a total of 5 hours? The answer is simple… it didn’t. The third book was my favourite, so action-packed and non-stop. Unfortunately the integrity of that gets compromised when a studio decides to stretch it out to make more money. That said, it was an alright movie, better than Part 1. It just doesn’t hold up to its book or to the first two movies.

  2. After all the time we put in, we did need to see President Snow get his comeuppance (though its kind of hard to because President Snow doesn’t give a crap.) And there was an interesting look at how people start out good with a good cause but take it so far that they often become worse than what they are replacing (we’ve seen that in certain parts of the world). But yes, there was a lot of superfluous material and a lot of looking at maps going, “We’re going to go here, then here, then here” and me just yawning and saying, “I’ll take your word for it, I’m not going to do the math in my head as to whether or not that would work.”

    1. Yes, I didn’t want the bloke smiling in his last minute on earth, but as long as he got what was coming to him. I also expected a few more fireworks when Katniss chose her man. She just told the other fella to get out. 🙁

      1. They made that part (choosing the man) too easy. Her dilemma was they are both nice so who should she choose but without giving it away to anyone reading they wrapped it up so one of them became the clear choice without her having to think about it.

        1. Exactly! The problem I had was that his character changed so quickly to accommodate her choice. He should have started turning in Mockingjay Part 1.

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