The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2

It can be seen that the film was very expensive and narrative-based, the music is dynamically thundering, the actors are trying, the directing is skilled, etc. However, none of this can obscure the fact that from the point of view of the story, there is simply almost nothing interesting going on in the film, whilst what could have been interesting is pointlessly truncated to a minimum. After the previous, worn-out work, I was looking forward to the announced civil war and the grand finale, but I did not get to see anything like that, and instead I was served another load of the same boredom. Most of the film has a rather sluggish pace and suffers from shallow dialogues that more or less repeat the same thing that has been said before. There are only two more decent action scenes in 135 minutes, and we get to see only a short fraction of the most important of them - the attack of the insurgents on the Capitol. (21/11/2015)

A worthy ending. It doesn't make it into the cinematic benchmarks due to its relative emotional flatness, incompleteness and fairytale-ness (ironically, Lord of the Rings is exactly the opposite), but the filmmaking is top-notch and Katniss Everdeen is the driving force behind the whole project, even if the long glances are often unnecessary and the impassioned dialogue isn't exactly heartfelt. Even though I hadn’t read the book, I guessed the finale a good halfway through the film, but it plays to a clearly written plot from the start, where nothing is meant to be a coincidence and everything is clearly working towards a goal. It's not about the element of surprise, it's about liking this fictional world and the characters in it, and childishly rooting for the rebels against the tyrant. Visually, of course, it's appropriately fluffy and it pretty much feels like a war movie with the backdrop of a destroyed Yugoslavia, but whatever. There's not much going on anyway, and the two great scenes (the oil, the sound of drops in the canal) are great to enjoy in the cinema. (28/11/2015)

Even though I left the movie theater disappointed because I still think the film lacked suitable progression and only aimed for effect with some scenes (this was very positively achieved in the underground scene, in its most dramatic part), I do think the socially critical themes are accentuated well here, and it's possible to ponder over the film. In the end, the romance ends a bit foolishly and without the necessary punch, but it's bearable. (19/11/2015)

Even as I was awestruck watching how Danny Strong and Peter Craig adapted the dragging first half of my least favorite book into the best of the films, I knew that their final arrow, like Katniss, would hit the target perfectly. Fortunately, I was not mistaken, and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 became my favorite Hunger Games adaptation in the most obvious way. It is mainly because of the brilliant gradation, which transitions from depressing dialogue and a gloomy atmosphere to intense battles, painful losses – and even more depressing dialogue. Two climax scenes (the sewer and the march to the palace) had me on the edge of my seat so much that I found myself holding my breath at times, despite knowing all the twists. And that's exactly what Mockingjay is about. It's about an ending that fulfills the most tragically imaginable irony, about heroes who are irreversibly marked and worth rooting for until the very last second. But first and foremost, Hunger Games is the story of a Girl on Fire, whose destiny and determination can be a metaphor, a prototype, a warning, and everything else imaginable. Even if only to ensure that none of us ever have to stand in her place. (22/11/2015)

The final part of the book trilogy and the film tetralogy wasn’t all that different from the previous installment, so I got a huge dose of grandiose speechifying, and I wasn’t spared the inevitable clichés, melodrama, and the cat of course. What surprised me was the ending, though. I was expecting a postapocalyptic-fairytale finale, but the conclusion to the story was downright biblical. A man and a woman..... A pair of teenagers lie down in bed, tell each other they love each other, and wake up the next day as parents of two children, one of whom is obviously of Chinese descent. Mary with her immaculate conception can't match that. But back to the film. Once again, the filmmakers used tried and tested techniques to create a pompous CGI spectacle and a story whose logic is so flimsy that entire city blocks slip through its cracks. At the same time, they were unable to build up an atmosphere that would have any kind of effect on me, which is why I found the whole thing oddly lifeless to the point of boring. I didn't care what happened to any of the characters, and when some of the characters met their tragic fate, I didn't really feel anything. The film simply felt empty and unimpressive. I was just two hours of nothing. And to think how hard Donald Sutherland was trying... / Lesson learned: Are you fighting for great ideals? Prepare to be disappointed. (11/09/2022)