‘The Hunger Games’ ends its extended trilogy with a truncated climax.

Image via Lionsgate

“REAL OR NOT REAL?”

Note: The following review is SPOILER FREE!

Image via Lionsgate

The Hunger Games ate its way through its YA competition and was a refreshing experience because of it. After Harry Potter wrapped a decade-long run, Twilight was what the tweens had to lead the pack. Saving the public from Kristen Stewart’s Bella was J-Law’s Katniss Everdeen: a noble, female protagonist who didn’t need love to drive her, but family instead. Throughout her journey through the first Hunger Games, to the Quarter Quell and finally her uprising as the symbolic Mockingjay, more than a few things have lost their way as we are led into the finale of this saga.

While this movie and the one before it would have no doubt been a better narrative as one cohesive piece, here is not where I’ll complain of about Hollywood’s fiscal practices. The result of this, though, is a lazy trudge to the climax of Katniss’s story. After viewing Part 1, I wasn’t hot on what I just watched, but I was anticipating something exceptionally more grand to come. I should point out that I have not read the books, so I was expecting for the “good” to finally show itself in Part 2. To my shock, the good never arrived.

Side characters were flat, which is quite disappointing given that these characters have been by Katniss’s side for, at the very least, two movies now. When danger is afoot in the Finnick-dubbed 76th Hunger Games, my empathy was non-existent for these filler characters. This journey is about Katniss, however. What takes the forefront is her relationship with her family over anything. I appreciated that the goal of liberating and uniting the people of the districts never faded or was overshadowed by the love triangle. I’m not against romantic conflicts in movies, but a story needs to be aware that there are greater issues at hand than the “will they/won’t they” drama, and Mockingjay Part 2 is well aware.

I did like the connective tissue of the Mockingjay duo, having the progression from one to the other make sense. Things could have been lost or glossed over, but the story does make sense. It’s simply a shame that it got more shallow with each entry.

THE BREAKDOWN

Mockingjay Part 2 ended The Hunger Games series. That’s it. It wasn’t applause worthy (although people in my theater gave it to the film anyway), but it does the job it was supposed to do. In its genre, it stands above anything currently going, but as a huge blockbuster, it barely makes any waves. Jennifer Lawrence did what she could with the character she was dealt, but you can only do so much with a burnt grilled cheese to make it edible.

Do you like grilled cheese? Did you think this was a fitting end for ‘The Hunger Games’? Tweet me @NerdDotMe. Also, be sure to follow us @YouNerded.