Allow me a moment to speak as a fan of popular culture and not as a film critic. Hollywood has absolutely lost its mind with its insistence on stretching out every novel series into multiple parts. If the top executives of Lionsgate, Universal, and Warner Bros. truly believe that a single book should be divided and subdivided ad infinitum, then I sincerely suggest considering adapting the franchise to television, instead of film. Now that I’ve gotten past my unadulterated annoyance, allow me to be quite frank: If Lionsgate, Universal, and Warner Bros. truly believe that a single book should be divided and subdivided ad infinitum, then they must consult with director Francis Lawrence, and take notes from his ridiculously titled The Hunger Games: Mockingjay—Part 2. It is a film that succeeds as a direct sequel, and as a novel-to-film adaptation simply because it does two things successfully. First, it references its source material and improves upon it. Second, it respects its audience and avoids staging a two-hour-long battle sequence.
Mockingjay—Part 2 picks up immediately following the conclusion of Part 1. It would, therefore, be inappropriate of me to suggest that anyone who views the final installment in the Hunger Games film trilogy will be able to follow the events of the film without first, at least, consulting Part 1. The general plot of the franchise follows Katniss Everdeen—played by a stoic Jennifer Lawrence—who takes arms against an oppressive, tyrannical regime, led by President Corialanus Snow. This is a franchise that relies heavily on Greek and Roman mythology, as well as Greek and Roman tragedy, to move and challenge its audience’s preconceived notions on war, famine, and unchecked power. To say that the franchise falls to dark lows would be an understatement. Despite the franchise’s PG-13 rating, people die—a lot.
Francis Lawrence’s film, however, cannot and must not be judged on its content alone. To do so would lead to a conclusion that the film is oddly paced, with characters who carry inhumanly underdeveloped motivations, set in a strange world that makes little sense. It’s almost like there’s an entirely separate film that explains all of the plot holes and errors found within Part 2. It is, however, a sequel that continues the story of its predecessor and provides enough content that defends its existence in the pantheon of literature.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows—Part 2 was a two-hour battle scene. There was no reason for its existence, other than the filmmakers wanted to ensure that the full capacity of 3D technology could be incorporated into the battle scene. Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies was a two-hour battle scene. On Nov. 19, 2015, a behind-the-scenes video was released explaining that Jackson simply didn’t have the energy—or the motivation—to release Tolkien’s The Hobbit into two films. Therefore, Jackson made the executive decision of releasing a third film where, after a period of rest, Jackson would be able to devote his entire spirit to the task. The problem remains: there wasn’t enough content to validate either of these two-hour battle scenes.Thankfully, Mockingjay—Part 2 is not a two-hour battle scene. Paired with Part 1, it tells a complete, cohesive story that is engaging and exciting from beginning to end. Furthermore, it affords many of the plot’s key moments time to unpack and unravel. There is nothing about Part 2 that can be called rushed. It is equally difficult to claim that moments of emotion are not given enough screentime. As an audience, we remain affected by the events we see onscreen from beginning to end.
An aside on the work of Jo Willems—Part 2’s cinematographer. Mockingjay—Part 2 is woefully underlit. Dark scenes suffer from an almost inhumane lack of artificial light, and it was genuinely difficult to see key sequences precisely because of how little the sequence contained. Outdoor scenes, however, reveal the mastery of Willems’s technique, simply because of how honest and natural those sequences feel. Willems has, over the course of this 137-minute odyssey, introduced a core tenet of the Dogme 95 movement to a generation of filmgoers who have, almost definitely, never seen a single von Trier, Vinterberg, Levring, or Korine film. For that, Willems must be praised for his audacity and his utter insanity.
Regardless, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay—Part 2 is a ridiculously dark movie.