The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2

The fourth and final Hunger Games film has arrived: Mockingjay Part 2. The new film follows the second half of the third book and sees Katniss head into the Capital for a final fight to end the civil war between the Capital and the rebels. It would be a pretty hard film to follow if you hadn't watched the previous 3. Mockingjay Part 1 felt a bit slow, being only half of a book and the first, less eventful half. Mockingjay Part 2 however has some of the best scenes of the Hunger Games franchise and is one of the best films I have seen this year.

I am a big fan of Suzanne Collins' books and I have been really impressed with all of the Hunger Games films, which have kept true to a clever and exciting story. The cast includes some of Hollywood's best up and coming (don't even get me started on how great Jennifer Lawrence is) and also well-established actors: Woody Harrelson, Julianne Moore,  Philip Seymour-Hoffman, and so on. I had high expectations therefore for this final instalment and I was not disappointed! Mockingjay Part 2 is as thrilling, moving and thought-provoking as the book on which it is based.

The Hunger Games is intelligent teen fiction and this is an intelligent film. The story is highly politically-driven. Panem clearly represents an alternative version of the USA; a country where the rich (who are all concentrated in the Capital) live absurdly extravagant lives, relatively ignorant to the  extreme suffering of increasingly poor districts. When they are exposed to the suffering, during the annual televised Hunger Games, they are highly amused by it. The corruptive nature of power is brilliantly portrayed by both Coriolanus Snow, President of Panem (Donald Sutherland), and also Alma Coin, leader of the rebellion (Julianne Moore).

The Hunger Games  trilogy is full of wonderful, complex characters, who are not just black and white heroes and villains. This is perhaps best portrayed in the final scenes with Sutherland and Moore, who are both mesmerising in these films. The characters are far more three dimensional than you would expect from this kind of fiction. The Katniss/Gale/Peeta love triangle is no repeat of the Bella/Edward/Jacob triangle in the Twilight films.

These are, in summary, intelligent, fun films and I would urge anyone who has not watched them to seriously consider doing so. If for no other reason than the awesomeness that is J-Law.