Critics rating: 3 stars

Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Donald Sutherland, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Julianne Moore, Woody Harrelson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Willow Shields, Sam Clafin

Direction:Francis Lawrence

Produced:Nina Jacobson, Jon Kilik

Written: Suzanne Collins

Genre: Action

Duration:137 Mins

In Katniss Everdeen’s (Jennifer Lawrence) case, The Revolution Will Be Televised. On big screens, holograms and in the hideouts of all those who aid the rebels. It is a war being fought as much on the battleground as it is on the television screens. The anti-war sentiment echoes strong throughout the film, a nod (or several) to the Vietnam War. The Hunger Games’ author Suzanne Collins referenced it for her trilogy, drawing from her war veteran father’s experiences. In the world she has created, war is as much a necessity as it is a futility.

In the beginning of the first book/movie, Katniss was just an adolescent, who wanted to save her sister and volunteered in her stead for the brutal Hunger Games. Her unconventional tactics to survive seal her fate for the rest of the story. Or so the Capitol would think. In the second instalment of Mockingjay, things come a full circle for her. The outcome is brutal (or should have been for this genre except that we have a PG-13 rating), the methods used are questioned by the heroine even as her love for Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) and Gale (Liam Hemsworth) gets tested through their myriad and morbid race to the Capitol, rigged to become a televised Hunger Games in itself.
It would have been a more satisfying conclusion to the trilogy that the franchise chose to conclude with three films instead of stretching out the final book into an endless saga which oscillates from Katniss’ need to save Peeta to killing him if necessary. Some viewers egged for the latter in this review’s screening. Can’t blame them. Book Peeta did not translate into a great Movie Peeta even though Hutcherson looks every inch the part. The fault lies in the characterisation.

Both Mockingjay movies falter on the pacing front too, with the rise of a revolution in one film and some good action set pieces in spurts for the follow-up. If the second Mockingjay was a video game, the difficulty setting would have been Nightmare Mode. The underground sequence with the muttations is the best of the lot.

The story flow is almost like Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials in its structuring but will be received better because the initial films are far superior. The makers seem at home creating and choreographing the action but fail to evoke any sense of the poignant romance like in the books. Any moment of conflict/tension/affection between Katnis and Peeta or Katniss and Gale is poorly handled. Book fans, you shall find no justice here.
Thank goodness then, for Donald Sutherland’s electrifying performance as President Snow. He remains stony-eyed and ever-amused by Katniss’ escapades till the very end. His is one of the few scenes of slight tonal variation in a film where the heroine remains one-note, no longer grieving for the dead. Perhaps the toll has exhausted her. Katniss’ breakdown for Rue’s loss in the first movie was fleeting yet powerful. Then again, that was a different film with a different director. Here, the film jumps from scene to scene like an adaptation checklist, hitting all the crucial sequences but not the emotions.

Mockingjay part 2 may not be the best way to see off the trilogy but it is a timely farewell for a franchise which would have lost its steam had it been stretched into yet another sequel. Here, the world limps back to normality, the three-finger salutes are displayed in quiet solidarity and in the world of Panem, the odds are, at last, in the citizens’ favour.