The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 (3D)
Cert: 12A / 137 mins / Dir. Francis Lawrence / Trailer
Okay, the problem (my problem, not this film's) is that the events in and between the Hunger Games movies happen in relatively rapid succession from each other (moreso in this Part II), and tell a solid, continuous story. Even though the films have been released one a year, I watch a lot of movies between each screening. I don't generally play catch-up before sequels, and was unable to make last week's double-bill of Mockingjay Part 2 and its predecessor. And the part of my brain that I use for storing cumulative back-references etc is already pretty much full of the Galaxy Far, Far Away's events.
What this meant is that other than the "Here's the map, we're going there to kill him" segments, the moment the characters started referring to the minutiae of the ongoing plot, I sat there thinking 'Right, what the hell are they talking about again?'. I know the general gist, but my brain could barely remember the names of the characters I was watching, never mind ones they were alluding to off-screen. I guess this is what civilian audiences feel like watching Star Wars.
And as much as this fourth installment of The Hunger Games has a lot of plot-wrapping to do, the film takes its own sweet time getting there. There are some great action sequences on display*1, but far too much downtime in between them, as if the screnplay is frightened to build up too much momentum and peak too early. This pacing is fine for the actual story being told, but not so much for the film.
As with Hunger Games series in general, there are many aspects I enjoyed and more than a few I had problems with. Although my overriding feeling was 'wow, this really wasn't made for me…'
[ …and for all that fannying about getting across town in secret for half the film; couldn't they have just stolen some of those Stormtrooper-lite outfits?
Oh, and when they come back out of that building once the oil-lake's drained away, how come they're not slipping all over the place? ]
Oh, probably. As a Maze Runner kid, I'm probably the wrong person to ask…
It looks great on a big screen, and you'll already know if you want to make the cinematic committment.
I don't even think it's the best one of the series, in all fairness.
That said, it's at this late point that I realise how completely lukewarm I've been to:
• The Hunger Games
• Catching Fire
• Mockingjay Part 1
Meh.
Oh, probably.
Not at all.
Didn't hear one.
Why, this movie stars Captain Phasma herself, Gwendoline Christie.
*1 Oh, and as much fun as the sewer-battle is, it feels woefully out of place in a dystopian socio-political adventure movie. It also reminded me that I really must watch Aliens again…
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• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
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