"Better a fallen rocket than never a burst of light."
~ Tom Stoppard, The Invention of Love

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Mockingjay: Part 2 (2015, PG-13)

I finally had a chance to see the final The Hunger Games installment.  As a movie based on half of a book, I don’t think it weathers the split quite as well as Part 1, but it still delivers strong acting, rootable characters, and some terrific moments.  (As with anything Hunger Games-related, I can’t talk about this movie without bringing up big twists from the previous films.)

In oh-so-many ways, the original book could have the alternate title How Life Keeps Crapping on Katniss Everdeen, and that holds true here.  Her friend, ally, and possible lover Peeta has been rescued from the Capitol as a ghost of himself – after the hallucinogenic mental conditioning he received during his torture there, he’s convinced that Katniss is a monstrous enemy who has to be stopped at all costs.  In light of this most recent devastating loss, Katniss decides that she’s done being just the telegenic face of the rebellion.  She clashes with her politically-savvy but potentially-shady handlers and makes her own plans to join the fight in earnest.

Maybe it’s just because of how often the Star Wars showing in the next theater nearly drowned out Mockingjay’s dialogue for me (seriously, what’s up with that?), but I was struck by how quiet so much of this movie is.  That’s not to say there’s no action – there is, and some of it is bang-up intense – but there’s a far greater emphasis on everything from midnight-watch heart-to-hearts to political tête-à-têtes.  I’m mixed on this.  I like most of the interpersonal aspects of the story, and a number of these scenes are golden.  At the same time, the love triangle gets too much face time for my liking, and there are definitely moments where the film drags and I was itching for some action.

In general, the movie feels true to the book.  As always, things get left out, but I feel like pretty much everything essential got covered.  Although the majority of the supporting characters have pretty minor roles, nearly everyone in the cast makes the most of them.  Donald Sutherland and Elizabeth Banks are absolute gifts to the franchise as President Snow and Effie, Elden Hanson (Foggy!) kills it without saying a word as Pollux, and I’m in platonic love with Natalie Dormer’s Cressida.  Jena Malone/Johanna doesn’t get much to do, but every one of her scenes is gold, and while, overall, I’m a little underwhelmed by Finnick’s (in-my-opinion) flatter characterization in the films versus the book, Sam Claflin makes his screentime count.  Additional shout-out to Mahershala Ali as Boggs – he brings so much presence to a role that could’ve easily gotten lost in the shuffle of the large cast.  My only supporting-cast gripe is, why would you cast the wonderful Gwendoline Christie (Brienne from Game of Thrones) and only use her in one scene?

Nothing really new to say about Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss.  I love Lawrence, and I adore Katniss, and this movie continues to aptly demonstrate why.  However, I want to take a moment to give props to Josh Hutcherson.  I’m a bit lukewarm on his Peeta (more the writing than anything else, I think,) but he’s fantastically effective in his portrayal of Peeta’s “hijacked” mental state.  Superb job; Part 1 gave me hope that he’d be excellent here, and he delivers on all fronts.

Warnings

Violence, war images, and strong thematic elements.

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