The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part Two (2015) Dir: Francis Lawrence
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This fourth film in the franchise, and the third directed by Francis Lawrence, had the task of finishing Suzanne Collins' popular fantasy book trilogy in style. I know it would be dramatic, intense and have a number of shocking moments - I was keen to see how they would be executed.
I think the film improved a lot on the first part, but it was not without fault. For one, the lighting issues that plagued the aforementioned previous film were once more prevalent in the darker settings. I know there are times when darkness can be effective, and there were times here, but there were still a number of occasions where it was not remotely effective.
Just as I found to be the case in part one, part two was just too long. There was a lot of fat that could've been trimmed from what became a rather bloated film. I do still believe the story warranted two films, however, both of them could and should have been shorter.
The majority of the narrative was engaging and exciting, with the only real moments of disappointment coming from the issues I mentioned above. I enjoyed the film quite a lot, and I felt that most of the emotional marks were hit as id hoped. I thought that the climactic scenes were handled relatively well, although I wasn't quite as keen on the final couple of scenes.
Jennifer Lawrence maintained the excellent levels that she had reached throughout the franchise, and had some typically very moving scenes. I wouldn't say it was her best performance, but it was still a very strong showing all-in-all.
Josh Hutcherson had his most varied and interesting performance of the franchise, and probably his strongest too. I was quite pleased by his interactions with Lawrence especially - I like how their chemistry has developed in these films.
My frustrations with Liam Hemsworth and his character continued here. I found it so annoying that he was automatically a very good and natural soldier, and acted like it was what he always had done. His acting was better than in part one, I'll give him that though.
Donald Sutherland gave his best performance of the three films - some of his scenes were great. Julianne Moore, Mahershala Ali and Sam Claflin, to me, were the standouts from the rest of the cast. Each had some really strong scenes, especially Ali, who stole the show at times.
I'll also give quick mentions to the likes of Woody Harrelson, Philip Seymour Hoffman - who unfortunately died during filming, Elizabeth Banks, Jeffrey Wright, Willow Shields, Stanley Tucci, Natalie Dormer, Wes Chatham, Elden Henson and Jena Malone.
Overall, I enjoyed this film, as I have the rest of the franchise so far too. They're definitely not perfect, but each one has several excellent moments. I think this fourth film highlights the best and worst of these films, but more-so the better aspects. I'm happy with it, and I'm glad I finally got around to it.
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