The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 marks the end of what has now become perhaps one of the most prolific young adult novel series ever, and holy heck is it good. While I wasn't a fan in the beginning, The Hunger Games is one of those series that seems to mature with its audience, now a far cry from the days Katniss was in the lush woods of the first Games arena.
Symbolic of the increasingly blurred lines between the supposed forces of "good" (meaning the rebels) and "evil" (meaning Snow and his Capital lackeys), Mockingjay - Part 2 is covered in a thick layer of grey, evident in everything from the costumes, vehicles and even the sky, which brilliantly worked to frame Katniss' treacherous journey through the chaotic streets and tunnels of wartime Panem.
Picking up almost right where the last film ended (which means you really should go see the last one before seeing this one), Mockingjay 2 puts Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) in the shoes of the titular Mockingjay once again, kept from the front lines and the people she inspired to be used as a living-idol and paraded in front of cameras and refugees by Alma Coin (Julianne Moore) in order to sway them over to the rebel cause. Sick of the complicated web of politics and hidden agendas her life has become, Katniss leads a small squad of buddies into the Capital against Coin's orders, with the goal of assassinating Snow.
This wouldn't be a Hunger Games movie without sadistic traps and storm-trooper rip-offs of course, so president Snow (Donald Sutherland) and his playful band of game masters have prepared a bunch of "pods" -- which are essentially traps that mutilate their victims in all kinds of creatively macabre ways -- for our heroes to defeat along with the host of Peacekeeper soldiers already hunting them down.
The last instalment of the series was a downer for many fans who enjoyed the first two films, mostly because it was largely devoid of any real teenage-gladiator action. Instead, the last film focused largely on developing the politics and characters involved in the war to free the little people of Panem. This film lies somewhere in the middle of the last film and its more heart-thumping predecessors.
While there are still a lot of idealistic, political expositions being thrown around -- not to mention the tedious love triangle between Katniss, Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) and Gale (Liam Hemsworth), which is now admittedly more interesting, given the characters' change over the last film -- there are still enough satisfying set pieces to appease those of you that prefer your Hunger Games with a little more adrenalin. The winning set-piece definitely has to be the underground sewer mutant fight, which was frightening and gross enough to resemble a Resident Evil film. Those faceless, fang-jawed mutants -- or "Mutts" in Hunger Games talk -- are excellently disturbing, from their visage all the way to how they move, shriek, howl and relentlessly throw themselves at our heroes. The thing I find myself applauding Mockingjay 2 for the most is its brutally honest depictions of the politics behind a war. While many wars have been started for the sake of ideals and beliefs, more often than not the once noble intentions of the idols we hail give way to the greed and ambitions of those who see the chaos as an opportunity to rise up in the world. Katniss' desire to free the various districts from the cruel, tyrannical grips of president Snow is doubtlessly noble. The rebels, who have risen up against oppression, are no doubt justified in the destruction they are wreaking, at least in the context of the films so far.
In this one, however, it is very clear from the beginning that the gloves are off and in war, there are no such things as rules or honour. Katniss' decision to lead the small attack force into the Capital to assassinate Snow was brought on for the very decision of ending the war before it could escalate any further and the noble ideals and soldiers that are fighting in this war are corrupted by the cruelties they are called upon to commit. Even then, Katniss' status as the titular Mockingjay is still used as a tool of propaganda for those pulling the strings of the war, with Coin (Julianne Moore) sending a camera crew to record footage of her in combat in a war zone. It's a disgustingly realistic view of how the media is used as a weapon to win over the public. Despite Katniss' attempt, however, it still took atrocities to bring the people of Panem to surrender. Only the wholesale slaughter of innocents succeeded in bringing down the prejudice held by the decadent people of the Capital.
As Katniss returns home as the "victor" in this conflict, alone, I find myself questioning whether the freedom she has finally attained was worth the price of everything else she held dear.
Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark.
