Feels for Katniss: this franchise now feels like homework
(Jennifer Lawrence), a dab hand with a bow and arrow but understandably not in the best of moods after rescuing her boyfriend Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) from Snow, only to find him so brainwashed that he now sees her as a monster.
Apart from the rescue mission, Katniss spent most of Part 1 looking like a sullen teenager in detention. There seemed no reason to split the last book into two parts, but let us not question the economies of filmmaking nor the tastes of audiences. As Snow puts it: “We are stupid, fickle people with poor memories and a great gift for self-destruction.”
In Mockingjay Part 2, Katniss has important things to think about, like freeing the world from tyranny. Many of us wish for a hero who will lead us to a world of true democracy, and Katniss is supposed to be such a champion, except (and I know her fans will hate me for this) Katniss in the form of Lawrence is about as inspiring as a banana.
Her facial expression is a marvel of immutability. When Peeta tries to kill her, she looks as though she has been given extra homework. When she is attacked by scary faceless creatures with sharp teeth, her frown suggests a mild stomach ache. She might be brave enough to skip PT class without a sick note from her mom, but the leader of a revolution? Come on.
Nonetheless, Coin sends Katniss to persuade the other districts to join her in marching on the Capitol, where Snow lives in strangely baroque splendour in the middle of a futuristic city. (The production design by Phil Messina is the best part of these films. Some of the Capitol scenes were shot in an old military compound in Berlin, where Messina was allowed to tear up the streets and blow holes in the walls.)
After about 30 seconds of arguing with the citizens of a recalcitrant district, Katniss succeeds in getting them to join the rebels. It goes something like this: “You want us to do what?” “Follow me into a battle in which you might die.” “Why?” “Because it’s for your own good, and if we win I might finally get to finish my biology homework.” “Oh, alright then.” Against Coin’s wishes, Katniss goes to the frontline and joins a
The fact that Katniss continues to look as though she’s swallowed a box of chalk is probably because overthrowing a dictatorship keeps her too busy to open a book. The film consists mostly of video-gamelike sequences in which our heroes are tested beyond the bounds of matric exams.
Moore and Sutherland put in some agreeably icy screen time, but the vivid characters played by Tucci, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman all appear so briefly it’s hardly worth including their names in the credits. The film belongs to Katniss, which is only fair after she has endured 547 minutes of the total Hunger Games franchise. Now that it’s over, perhaps she can get back to her studies. LS