By Julia Conforti, staff writer
Last month, the final installment of the The Hunger Games series was released. Mockingjay Part 2 is the fourth of the movies based off of the trilogy written by Suzanne Collins and has been highly anticipated by fans of the series who have waited about a year since the initial half of the movie was released.
The movie closely follows the novel and shows the pure brutality of the country Panem’s war. Each side makes tough calls in the film, and neither side is painted as a saint nor its actions justified which is a complaint that fans have repeatedly mentioned in their grievances against the movie series.
Rebels against the oppressive government established by President Snow enter Panem’s capital with a simple goal: Gain more support and assassinate Snow. But the Peacekeepers, or police, are set on ensuring that the rebel’s path is not an easy one.
Traps litter the street, which have devastating costs if they are not successfully disabled before a rebel stumbles upon them which brings the audience’s attention to the special effects of The Mockingjay. CGI is fairly realistic, green screens are not easy to point out, and there is believable blood (though never too much of it).
However, it is not the effects which make the world so tangible to viewers of the film. It is the acting. Every cast member brings justice to the character, pouring their all into bringing the fictitious people alive. Jennifer Lawrence continues to prove herself as an actress in the most heart wrenching ways, playing Katniss with the perfect amount of hate and righteousness which composes normal human beings. Josh Hutcherson does an excellent job at realistically portraying his character Peeta’s anxiety and conflicting emotions. Donald Sutherland acts with sophistication, along with the arrogance which made readers of The Hunger Games despise him in the first place, and with an ominous air about him which completes President Snow as a character.
Viewers of the film receive the most beautiful view of the dystopian Panem. The cinematography was done by Jo Willems and is utterly breathtaking. Essential shots are taken behind Katniss, so we see her body language and the sights she is seeing simultaneously. Emotional moments have closeups which show the audience the emotions and thoughts of the characters.
However, the romance continues to feel out of place and out of step with the rest of the plot to many fans. There are a total of four kisses, three of which rendered people feeling awkward and as if the film could have gone on without them.
Still, other relationships are smooth and leave viewers wishing they received more screen time. The sisterhood between Katniss and her younger sister Primrose remains endearing, Katniss’ friendships with Haymitch and Effie continues to be utterly adorable, and Katniss’ overall attitude towards rebels and remaining loyalists to the Capital is also wonderful to see.
The ending is rather dark, though has an epilogue for viewers which lightens up the mood within the theater. However, all wars have casualties and the film depicts losses on each side in a blunt and moving way.
Though Mockingjay Part 2 has brought in significantly less money, Katniss and her army of rebels rounded up a total of $101 million dollars within the first weekend of the film’s release. Critics speculate that the dark turn the series took is what caused the fall in viewings, though fans of the original book series admire that the crew chose to depict Panem as it was written. Either way, The Hunger Games wraps up the way it is meant to, still brings in a considerable amount of profit, and gives viewers the satisfying ending they hunger for.