The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part Two

This review may contain spoilers!

This isn't merely a perfect ending to the Hunger Games franchise, it's one of the best films I've seen this year. I would The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part Two a 9/10.

I think the place I should start off is that this is both parties political film and an intense character study film. The study we get within this film of a dictatorship being overthrown, as well as themes of propaganda and manipulation of power makes for a really interesting and engaging film. This is the best film in the franchise yet to discuss these themes that have been present throughout. The story also looks at the characters and how they have been personally psychologically affected by the events of the films. This results in some of the best acting I've ever seen from most of the younger or newer cast. this film is over two hours but it coasts by at a really well executed pace, everything that's in the film works for the most part towards providing a satisfying conclusion for the series. The score for this movie is intense, this is the best the Hunger Games has sounded in terms of sound. The special effects are brilliant, it's mostly explosions but there are so many new additions that look really good. The cinematography in this film is beautiful, it's one of the most artistic blockbuster films of the year. One of the best looking scenes is Snow's execution, you have to admire how well the shots are composed.

Jennifer Lawrence, who played Katniss Everdeen, has led this franchise incredibly for so long well and she puts her all into this film; you get so much emotional breakdown from her culminating in this amazing scene where she loses it in front of a cat. Donald Sutherland, who played President Snow, has really shined as the antagonist of these films in the Mockingjay two parter; I'm so glad we got a scene with him and Lawrence because they really match against one another really well. Philip Seymour Hoffman, who played Plutarch Heavensbee, performs brilliantly in his final film; Hoffman made Plutarch a really enjoyable and witty character. Julianne Moore, who played President Alma Coin, has come a long way since the last Mockingjay; I think it's great that she embraced the falsehood of Coin and often went over the top with her displays of emotion to convey this. Sam Claflin, who played Finnick Odair, really works wonders alongside Lawrence; he has a fantastic physical presence in this film and one of the saddest death scenes of the film. Mahershala Ali, who played Boggs, gives quite an intense tough performance in this film; he really has some good scenes with Lawrence and his death sets the bar for this film. Jena Malone, who played Johanna Mason, is really twisted in this film; I liked this aspect of her because you could really see the effects the torture had had upon her. Elden Henson, who played Pollux, stands out a lot more in this film because he has so much presence in the tunnel sequences; his display of grief when his brother dies is really intense and a bit of a scene stealer. Patina Miller, who played Commander Paylor, is someone I'm glad had a few solid scenes in this film; Miller brought a lot of charisma and strength into a character that you don't even really see in the books. Michelle Forbes, who played Lieutenant Jackson, excels in her tough soldier role; it was great seeing her challenge Lawrence in one really stand out scene.

However the best performance of the film came from Josh Hutcherson, who played Peeta Mellark. I'll be the first to admit that I was never a big fan of Hutcherson in the first couple of films; his hopeless romantic seemed bogged with cringeworthy dialogue and a rather two dimensional character. This film changed my perspective entirely, Hutcherson delivered some of the best acting I've seen this year. In the film Peeta is recovering from some really extensive torture and brainwashing; he has PTSD and is thrust right into a war zone. Hutcherson takes this challenging character on with a really layered performance, he is constantly showing Peeta's vulnerability and displaying all the effects this psychological damage has had upon him. Fantastic acting at it's best.

I didn't dislike much about this film's plot except for two major things. Firstly the love triangle story that seems to have prevailed across all four films was really strong in this movie. There was no need to be constantly contesting discussions about who would wind up with Katniss out of Gale or Peeta when there was so much more happening within the film. I was also really against the film's last scene, I appreciate that there was an anecdote about Peeta and Katniss having kids in the book but I don't feel like I needed to see that play out as it just meant the film ended upon a slightly weaker note.

Liam Hemsworth, who played Gale Hawthorne, is a very stock male lead in most films he's in and it's not different in this film; he spearheads this love triangle subplot and it just brought the film down for me. Woody Harrelson, who played Haymitch Abernathy, doesn't have anything to do in this film; he still pulls off some good one liners here and there but you don't really feel like Haymitch has anything more to contribute to these films. Willow Shields, who played Primrose Everdeen, needed to be in this film more if they really wanted her death to have an impact; I never really felt like Shields has had much presence in this series and it's no different in this film. Elizabeth Banks, who played Effie Trinket, suffers from the same problems that Harrelson does in that she feels redundant in this film; I thought putting a romance hint between Banks and Harrelson was a pretty cheap move too. Jeffrey Wright, who played Beetee, has no real screen presence in this film; in fact I'd be surprised to learn that he had any more than five lines. Paula Malcomson, who played Katniss's Mother, has never had screen presence in any of these films; but what angers me about it in this film is that we don't even get a good enough reaction over Prim's death from Malcomson. Stanley Tucci, who played Caesar Flickerman, has maybe one scene in this film, I say maybe because it feels like a bad cameo more than a scene. Natalie Dormer, who played Cressida, hasn't done a thing in the Hunger Games movies and she doesn't set out to change that in this film, Henson does a better show of grieving than she does. Evan Ross and Wes Chatham, who played Messalla and Castor respectively, have always felt like glorified extras; you don't really care when they die in this film. Gwendoline Christie, who played Commander Lyme, had a really bad cameo in this film; you just don't care that she's in it because her role has no impact upon the plot and her acting doesn't really stand out.