December
04
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THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 2 (12A)
THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 2 (12A)
Run time: 137mins
Director: Francis Lawrence
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Sam Claflin, Donald Sutherland
Synopsis: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 brings the franchise to its powerful final chapter in which Katniss Everdeen realizes the stakes are no longer just for survival – they are fighting for the future.
As the war of Panem escalates to the destruction of other districts by the Capitol, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) the reluctant leader of the rebellion, must be a warrior and unite an army against evil, manipulative President Snow (Donald Sutherland) while all she holds dear hangs in the balance.
Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) is still wrestling with the demons of the past and it is not clear whether Katniss will be with him or her long-time friend Gale (Liam Hemsworth)
As director Francis Lawrence brings the four films based on Susan Collins’ hugely successful trilogy to a close, the dark complex ideas of power and corruption are fully worked out.
Katniss remains a ‘girl on fire’ and doesn’t sell out. She has survived two rounds of the deadly Hunger Games reality show imposed by President Snow (Donald Sutherland) and has survived underground. She desires the death of President Snow and must deal with the increasingly morally ambiguous President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore) and Plutarch (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who want to use Katniss as war propaganda.
Outstanding special effects and visuals, and inventive booby traps abound in the film’s dark, war-torn, urban environment as Katniss and her rebels close in for the kill.
Though the franchise has been spun out – the final book divided into two – this last film is in turns an action-packed solar plexus punch and an intelligent debate on conflicting ideologies and the nature of totalitarianism
All the regular supporting cast do a solid job: Woody Harrelson as Haymitch, Elizabeth Banks, Sam Claflin and Jena Malone are all convincing, and there is a last poignant appearance of the late great Philip Seymour Hoffman. But this film – like the other three – belongs to Jennifer Lawrence, who is a mesmerising Katniss, ably conveying the sombre, reflective and topical themes of the quadrilogy.
Images courtesy of Lionsgate
