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Review: Hunger Games Finale Provides Just Enough Closure

By Layna Jade · November 23, 2015

The lengths that man (or woman) will go to gain or maintain power takes center stage during the final interlude of the Hunger Games movie franchise. The movie itself picks up right where part one left off with Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) undergoing examination following her rather bittersweet reunion with Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson). Peeta's seen better days, his memories having been hijacked into believing Katniss is his sworn enemy.

So, who can trust whom? No one seems to be entirely certain. Katniss can barely trust herself, especially when it comes to her wayward affections for the oft lukewarm, yet stoic Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth) and the aforementioned Peeta, the maniacal, though at times kind, bakers’ son.  The one thing she does know is that President Snow (Donald Sutherland) must go.

Well then, let the games begin.

Despite the engaging opening, the movie takes too long to find its footing. This may have more to do with the fact that Mockingjay is divided into two parts (in my opinion, Catching Fire could have benefitted from this treatment more, but alas). The result is that the filmmakers have double the running time to fill. The film's opening sections lack the immediacy and urgency of the previous films. The characters come across as not knowing exactly what to do while Katniss makes up her mind on whether or not to storm the Capitol.

And I'm sorry — as much as I love Finnick Odair (Sam Claflin), his marriage to Annie and the Irish/Celtic/clog dancing that followed failed to provide me with any sort of excitement other than instilling me with hope that the maniacal Peeta would show up and crash the wedding. Sadly, that did not happen.

Once Katniss decides to “stow away” — with the help of Johanna Mason (Jena Malone), who is sadly underused — she ends up primed and ready on the front lines of District 2.

This is where the movie starts to pick up the pace with Katniss embedding herself with Boggs and his crew with Finnick, fresh from his honeymoon, joining soon after. Of course, being that Katniss is the Mockingjay, they don’t expect her to do any real fighting (she’s the face of the rebellion and whatnot). However, Katniss isn’t just there to pose – she’s on a mission. That is, until Peeta gets deposited on the front lines by Coin. Blows are exchanged, and a certain character meets their ends far to soon into the picture. Sure the death serves as a catylyst, but it feels dramatically premature. Anyways, eventually the rest of the group decides to follow Katniss to the Capitol. Keep on keeping on, I suppose.

The team presses on all while trying their best to keep Peeta lucid. While, I never was a fan of the Gale/Katniss/Peeta love triangle, this installment probably handles it the best. It is understandable that Katniss and Peeta, who are both quite traumatized by now, would cling together in moments like this. After all, their shared experiences are of a difficult sort to explain to other, less weathered people. 

Soon, the gang reaches the Capitol but nothing is quite as it seems. Katniss and Gale decide to storm the palace and take Snow by surprise but they face unexpected resistance and are soon thwarted. In a world where adults gladly toss children into arenas for the slaughter, nothing is truly off limits. The last one standing controls everything, a point which is painfully driven home at every chance possible.

As the supposed final film for this version of the Hunger Games saga, there's enough familiarity here to suck you right back in. While, not my personal favorite, it was nice to see President Coin (Julianne Moore) and Plutarch Heavensbee, played by the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman, back in the fray. It made me quite wistful and actually rather relieved to see that the filmmakers took the effort to maintain his presence in the film. 

On top of that, the cinematography in Mockingjay alternates between suitably grim and unexpectedly beautiful. The mute backdrop mixed with the diluted grays and blues of District 13 contrast nicely with the war torn landscape of District 2. It helps sell the scope of the journey as the group makes its way to the Capitol to defeat Snow. The bleak cinematography highlights the suffering and naïvete that existes within the streets of the Capitol. It's an intertesting visual approach. 

Another thing that ought to be commended is the fact that the film is so diverse. It's nice to see so much diversity represented in the roles of the individual characters. It is also great to see the female characters in high-ranking positions calling all the shots. Thank you, Suzanne Collins and Francis Lawrence!

There are bits of fan service scatterred throughout as well, including a brief allusion to a certain fan favorite romance that devotees have been waiting for since the series' inception. In closing, while not the strongest of the series – Mockingjay delivers on its promise to provide a solid ending to an internationally beloved franchise. It's definitely worth the price of admission, even if it fails to set a new bar for the franchise.