To say that it has all been leading to this is a given; after all, "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2" is the final film adaptation of Suzanne Collins' literary trilogy. However, it also is the culmination of something much less tangible and altogether more emphatic for District 12 victor Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and, by extension, the faithful audience who has followed her journey across four features. Living in the dictatorial society of Panem under the tyrannical thumb of President Coriolanus Snow (Donald Sutherland), she has narrowly survived two Hunger Games—mandatory fights to the death against fellow chosen underage tributes—and the initial first steps of an uprising against the malevolent government that has for so many years controlled the country's thirteen districts. Katniss has experienced heartache, trauma, grief, confusion and disdain while having the warrior spirit within her to become a beacon of hope for her nation. She may only be 17, but she has lived through enough to fill ten lifetimes.
As a cinematic franchise, "The Hunger Games" has been consistent in its inconsistency, each entry—the 2012 original, 2013's "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire," and 2014's "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1"—exceedingly provocative as a political allegory but not quite as airtight in its delivery of action-adventure nirvana. As much life as the actors have brought to their respective roles in these movies, Collins' books were more thorough in their complexity of Panem's strife and the inner workings of Katniss' struggle. As Katniss comes of age in "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2," this particular series finally does as well, the tough, thoughtful, uncompromising themes arrestingly walking hand in hand with a narrative both intensely orchestrated and emotionally cathartic. The final hour, especially, is so strong it is impossible to imagine any fans walking away dissatisfied.
See Dustin Putman, TheFilmFile.com. for full review
