23 Nov 2015

Review: The Hunger Games- Mockingjay Part 2

From Widescreen, 8:59 am on 23 November 2015

The final episode in the Hunger Games franchise is a - mostly - worthy end to a tremendously successful saga.

Natalie Dormer as Cressida and Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss in Francis Lawrence’s The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2

Natalie Dormer as Cressida and Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss in Francis Lawrence’s The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 Photo: Roadshow

 

More on The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 from RNZ and around the web:

Richard Swainson gives his verdict on Afternoons with Jesse Mulligan:

 

Scott Mendelson in Forbes (of all places) tries to put his finger on why the last two films have under-performed at the box office compared to the first two:

When I sat in an IMAX auditorium in March of 2012 and saw audiences hoot and holler as a young man grabbed a young woman and slammed her against a wall, I recoiled in disgust and perhaps unfairly punished the movie for the behavior of my audience. In November of 2013, I was revolted to see the red carpet premiere of Catching Fire where the entertainment media and rabid fanbase seemed to embrace the most surface-level aspects of the franchise without a hint of self-awareness or irony and thus becoming precisely what the films were satirizing. In retrospect, maybe I wasn’t wrong to not trust large swathes of the American moviegoer to not “get it.” Because once the Hunger Games ended, the Hunger Games franchise lost a sizable chunk of its domestic box office. Maybe America was only there for the sex and violence after all.

 

Sight & Sound drops the paywall briefly to reveal Sophie Mayer’s thorough review.

Sarah Watt in the Sunday Star-Times was less impressed.

The Keyframe column at Fandor has a huge survey of Hunger Games think-pieces and reviews.