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| Last Arrow: Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen in "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2." |
The battle for Panem reaches its finale in “The Hunger
Games: Mockingjay Part 2,” the mostly compelling, if sometimes tepid conclusion
to the cinematic saga based on the novels of Suzanne Collins.
Once again directed by Francis Lawrence—who took over
the reins of the franchise after the first installment—the story resumes with
Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) leading a gang of rebels on a mission to invade
the Capitol and, by her own iconic bow and arrow, assassinate its ruthless leader.
Naturally, there are plenty of obstacles along the way.
The Capitol landscape comes riddled with lethal booby traps, the most elaborate
of which is a city square sealed off and flooded in inky oil in an attempt to
drown the plucky heroine and her charges. Later, when the characters take their
trek underground, they encounter vicious so-called mutts (computer-generated
creatures that suggest a cross between faceless extraterrestrials and a
gruesome team of flying trapeze artists) guarding the murky sewers by the
dozens.
Along with frequent bursts of violence, Katniss’
fractured relationship with Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), her District 12 partner
and love interest, provides an undercurrent of emotional conflict with an edge
of menace. Peeta, who unwittingly attacked and nearly killed Katniss after
being captured by the enemy and brainwashed at the end of the previous film,
here resembles a soldier left shell shocked by war, seemingly normal yet
potentially dangerous. “Sometimes I’m alert,” he says, “other times, it’s like
I’m sleepwalking.”
Similarly, the whole movie has a tendency to be
soporific, as if the fight has outlasted the characters. Action sequences are
highly charged and sometimes exciting, but there’s a feeling that everyone is battle
fatigued and tired. Rejected by his people, the once evil and menacing
President Snow (Donald Sutherland) is now almost a sympathetic figure, stricken
with illness and pale like a ghost; even Katniss, once mighty with resolve,
seems worn out and subdued, as if the horrors she’s experienced—along with
those she dreads—have drained the life from her.
In the film’s overly sentimental last scene, a future Katniss
talks about what she does to combat the nightmares from her past, a recurring strategy
that involves looking for the good in people. “It gets a little tedious at times,”
she admits. Perhaps it’s a similar sense of tediousness—of the inevitable
misery, loss and futility of war—that causes “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part
2” to land with more of a thud than a roar. Maybe it’s even true that it
should.
