The Hunger Games: Mockingjay-Part 2

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Francis Lawrence/Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Julianne Moore, Donald Sutherland, Liam Hemsworth, Jena Malone, Jeffrey Wright, Stanley Tucci, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Natalie Dormer, Elizabeth Banks and Woody Harrelson

Did this series really begin in 2012? Have we really seen four films in a mere three years? And where has the time gone? Seems like yesterday since I first heard about Katniss Everdeen; a name that is now as familiar to movie audiences as Harry Potter. Well, almost. But it seems like she's always been with us.

The series comes to a definitive end with The Hunger Games: Mockingjay-Part 2 and though I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected, it's still a relief to see the saga finally coming to rest. I found the ending to be satisfying (I don't know how those who read the series feel) and because I can be as sentimental as the next sentimental person, I'm kind of sorry to see Katniss go. It isn't often a major action franchise features a woman in a lead role. With Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss, the character became someone could we could care about.

The last film in the series poses many questions, which we know will be addressed before the final credits. Will Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) overcome the brainwashing to which President Snow (Donald Sutherland) has subjected him, rendering him dangerously hostile to Katniss? Will the rebellion topple the government and if so, who will be the leader in a new world order? What will become of the Katniss/Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth)/Peeta triangle? Is President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore) all that she seems? Will she be the best choice for president if the rebellion succeeds? Because this is the final film in the installment, all questions are answered forthwith. And as the story dispatches them, it manages to move along at an exciting clip, with brief stops for exposition and plot development.

If you were expecting a series of pitched battles between the rebels and Snow's army, you will be pleasantly surprised to find the movie avoids that obvious plot-line. Instead, Katniss' obsessive quest for revenge and Snow's assassination supersedes Coin's directives, which demand the face of the rebellion become a PR tool in uniting the districts against the Capitol. Of course we know Katniss will never sit passively as the war is about to rage. Escaping from the rebel base, she commandeers a combat unit; effectively lying to them about a Coin-mandated operation to kill Snow. The unit, ostensibly led by Boggs (Mahershala Ali), become unwitting accomplices in Katniss' personal operation, which becomes increasingly dangerous the closer they come to their objective.

Utilizing a holographic map of the Capitol, the unit plots a course through the vast array of deadly traps-known as pods-that lay hidden in every street. Using a pod-locating device in Bogg's possession, the unit, which includes Boggs, Katniss, Gale and Peeta, make their way through the city streets, hoping to avoid sudden death and the the Capitol's military forces. The group encounters frightening obstacles, like a searing wall of flame and later a terrifying deluge of what resembles crude oil. Adding a wrinkle to their mission is Peeta, who has yet to shake off the conditioning that makes him liable to kill Katniss at any given moment. Finding the pod-deployed streets too much to overcome, the group enters the city sewers to bypass the horrors above, only to encounter other nightmarish foes below.

As they come within sight of the palace gates, Katniss and Gale don cloaks to disguise themselves but find Capitol security checking refugees entering the compound. The rebellion arrives in time to divert attention away from Katniss and Gale, which makes it possible for her to enter the palace. After Snow is apprehended, he divulges secrets about Alma Coin's pursuit of power, which are confirmed during a round-table meeting between Coin and the principle players of the rebellion. Any hopes Katniss embraced for a just, free society ruled by Coin become instantly dashed.

In the execution scene that follows, the story takes a twist not entirely unanticipated. As Katniss stands ready to be Snow's executioner, she fires and arrow that irrevocably alters Panem's future and gives the plot yet another twist. In the aftermath, we see Panem's future clearly laid out. And in the epilogue that follows, we see what becomes of Katniss Everdeen; a conclusion that seems almost inevitable.

It is astonishing to consider the ensemble cast; the many actors and actresses whose talents have been enlisted for the series. To see Phillip Seymour Hoffman is both eerie and a pleasant illusion. The end of the series means we have unfortunately seen the last of him onscreen.

I like that the story carries a bit of realpolitik. Novelist Suzanne Collins and film-makers are wise and maybe cynical enough to understand that revolutions and revolutionaries are often as reactionary as the regimes they hope to supplant. Katniss and her soldier colleagues discover this hard fact in post-uprising Panem. And in earning this wisdom, the ending becomes downbeat, rather than a buoyant, ecstatic celebration.

The film's opening weekend receipts exceeded $102 million; a staggering amount for a film featuring a female lead. It is worth mentioning that the film's opening weekend figures dwarf both Spectre and Mad Max: Fury Road; two other action franchises with male leads (though one could argue MM:FR featured a female co-lead). If Hollywood gleans nothing from this factoid, then we can safely say progress is still a work in progress. Maybe the new Star Wars series should take heed. From what I've seen of the trailers for that film, the story features a female co-lead. Future film-goers may look back to The Hunger Games: Mockingjay-Part 2 as the film that first ushered in a trend for strong female leads in cinema. I guess Katniss Everdeen is a revolutionary outside the story too.

So we say goodbye to Katniss Everdeen; the Mockingjay and her heroic exploits. It has mostly been a pleasure. May her bow ever be supple and her arrows ever aim true.