I’ve said it time and again my underlying distaste for studios which gawk at the adhesive pressure of taking their most precious cash cows, then stretching them to greater lengths in order to expenditure some more profits. Here we are, one year later, with a bittersweet farewell to Katniss Everdeen the girl on fire in her concluding chapter, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2.

Say what you will, but the Suzanne Collins novels/movies are a tough predicament for me, because neither of them are both consistent. Because, while the original de-facto novel which started it all is easily the greatest strength, although it suffered from an iffy-adaptation. I’m not saying I disliked The Hunger Games movie entirely, it’s just hard not to disclose my quarrels with the overall product. Then the next book in the saga proved to me that YES movies can be better than their respective novels. Catching Fire, remains easily (even after seeing Mockingjay Part 2) to me as the best in the franchise, as well as, the only A grade I have rewarded this series.

Mockingjay Part 1 was typical – a filler with a slow build to a conclusion that is none. Mockingjay Part 2 is substantially more impressive in scale this time around, probably because it is the BIG finale. Whatever the case, it still get’s caught in the mid-movie slump, where the only thing that can inject some type of adrenaline into the picture is some sewer dwelling mongrels which I didn’t even know existed, nor does this movie bother to explain. Nonetheless it’s still a very entertaining sequence. More on that later.

Part 2 opens as if the pause button from Part 1 was just lifted, and Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) is caught recovering from Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) malicious attack where he almost ‘squeezed’ the life out of her. The rebels are still fighting onward as Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman in his final onscreen appearance) and Coin (Julianne Moore) are fighting for the death of the capitol. Of course, Katniss is still the main subject, she is, after all, the symbol of hope used as a tool for progression in the ongoing fight to assassinate President Snow (Donald Sutherland). Sadley Katniss not only has to deal with the sacrifices she has already made with her family, but that love triangle thing with Gale (Liam Hemsworth) which is not helping matters..like at all. It’s the kind of ending you can see coming, but don’t want to admit it until it’s over.

All the performers, as usual, have finally come into their own as these characters, which clearly shows in their range throughout the movies. Always do I find it a treat to notice the change from the first adventure to our last. Lawrence specifically comes to mind. Since Hunger Games, she has gone on to national acclaim, including an Oscar while Hutcherson, and Hemsworth have some catching up to do. Lawrence has always been a marvel to watch grow so It’s kind of fitting to see the bow take it’s final stride one last time, in retrospect it’s symbolic of her career. Although I think most will agree she is well in her prime.

That being said, the final conclusion (or final scene – WHICH I won’t reveal here) – is kind of unbecoming of the standards this series had already set forth. It’s loose and felt cheeky, instead of having the emotional punch I anticipated, it sort of felt like an appeal to mass audiences. Basically, the ending was exactly what you would expect. I just thought Katniss was more bold, and stronger than what was scripted. Still – she handles every juxtaposition with ease, taming her own will against the backdrop of a male induced Hollywood image, so the fact she can stand her own as one of today’s action heroines is a landmark in itself. How she can inspire so much courage within the world is amazing, and young girls everywhere have someone to look up too (whether that be her actions are always redeemable – sometimes they are not). One thing is for certain, Jennifer Lawrence is Katniss Everdeen.  

Ideally, tears will be shed as we lose yet another franchise to the will of an author knowing when it is a good time to end the series, which, honestly is now. If The Hunger Games had another movie left in its arsenal, I hesitate to think how poorly constructed it would be. Because of that notion, Mockingjay Part 2 is equal parts slow, and fun, but teaters between formulaic sci-fi gimmicky fare (especially when you throw zombies in the mix) and just wild. Part 2 won’t disappoint in the level of grand spectacle. Because Part 2 is a full blown blockbuster, as well it should be.  
In the final seconds I could not help but think, this may not have been the Mockingjay movie we deserved, but it’s definitely the one we got. I can only imagine how much stronger this final film could have been if only they had liquidated it down into one film. When are studios going to learn that less is sometimes more. Luckily, In Mockingjay Part 2 case, it seems the odds were still in their favor, barley.  B