Empty feeling
Hunger Games finale devolves into generic action flick,
Truth versus propaganda still occupies the Hunger Games combatants as the dystopian youth adventure rattles to a close, but a different conflict prevails: commerce versus art.
The cash-grab cynicism of splitting the final novel of Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy into two movies becomes even more obvious here than it was for last year’s Mockingjay – Part 1.
Woe betide anyone coming late to the Games with this fourth film, once again directed by Francis Lawrence. Mockingjay – Part 2 makes no concessions to clarity and offers no enrichment of the soul in its grey and relentless assault on fascist-ruled Panem. Colourful characters that enlivened previous episodes — including the mentors, fixers and/or commentators played by Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci and Jeffrey Wright — are pushed to the sidelines.
Also barely seen is Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Head Gamemaker turned rebel commander Plutarch Heavensbee, due to Hoffman’s tragic death last year while filming was still underway.
All eyes are on archer heroine Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) as she leads a plucky band of rebels in a final siege of the Capitol, and Coriolanus Snow (Donald Sutherland), ruthless dictator of Panem.
A wounded and doubting Katniss is forced to go rogue, contrary to the insistence of revolutionary President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore) that she’s more valuable behind the front lines as a televised symbol of resistance.
The fight’s too personal for Katniss to stand down — “It’s always person- al,” she observes of war and killing — and here’s where Lawrence’s evolution as an actor assists her revolution as a warrior.
She’s fire to the icy script of Peter Craig and Danny Strong, which increasingly devolves into a generic action flick, complete with elaborate traps, big explosions and an invasion of sewer-dwelling mutant zombies that looked as if they were digitally scissored out of Lawrence’s earlier blockbuster I Am Legend.
It’s been gratifying to watch Lawrence’s progression over the four years of this franchise, from the promising newcomer of 2012 to the Oscar-winning veteran of 2015. Sutherland’s character arc has been equally engrossing, as the canny Ca- nuck actor has turned his stock villain Snow into a formidable opponent, one with a certain savage grace.
The lethal pas de deux between Katniss and Snow is like that of two jungle cats warily sizing each other up for clawing. It’s far more fascinating than the lacklustre dance between Katniss and her two would-be suitors, brainwashed Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) and hard-nosed Gale (Liam Hemsworth).
More than anything, the overlong Mockingjay – Part 2 imparts the feeling of a franchise that has run its course. What began so promisingly as a dystopian saga of gladiatorial games, resonating with current global fears, has turned into just another dull race for the almighty dollar.