DIRECTOR:
Francis Lawrence LEAD
CAST: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Donald
Sutherland, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman PRODUCERS:
Nina Jacobson, Jon Kilik SUPERVISING ART DIRECTORS: David Sheunemnn, Stefan Speth, Dan Webster ADAPTATION: Suzanne Collins (from her novel “Mockingjay”) SCREENPLAY: Peter Craig,
Danny Strong FILM EDITORS: Alan Edward Bell, Mark Yoshikawa
MUSIC: James Newton Howard GENRE: Adventure, Science
Fiction CINEMATOGRAPHER: Jo Willems PRODUCTION MANAGER: Lucy Appleby
PRODUCTION DESIGN: Philip Messina COSTUME DESIGNERS: Kurt
and Bart PRODUCTION COMPANIES:
Color Force, Lionsgate, Studio Babelsberg (co-production) DISTRIBUTORS:
Lionsgate FILMING LOCATIONS:
13 locations in Germany, USA and
France LANGUAGE: English RUNNING TIME: 137 minutes
Technical assessment: 4
Moral assessment: 3
CINEMA rating:
V14
Katniss
Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), both a victor in and subverter of Panem’s Hunger
Games, is now a symbol of the revolution whom rebel president Alma Coin
(Julianne Moore) and power broker Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman) want to use
strictly as a poster girl.
Stubborn freedom-fighter Katniss,
however, has her own agenda, and that includes killing President Snow (Donald
Sutherland]) to end once and for all the senseless deaths of so many young
people. Forming a team of rag-tag
soldiers that include closest friends Gale (Liam Hemsworth), Finnick (Sam
Claflin), and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), she goes off on a mission, risking their
lives through a booby-trapped war to liberate the citizens of Panem. The final confrontation between Katniss
and Snow, presided over by Coin, is an electrifying game-changer.
The
Hunger Games is not exempted from the fad of chopping into
“parts” the movie adaptations of popular books. Harry Potter, Twilight,
The Hobbit—they have all stretched their heroes’ exploits to prolong box
office earning power, and yet the fans wait. After Hunger Games:
Mockingjay Part 1, which, judging from its relatively weak performance at
the tills, must have been a forgettable movie that tested the patience of fans,
Mockingjay Part 2 revs up with more
of the thrills that have made the Hunger
Games series the prototype of dystopia flicks for young adults (Divergent, et al.). The strong cast monumentally
contributes to the realism of the Hunger
Games franchise—how can it go wrong with a leonine Sutherland, a steely
Moore, a sly Hoffman? And, of
course, the winner Lawrence who can equally sell with aplomb parts calling for
either vulnerability or verve. In Mockingjay 2 the stars’ solid
performances, interwoven with heart-stopping CGI, make for a fitting finale to
a story that capitalizes on man’s inhumanity to man.
It’s
surprising that a number of film critics are disappointed with the film’s
ending, calling it “sappy” and an anti-climactic conclusion to an adrenalin-packed
series that promised so much by way of action and heroism. Their cynical remarks remind us of
biblical Israel waiting for a savior who would topple down the ruling elite
with its own brand of kingship, but is instead given a Jesus Christ. CINEMA thinks the ending is actually a
statement that magnifies the upbeat message of the whole story: enough is
enough. Murder as spectator sport is sub-human. At least, when beasts kill, it is to survive, but in Panem,
the poor young people are robbed of choice and must kill in order to live—as
entertainment for the elite. So Mockingjay mocks the elite; it cries,
“Give humanity a chance.” What’s
wrong with wanting to dump violence to start afresh? Choose life, not death. Arrows that used to kill people are
also useful for hunting fowl for the dinner table—is that against the law? “Turn your swords into ploughs and your
spears into pruning hooks.” Maybe
the cynics’ eyes have grown to love the Hunger
Games’ darkness that the sunlight-dappled scenery blinds them. Or maybe after falling in love with the
couture of Panem’s stylish crowd, they’re simply horrified by Katniss’ drastic costume
change. Whatever, CINEMA wouldn’t
have wanted the ending any other way. 
