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. (22/11/2015)

I got exactly what I’d wanted to get from the last installment of Hunger Games. And you can add to it the fact that it’s most likely the roughest episode. I felt almost sorry that the entire story is meant for teenagers, so I wouldn’t get to see torn-up bodies or guts spilled all over the battlefield. This installment was literally asking for it. But I must admit that it’s pretty much made up for by the ending. Nevertheless, same as with all the previous installments, this one also has a problem with length, meaning mainly the first twenty minutes. During those I got to experience once again how easily twenty minutes can turn into a really long time. These twenty minutes loaded with facts are followed by the last Hunger Game and with it a succession of thrilling scenes that I really enjoyed. So, in conclusion, I’d like to add that within these young adult stories, Hunger Games is the best. Great soundtrack, amazing actors and if some of the parts weren’t so pointlessly long, I would have no problem giving it a five-star review. (26/11/2015)

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 last installment of the series is slightly better than the previous journey into the world of Panem simply because it is less talkative and manages to show action and throw in some attractions in the form of mutant attacks or clever traps for the rebel team throughout its long duration. Unfortunately, it is also the most convincing evidence of how poorly the world is designed and how (un)functional it actually is. Nothing really makes sense in the film. In the third installment, the ruling regime is in control and capable of delivering devastating blows to the rebels, so we quickly reach the "battle for Berlin" phase, the final agony, where regime supporters collapse one after another, without it being clear how this miraculous turnaround happened. Pro-regime forces lose energy and the remaining resources on nonsensically over-engineered traps intended for television cameras at a time when it no longer makes even the slightest sense. With a switched-off brain and a fondness for Jennifer Lawrence, however, Mockingjay can be tolerated. Overall impression: 40%. (20/05/2022)

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. (29/11/2015)