The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2

I just saw the movie last night and I've gotta say it was an epic end. Really emotional and has a strong theme. I was reading through some reviews and saw people who say it was rushed and I don't know what they were talking about. How is a story divided in two 2 hour parts in any way rushed? If anything it was dragged out. One thing I found a bit off though was how most deaths were completely bloodless, which wasn't the case in the books at all. It did keep true to the book for the most part which is always good when making adaptations. The beginning started pretty much where the last film ended. The ending was satisfying and bittersweet and did not disappoint. Probably both the darkest and the most epic of all Hunger Games films. Overall it's a great movie and epic end to the franchise. I recommend it for all Hunger Games fans.

The franchise started with such promise but seemed to lessen with each film. In this one, the journey towards President Snow was laboured and repetitive. Character development was paint by numbers to non existent. Films 3 and 4 might have been more impactful if retained in one film. But we get the ending... that's something.

This film managed something quite unusual for me: it moved me to tears. While some scenes might feel a bit slow at first, it's all worth it to create the steady build up to the conclusion. Jennifer Lawrence is flawless as Katniss, as are all the other actors. The tone throughout the film can be bleak and unsettling, but it also reflects what some on our planet have to endure, something many of us find hard to imagine. This film is unforgiving, but you won't regret a single moment of it.

Reluctant symbol of the revolution, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) leads a small group of freedom fighters into Panem to try and assassinate the wicked President Snow (Donald Sutherland).

When they split Mockingjay into 2 parts, presumably for no other reason than financial gain, there was always the concern that the story would be far too drawn out (as with The Hobbit). And despite several decent action scenes (including booby-trap pods, a tidal wave of tar, and a mutt attack) that's precisely what has happened: at a whopping 137 minutes, this last film in the series feels like the proverbial dead horse has been well and truly flogged.

I watched purely for the sake of completion, but at no point did I feel involved in the story or engaged with the characters. I just sat there waiting for the whole thing to end so I could move on to something else. A shame, because if they had taken the good bits from both Mockingjay movies and combined them into one (slightly longer) film, it might have been the best of the series and a fitting finalé for Katniss and co.

Wow. I think this has got to be one of the most disappointing ending installments to a film series I've ever seen. The previous films build this installment up so much that you actually expect it to be the ultimate one of the 4-film series, with plenty of action, suspense, and drama, and given the way the previous films unfolded that expectation wouldn't be unwarranted. Unfortunately the exact opposite happened and instead of getting a really exciting & thrilling end film, we get a very slow, somewhat dull, melodramatic experience. I mean the first moment of any thrills is about 75 minutes in and yet only lasts for 10 minutes, and the thing is, those 10 minutes are the most exciting the film gets.

I saw a couple of comments from people where they said this is "Battle Royale II goes all Twilight" and "Battle Royale with cheese" in describing this film and I think those are two perfect ways to sum this installment up, especially with the romance line and the way Kayniss went from Peeta to Gale then back again.

After the completely over-hyped first installment, I found that the series was actually getting better, which was unexpected due to how lame the first film was. Catching Fire was MUCH better and blew the first film out the water. The third installment dipped a wee bit but was still decent enough and I thought it set everything up for a good climactic end film. I thought wrong because instead of a great climax it was more of a damp squib. Even the end scenes were about as exciting as a wet weekend in Grimsby. The whole film was just one big disappointment, especially given the build up from the previous three films and the whole "revenge" theme that was portrayed.

If you want thrills you won't get it here. If you want action you'll need to look elsewhere. If you want a boring melodramatic Twilight type of film with some cheesy romantic undertones then this is for you.

This is definitely not the ending I was hoping for.