This movie surprised me with its non-pandering, unapologetically adult tone and its overall grimness. I'd willingly call it the best constructed of the franchise. Unfortunately, it is only half a movie and is therefore ineligible for anything higher than 2.5/5. The problem with Mockingjay 2 is that its been so long since anyone saw Mockingjay 1 and especially Catching Fire that its very easy to forget faces, names and events. Essential characters like Prim and Finnick barely have one scene before their deaths and as a result we have to fall back on hazy memory to feel any pain for their loss.
Francis Lawrence finally settles a grim, morose and appropriate tone for these movies, which are meant to be completely miserable. He borrows elements from The Hurt Locker and The Godfather and whilst no one should ever compare this film to those masterpieces, the elements transfer well. The incredibly tense moments aren't even undone by the PG-13 violence that has plagued the films in the past, due to great harsh sound editing and Lawrence's use of smoke, fire and water to conceal things without the need for shaky cam.
Donald Sutherland is the best thing about the entire film, continuing to drip with malice. His scene with Katniss in the greenhouse is a spectacular culmination of his character, as Sutherland's warm reasoning cuts deep into the girl desperate to blame him for her sister's death. Natalie Dormer is always good, even the half second glimpses we see of her wielding her assault rifle leaving me hungry to see more of her in action films.
The rest of the cast is either average or wasted. Julianne Moore seems not to be trying all that hard, and though by her standards that still equals an okay performance, she never really excels as a woman of her calibre should. We barely register the presences of Jeffrey Wright, Gwendoline Christie or Patina Miller (whose character ends up being President by the way), whilst Stanley Tucci, Jeffrey Wright Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Mahershala Ali and the late great Phillip Seymour Hoffman simply serve as background wallpaper to their much less talented co-stars. I don't care for Lawrence's performance as she seems to have a default facial expression when she should be expressing something - SOMETHING! Hutcherson is clearly out of his game acting alongside everyone else, and Hemsworth is nothing to write home about.
The screenplay manages to improve a lot of the stuff I found objectionable in the book. Many of the characters are given better deaths than in the book, especially Finnick. The plot turns and villains are less obscure, especially regarding Coin. If the two Mockingjay films had been a single cinematic experience, I'd have given it a positive review. Shame.
Francis Lawrence finally settles a grim, morose and appropriate tone for these movies, which are meant to be completely miserable. He borrows elements from The Hurt Locker and The Godfather and whilst no one should ever compare this film to those masterpieces, the elements transfer well. The incredibly tense moments aren't even undone by the PG-13 violence that has plagued the films in the past, due to great harsh sound editing and Lawrence's use of smoke, fire and water to conceal things without the need for shaky cam.
Donald Sutherland is the best thing about the entire film, continuing to drip with malice. His scene with Katniss in the greenhouse is a spectacular culmination of his character, as Sutherland's warm reasoning cuts deep into the girl desperate to blame him for her sister's death. Natalie Dormer is always good, even the half second glimpses we see of her wielding her assault rifle leaving me hungry to see more of her in action films.
The rest of the cast is either average or wasted. Julianne Moore seems not to be trying all that hard, and though by her standards that still equals an okay performance, she never really excels as a woman of her calibre should. We barely register the presences of Jeffrey Wright, Gwendoline Christie or Patina Miller (whose character ends up being President by the way), whilst Stanley Tucci, Jeffrey Wright Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Mahershala Ali and the late great Phillip Seymour Hoffman simply serve as background wallpaper to their much less talented co-stars. I don't care for Lawrence's performance as she seems to have a default facial expression when she should be expressing something - SOMETHING! Hutcherson is clearly out of his game acting alongside everyone else, and Hemsworth is nothing to write home about.
The screenplay manages to improve a lot of the stuff I found objectionable in the book. Many of the characters are given better deaths than in the book, especially Finnick. The plot turns and villains are less obscure, especially regarding Coin. If the two Mockingjay films had been a single cinematic experience, I'd have given it a positive review. Shame.