The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 review

Title: The Hunger Games: Mockingly Part 2
Director: Francis Lawrence
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence
         Josh Hutcherson
         Elizabeth Banks
         Woody Harrelson
Certificate: 12A
Runtime: 137 minutes

The Hunger Games franchise has proven to be something of a rarity over the last few years, being one of the only teen franchises actually worth watching. That said, the final instalment in this billion dollar franchise suffers from the same problem as the final Hobbit film last year, it feels incredibly underwhelming. It was safe to say that Part 1 of Mockingjay was spent primarily setting the scene for the revolution that was take place in this film. The biggest problem with this is that you spend a year anticipating a film, so no matter what it may seem quite disappointing.

Firstly, the positives. The acting in the film is as great as usually in this franchise, with Jennifer Lawrence's Katniss Everdeen stealing the show all the way through. That, in my opinion at least, is what has really allowed this franchise to stand head and shoulders above most others, the acting is really quite good in all four films. Josh Hutcherson's Peeta Melllark finally gets a chance to do a lot more in this film, fleshing out his character quite a bit in the process, just a shame that it took until the last film for this to finally happen. Woody Harrelson, as usual, is greatly entertaining to watch, as is Elizabeth Banks' Effie Trinket.

Furthermore, the direction in film is also very impressive, with none of the action scenes ever feeling overly chaotic or leaving you with nausea. Although, there is one particular sequence around two thirds into the film that feels very similar, almost too much so, to James Cameron's 1986 classic "Aliens". This Particular sequence, thrilling as it is, does provide a fairly important plot point in spurring on the rebellion, but also feels kind of rushed and a bit like an excuse to increase the run time; speaking of which....

The pacing. OH MY GOD, the pacing in this film is completely off. For a film that is (excluding credits) just over 2 hours long, this feels more like watching the extended cut of Return of the King. Similar to that film as well, Mockingjay Part 2 has about 5 different endings within the final act of the film. The film already felt overstuffed, but now the content had filled the film, and had fallen into the realm of boredom. There is actually one point towards the end in which Katniss looks down and mutters "this is tedious", and I couldn't help but agree though I feel we we're talking about different things.

Furthermore, there seemed to be a large lack of actual revolution in this film despite the premise for the entire franchise. There are a couple of scenes in which tension was brought to the front, and it truly is edge of your seat stuff, but there is just not enough of these moments. All in all, this does provide a somewhat satisfying end to the franchise, but I feel it just could have been better.

6/10