“THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY – PART 2” (2015): A GOOD SEQUEL FILM

It is a 2015 dystopian science fiction adventure film directed by Francis Lawrence, with a screenplay by Peter Craig and Danny Strong. 

It is the fourth and final installment in The Hunger Games film series, and the second of two films based on the novel Mockingjay, the final book in The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. 

An American-German co-production, the film was produced by Nina Jacobson and Jon Kilik, and distributed by Lionsgate. 

It features an ensemble cast that includes Jennifer Lawrence (she has apost in my blog), Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks (she has a post in my blog), Julianne Moore (she has a post in my blog), Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Donald Sutherland. 

Hoffman died in February 2014, marking his final film role: REST IN PEACE! He has a post in my blog.

The story continues from The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (it has a post in my blog) with Katniss Everdeen (Lawrence) preparing to win the war against President Snow (Sutherland) and the tyrannical Capitol. Together with Peeta, Gale, Finnick, and others, she travels to the Capitol to kill Snow. Principal photography on both parts of Mockingjay began on September 23, 2013 in Atlanta, before moving to Paris for two weeks of back-to-back filming and officially concluding on June 20, 2014, in Berlin and at Babelsberg Studio, which served as a co-producer.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 premiered in Berlin on November 4, 2015, and was theatrically released in the United States on November 20, 2015, in 2D and IMAX, and internationally in 2D, 3D, RealD Cinema, and IMAX 3D in select territories; it is the only film in the series widely released in 3D. Falling below expectations internationally and domestically with a $102 million gross over its opening weekend in North America, the film had the sixth-biggest opening in 2015, but held at number one at the international box office for four consecutive weekends. The film grossed over $658 million worldwide, making it the ninth highest-grossing film of 2015 but still a commercial success.

Mockingjay – Part 2 received generally positive reviews from critics, for its performances (particularly Lawrence, Hutcherson and Sutherland's), screenplay, musical score and action sequences, though it was criticized for splitting the final adaptation into two separate parts. The film was nominated for Best Fantasy Film at the 42nd Saturn Awards. It received three nominations at the 21st Empire Awards for Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Best Actress (Lawrence) and Best Production Design. For her part, Jennifer Lawrence was nominated for Best Actress in an Action Movie at the 21st Critics' Choice Awards.

Plot

After being attacked by a brainwashed Peeta Mellark, Katniss Everdeen joins an assault on the Capitol's armory in District 2. An aggravated civilian named Pugnax shoots her, but she is saved by her bulletproof Mockingjay suit. President Coin refuses to let Katniss join the "Star Squad", a group of rebels set to infiltrate the Capitol, but Johanna offers to cover Katniss while she sneaks onboard a helicopter on its way to the Star Squad. She meets up with the team, which includes Gale, a recently-married Finnick, and Peeta, who is still not fully recovered.

Led by Boggs, the team makes their way to the Capitol, evading booby-trapped "pods" placed along the way with Boggs' holographic map (the "holo"). Boggs is fatally wounded by a pod and bestows the holo to Katniss before dying. The squad accidentally trigger another pod, releasing a flood of lethal black tar, and Peeta momentarily succumbs to his conditioning and attacks Katniss, killing Mitchell in the process. Most of the squad escapes, unbeknownst to the Capitol.

Katniss refuses to kill Peeta, but Gale states that he would kill him if needed. The Capitol broadcasts another message of Snow's denouncement of the rebellion, but the rebels hijack the air, and Coin gives an impassioned eulogy that rallies the rebels. Katniss and the Star Squad attempt to advance through the sewers but are caught on camera. They are ambushed by genetically engineered "mutts" that kill four squad members, including Finnick.

Snow invites Capitol citizens to take shelter at his mansion, forming a human shield. Katniss and Gale plan to sneak into Snow’s mansion to assassinate him. On the way, a massive explosion disrupts their plan. In the confusion, Peacekeepers herd Capitol children toward the palace gates, when a hovercraft with a Capitol insignia bombs the crowd, causing mass casualties. As the rebel medics, including Katniss's sister Prim, tend to the injured, a second wave of bombs are dropped, killing Prim and knocking Katniss unconscious.

Katniss awakens, and Haymitch informs her the rebels have won because the senseless bombing turned the Capitol citizens against Snow. Katniss confronts Snow, who explains that Coin staged the bombing to turn the Peacekeepers against Snow. Katniss realizes Gale had suggested a similar strategy to her, and is stunned when Gale cannot deny his part in Prim's death.

