A.C.’s Review: One
of the biggest Hollywood franchises around right now is the Hunger Games series starring Jennifer Lawrence as teen girl hero Katniss
Everdeen. Based on a book
series the movies follow her adventures as she fights to rebel against
an evil totalitarian society that North America has become in some
unknown time in the future. President Snow (Donald Sutherland) is the
oppressive leader of the country now known as Panam
which is divided into 13 Districts instead of States.
In
the latest installment there are no more actual Hunger Games. Instead
the story shifts to the leader of the rebellion played by Julianne
Moore asking Katniss
to step up in her role as the symbol of the rebellion…The Mocking Jay.
Katniss is reluctant at first as she is grief stricken by the capture of
one third of a love triangle she is involved in…a fellow games
contestant known as Peeta. He was captured at the
end of Catching Fire and is now being tortured/brainwashed into being
The Capitol’s spokesperson/symbol. Everdeen agrees to be the symbol and
appear in videos and leading missions that will help encourage others to
revolt as long as the rebellion promises
to rescue Peeta at the first opportunity.
In
my last review I was impressed how much the second movie recovered from
the terrible first movie. This movie is a step back…not a disaster by
any means but a
step back none the less. The problem is twofold. The first is that the
studio Lionsgate in a blatant cash grab has imitated the Harry Potter
series by splitting the movie up into two parts-the final installment
due out next year. This leads to a whole lot
of…not much happening. Action is at a bare minimum and surprisingly
there is no huge action set piece/cliffhanger you would expect at the
end of the movie other than Peeta being rescued (mostly off screen) and
being revealed to be brainwashed to try and kill
Katniss, once the love of his life.
The
second problem is with Peeta barely in the movie more screen time is
given to the third wheel in the love triangle. A character named Gale
who is Katniss lifelong
friend who is in love with her. His role has to be the most thankless
role I have ever seen in a movie. Gale pretty much knows he will never
have Katniss and spends the entire movie moping about. I almost feel
sorry for Liam Hemsworth (brother of Chris “Thor”
Hemsworth) who is stuck playing him. The one surprise was he didn’t die
in the rescue attempt of Peeta. I fully expected that to be the fate of
this hopeless character. Anyway his melancholy brings down every scene
that he is in and brings the movie to a screeching
halt. I would have rather seen more of the Woody Harrelson and
Elizabeth Banks characters who were a big part of the first movies but
here are reduced to little more than extended cameos.
I’m
sure all will be redeemed when the final movie comes out and Snow and
The Capitol get their comeuppance at the hands of Katniss Everdeen and
hopefully that will
erase the letdown many other must feel about this installment.
A.C.’s Rating: Matinee
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