The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2

“Mockingjay Part -2” has made Jennifer Lawrence, who is a very good actress, rich beyond her wildest dreams for playing a role with basically one expression.

“Part 2”, out in theaters on November 20, takes place in the dystopian futuristic nation Panem, and concludes the story that began when Katniss (played by Oscar-winning Jennifer Lawrence) volunteered in place of her younger sister in a fight to the death. Together with her sort-of boyfriend Gale (Liam Hemsworth) and a crew of elite rebel fighters – including the propaganda producers Cressida (Natalie Dormer), Castor (Wes Chatham) and Pollux (Elden Henson) – Katniss heads to the Capital which has been cruelly booby-trapped by Snow’s retreating armies. But according to MTV News, Jennifer Lawrence’s most emotional scene in the final Hunger Games movie wasn’t with a person – it was with a cat.

Regardless of the reasoning, numbers declined massively even though Part 2 brought in 16 million on Thursday night, and it wasn’t because fans forgot to show up.

“The kids started using the three-finger salute and suddenly that salute becomes illegal and suddenly people are getting arrested, and real life starts mirroring the movie”, Lawrence recalls of the 2014 anti-government protests in Thailand, during which protesters adopted a revolutionary hand gesture used in the films. It’s stuff like that that makes movies better than books.

“What’s going on in your head?” he asks, as her other would-be boyfriend, Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), is strapped to a hospital bed, dealing with a nasty bit of Capitol brainwashing. Underground, however, is just as risky, especially when mutants with huge, razor teeth try to feast on Katniss and her buddies as they near the finish line. Well he can deliver a look that says “if you cross me you will pay dearly for your betrayal”. “It was like this fantastic closure to this character who I’ve loved for so many years [and] to have my family there – my blood family and not this family”. Making four movies is hard, but making four great movies is near impossible and Francis Lawrence and Suzanne Collins might have done just that. The series has always been about Katniss’ character, but the supporting casts plainness is most apparent in “Mockingjay – Part 2”, which proves another problem in four film trilogies. The films are far more intriguing, at least to me, than the books were, but they both have their strengths. I don’t think she knew she’d be able to go there. Lawrence has elevated these films, creating a potent, complex heroine, but her performance here is somewhat undercut by smooth edges, such as the saintly glow that surrounds Katniss and her revolutionary endeavours.