Coin calls a meeting of the surviving Hunger Games victors, where she declares herself the interim President of Panem. She calls for a vote for a final Hunger Games, but instead using the children of Capitol leaders as revenge. Katniss votes yes, under the condition that she is able to execute Snow. At Snow's execution, Katniss kills Coin instead, which causes a riot of citizens to also kill Snow. Peeta stops Katniss from committing suicide and she is arrested. In captivity, Haymitch brings Katniss a letter from Plutarch assuring she will be pardoned, there will be no “last Hunger Games”, and she will be able to return to District 12.

When home, she screams at Buttercup that Prim is never coming back, before embracing the cat. She finds Peeta, who has fully recovered from his conditioning and is planting Primrose flowers in the garden. They receive a letter from Annie, Finnick's wife, telling them that her and Finnick’s son has been born, that Katniss’ mother is still treating survivors and Gale was promoted to Captain. Commander Paylor is elected the new President of Panem.

Years later, Katniss and Peeta, now married, play with their two children in a field. Their infant son cries from a nightmare, and Katniss promises to tell stories of her role in The Hunger Games and the rebellion.

Music

The film score was released on December 4, 2015. James Newton Howard returned to compose the film score; unlike the previous films in the series, there is no additional pop companion album with songs inspired by the film. Jennifer Lawrence performed "Deep in the Meadow", a lullaby that she sang in the first film.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Prim Visits Peeta"	1:25
2.	"Send Me to District 2"	2:09
3.	"Go Ahead, Shoot Me"	4:58
4.	"Stowaway"	3:36
5.	"Your Favorite Color Is Green"	2:25
6.	"Transfer Command"	8:31
7.	"Your Next Step"	2:30
8.	"The Holo"	3:46
9.	"Sewer Attack"	8:00
10.	"I Made It Up"	1:28
11.	"Mandatory Evacuation"	3:14
12.	"Rebels Attack"	5:17
13.	"Snow's Mansion"	5:16
14.	"Symbolic Hunger Games"	2:08
15.	"Snow's Execution"	1:57
16.	"Plutarch's Letter"	3:01
17.	"Buttercup"	1:09
18.	"Primrose"	3:16
19.	"There Are Worse Games to Play/Deep in the Meadow/The Hunger Games Suite" (featuring Jennifer Lawrence)	9:41

 

Critical response

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for action sequences and performances but criticism for splitting the book into two separate adaptations. On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 70%, based on 282 reviews, with an average rating of 6.5/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "With the unflinchingly grim Mockingjay Part 2, The Hunger Games comes to an exciting, poignant, and overall satisfying conclusion." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 65 out of 100, based on 44 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.

Lawrence, Hutcherson, and Sutherland received praise for their performances. The supporting cast's performances, particularly Harrelson, Claflin, and Malone's, were also highly praised, but critics felt their appearances were too brief. Several critics also commented on the film's dark tone, even by comparison to its predecessors. Manohla Dargis from The New York Times praised Lawrence's character saying, "Katniss is the right heroine for these neo-feminist times." Stephen Whitty from New York Daily News said, "'Remember that line from the first 'Hunger Games' film: "May the odds be ever in your favor"? Yeah, well, that luck has run out'."

Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly remarked, "With its political power struggles and prodigious body count, all rendered in a thousand shades of wintry greige, the movie feels less like teen entertainment than a sort of Hunger Games of Thrones." Robbie Collin awarded the film four out of five stars and called the film "scorchingly tense". In his review for The Telegraph, he praised the film for "being intense" and lauded the performances of Lawrence and Hoffman."

Benjamin Lee, writing for The Guardian, felt that "the decision to split the final chapter of the dystopian saga into two chapters looms large over a frustratingly-paced mixture of thrilling action and surprisingly dark drama." He praised Jennifer Lawrence's acting and Francis Lawrence's direction and commented, "The decision to turn a 390-page book into over four hours' worth of screen time (and a bonus payday) has resulted in a patchy end to a franchise that started so promisingly." Tom Huddleston of Time Out gave the film four out of five stars. He praised the ending of the film as "genuinely powerful", and commented that "this might be the most downbeat blockbuster in memory, a film that starts out pitiless and goes downhill from there, save for a fleeting glimmer of hope in the final moments. It's a bold statement about the unforgiving nature of war, unashamedly political in its motives and quietly devastating in its emotional effect."