The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2

Grade: C+

One-Liner: Like Katniss’ unusually perfect side braid, it’s nothing we haven’t seen before. 

The girl who was once on fire has simmered down to a single ember. The final installment of The Hunger Games series — Mockingjay Part 2 — was rather disappointing compared to its predecessors. Though many fans would point to the fact that the third book is often the least popular anyway, I’d like to note that it happens to be my favorite of the franchise, so I didn’t come in with the same bias against the story.

In fact, I thought Mockingjay Part 1 was the best film J.Law and Co. have made yet. It had impressive character development, not-so-subtle political undertones, and real balls-to-the-wall battles. But for its final attempt, The Hunger Games series fell flat. 

Though I know it’s my job to be able to dissect these things, I struggled to pinpoint exactly what left me so apathetic leaving the theater. Perhaps it’s that we’ve seen it all before — from Katniss’ frustrations over the Mockingjay propaganda to her never-ending love triangle that’s kind of hard to root for — or maybe it’s the fact that the third book really didn’t need two films.  

The movie’s saving grace happened to come from some of the previously underutilized characters — like Donald Sutherland’s President Snow, Julianne Moore’s President Alma Coin, Natalie Dormer’s Cressida, Patina Miller’s Commander Paylor, and Mahershala Ali’s Boggs. And if the movie had focused on Jena Malone’s Johanna Mason, it would have been vastly more captivating. But for the same reasons that Johanna wasn’t chosen to be the face of a revolution — her candor, her brazen sexuality, and her willingness to do the wrong thing for the greater good — she sadly wasn’t chosen to be the star of this series. 

Instead we’re left with a more drab and ambivalent Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) than ever. Her lack of chemistry between her costars was so strong that by the time she finally made a decision between Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) and Gale (Liam Hemsworth) there was more mocking laughter in the theater than romantic sighs. Fans of Lawrence are probably better off checking out her latest David O. Russell-thon, Joy, if they’re looking for any real signs of emotion from the Oscar winner.