Francis Lawrence's HUNGER GAMES MOCKINGJAY PART 2

Movie review by Dennis D. McDonald

Against my better judgement I watched The Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 2. I was frightfully bored by Part One and had given up on it about halfway through. But I was curious about President Snow's fate, so watch Part 2 I did.

I was again struck by the flabbiness of Jennifer Lawrence's performance as Katniss Everdeen. As I noted in my review of Catching Fire I would much prefer to have someone like Jena Malone play that part as Malone is much better at projecting a range of emotions, something that Lawrence can't be accused of here.

The action set pieces are very well done and, despite the lack of blood and gore, quite intimidating and visceral. The political storyline arc -- Katniss's turn against the leader of the Revolution -- is interesting. But I can't help compare Katniss with female action leads like Sigourney Weaver in Cameron's Aliens or Emily Blunt in Edge of Tomorrow. Katniss just isn't as convincing.

Don't get me started on Peeta. What an empty vessel. At least after he is brainwashed his character showed a bit of spark.

So, I'll give Mockingjay Part 2 marks for more grittiness and interesting action. There are still plotholes and inanities galore, like having the team walk through the capitol city without being attacked by some sort of missile. Plus, as a tale of dystopian politics and revolution the Hunger Games series as a whole is flaccid and limp when compared with more mature tales. But it's decently entertaining as long as you overlook the phone-in performance of its main character.

Review copyright 2017 by Dennis D. McDonald