The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2

 

The fourth and final part of the franchise finds Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) involuntarily marginalised in the rebellion’s proceedings against President Snow (Donald Sutherland), encouraging the intrepid heroine to take matters into her own hands to play a more central role in the final showdown between the rebels and Panem.

Following on directly from the events of Mockingjay Part 1, director Francis Lawrence has attempted to keep the tone consistent across this two-part final instalment, whilst still allowing for the action that the previous film was criticised for lacking. Unfortunately, this balance between the tense action sequences more commonly associated with blockbuster franchises and the more reflective scenes that build on the characters, tone and politics of this dystopian world is hard to achieve. Mockingjay Part 2 tries to have its cake and eat it too but is hampered by weak first and third acts that frame the suspense and drama of the main body of the film with a sense of anti-climax. Having been the most interesting and effective young adult fiction adaptation since the start of the century, this final chapter seems to run out of steam, dragging itself to its conclusion.

The aching problem here is obvious. The film suffers from the same limitations that acted against Deathly Hallows Part 2 and The Battle of the Five Armies – namely that the final offering of the franchise need not have been split in two in the first place. What is annoying is that, unlike Harry Potter and The Hobbit, The Hunger Games could have spread the complex narrative of Mockingjay across two feature-length films more efficiently and yet the end result is the same, with the final film feeling bloated and disjointed. Instead of being engaging, the scenes in which the politics of Panem and the rebel alliance are discussed seem ponderous and overlaboured. Furthermore, while the action scenes still hold their power for the most part, they do feel somewhat tacked on and limp, as though the cast and crew are going through the motions for the build-up to the final confrontation.

What is particularly lacking is the pace needed to create the rally and crescendo this denouement deserves. Maintaining the political discussions and atmospheric dread of the previous films is of course desirable, but in order to make this effective the peril of the situation – the closing stages of a war – needs to have a sense of impending danger and the potential for success, a sense of ‘now or never’. Instead, the tone is staggered and constantly fluctuates between edge-of-the-seat tension and back-of-the-seat lounging. Rather than keep the more discursive scenes as riveting as in Mockingjay Part 1, Part 2 has followed the fallacy that such scenes should be dull and awkward, impeding the action instead of adding it.

There are also wider problems. There are details that are clearly there to serve the sole purpose of padding out the plot and instantly come across as jarring. There is the unnecessary introduction of a very striking character who has not previously appeared in the series and is used merely as window dressing to humanise the residents of the Capitol. This is pointless, for as the plot progresses and events take a nasty turn, this aim is already achieved. Moreover, since there is so little of the colourful Capitol in the film – which has the same irksome, saturated colour palette as the late Harry Potter and all the Twilight films – the appearance of a truly surreal figure in a such a gritty and dour set-up is, sadly, almost laughable. There is also an unnecessary coda akin to that of Deathly Hallows that feels weak and overly sentimental. What is more, while the central performances remain as strong as ever (especially from Jennifer Lawrence), there are a number of characters that fall by the wayside. Partly, this is due to reliance upon the audience recognising the characters from previous films, which is understandable, but it still feels like a disservice to the series, the author, the roles and the actors to give such short shrift to these characters.

There is, of course, one instance where this is inevitable, however – Plutarch Heavensbee (the late Philip Seymour Hoffman). This tragic element of the series is dealt with very sensitively and does not act as an obstacle to the film at all, even when the absence of Hoffman’s character is notable in proceedings he should be central to. Though this great actor is in little of the film, his presence is felt and the use of a letter from Heavensbee to Katniss acts as a palliative farewell from both Plutarch and Hoffman.

Despite its problems, the achievements of this film must be recognised. Although it does not acquit itself as well as a stand-alone film as the other episodes of series, it does continue the core themes and tone of the previous instalments. The struggle between the uses and abuses of media, the dilemma of using violence even when a cause is deemed good, standing up to an oppressive regime, the dangers of swapping one regime for another, the importance of young people to politics and society, the difficulties of love and friendship – all of these are strong elements of both the series as a whole and this film alone. This is an intelligent blockbuster franchise that does not patronise its core teenage audience and offers a way in to an awareness and discussion of politics for young people that they might not otherwise have had, with a strong and believable female protagonist at the centre of it all. Furthermore, the direction is solid, with some sequences that are as tense as any mainstream horror film of late.

The great shame is that the final chapter of the franchise should feel as lukewarm as it does, going out with more of a whimper than a bang. Yet it cannot be denied that the series has its charm and its thrills in as much abundance as its ideas, and remains the undisputed champion of the recent and copious Young Adult fiction adaptations. Where else could teenagers find a blockbuster action film with so much integrity, sentiment and nuanced allegory? Though Mockingjay Part 2 may not soar, it can certainly fly.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 is showing in Nottingham cinemas now.

The Hunger Games Trailer