What began as a funny 'Battle Royal' for teens comes to a conclusion as one of the best blockbusters in recent memory. It's almost unbelievable how the tone progressively changed from the colorful brutality of the first film to the grayscale palate of a very real world portrayed in Mockingjay - Part 2.
The conclusion to 'The Hunger Games' saga is slow, dark and heavy. Starts gloomy and goes downhill from there. It feels anti-climatic and manages to achieve levels of tension only grasped by the previous films. All at the same time.
The fascinating thing about the film is how unexpected and unforgiven it is. The struggles feel real as do the consequences, and hopelessness permeates all of it.
The film has its shortcomings. It starts slows, drags a little on some scenes and contains some lazy writing, but other than that it's almost perfectly executed. Jennifer Lawrence is flawless as Katniss and majestically leads the devastating journey towards its conclusion.
Part 2 is bold and devastating. It may not be the conclusion some fans wanted, it sure wasn't what they're expected, but it's a way better conclusion than one could hope for.
A thank you note to Francis Lawrence for the eerie sewer tunnel scene, which plays as the love child of "Alien" and "The Descent" - very unusual in tone and something no one is expecting to watch in a blockbuster of this size.
