Review: Mockingjay, Part 2

November 23, 2015

The heavily anticipated finale to the popular movie franchise, “The Hunger Games”, leaves the viewers longing for a better conclusion to the acclaimed trilogy. Photo by BagoGames.

By ANEESA CONINE-NAKANO – Digital Managing Editor

WARNING: This may contain spoilers to books and movies in the Hunger Games series. The heavily anticipated finale to the popular movie franchise, “The Hunger Games”, leaves the viewers longing for a better conclusion to the acclaimed trilogy.

“The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2”, which came out Nov. 20, follows the final adventures of heroine Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) as she fights in a war against President Snow (Donald Sutherland), the main antagonist of the series, while picking between her two love interests, Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) and Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth.)

Though the movie was supposed to provide a conclusion to the popular franchise, the film falls flat. The main problem with “Mockingjay, Part 2” lies within the book it was adapted from, “Mockingjay” by Suzanne Collins.

The final book is by far the worst of the trilogy. For one, there is no clear climax. In the middle of the book, it’s all war action and it does not stop until the death of President Coin (Julianne Moore.) The conclusion is unsatisfying, especially for those who wanted more character depth and closure for Gale and almost any character, except for Katniss and Peeta.

The movie shares all these traits.

In addition, the movie is riddled with awkward timing, ranging from glossed-over scenes to never-ending battle sequences, and an unnecessary, painfully-awkward love triangle.

Despite the sub-par plot, the movie does offer some redeeming factors. The changes from the book to the film actually helps the movie. Elizabeth Banks, who plays District 12 escort Effie Trinket, a character that makes no appearance in the “Mockingjay” book, gives one of the most compelling performances.

Overall, the movie is worth watching if the viewer is a fan of the books and the previous movies, however, the excitement and emotional depth that made the other films great, is not present.

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Aneesa Conine-Nakano

Aneesa Conine-Nakano is a senior and the co-Editor-in-Chief of the ODYSSEY Media Group. Previously, Conine-Nakano has served as the Editor-in-Chief, Managing Editor and Web Master of ODYSSEY Online. Conine-Nakano is passionate about multimedia journalism and strives to make the ODYSSEY’s online presence interactive, informative and engaging. She has presented about digital storytelling at the National Scholastic Press Association, Southern Interscholastic Press Association and Georgia Scholastic Press Association conferences for the last three years. Outside of journalism, Conine-Nakano plays on the varsity golf team, plays cello in the Athens Youth Symphony and is the president of CCHS’ Women in STEM club.