Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 Blu-ray Movie Review

Time for dessert?

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 21, 2016

A lot of industry news reports crossing the online landscape as this review was being prepared dealt with the perceived disappointment of The Divergent Series: Allegiant at the box office, a perhaps ominous sign for franchises which have sought to adapt so-called Young Adult literary sensations which began lives as printed trilogies, but which due to the ineluctable greed of Hollywood bean counters end up as “four sided” film entries. Those selfsame bean counters had their (grubby?) little hands full poring over the receipts that The Hunger Games quadrilogy raked in, though it’s notable that while The Hunger Games, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 all set box office records of one kind or another, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, an unabashed success by virtually any other measure, still didn’t quite perform as well as its three forebears. That situation (one which seems to be echoed by the “underperformance” of Allegiant) might suggest that there’s a certain perhaps unavoidable attrition to franchises which require a multi-year commitment on the part of audiences. It also might suggest that audiences have been growing tired of franchises which seek to extend their cinematic lives by splitting final volumes into two films, as was previously the case with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. What’s kind of interesting about The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 is that it doesn’t really coddle the audience, especially any newcomers to the franchise, with what might be the cinematic equivalent of “previously on [insert name here]” which often starts out various long running television outings, whether they be fictional or reality based series. Instead, the film simply pretty much picks up exactly from where The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 ended, expecting any viewer to either already know what’s going on or at least be willing to go with the flow until they can figure out the admittedly not overly complex topography for themselves.

Note: Care has been taken not to post any out and out spoilers, but certain plot points of this film and (especially) its predecessors need to be discussed overtly, which some may feel constitute spoiler material. Those sensitive to this are encouraged to skip to the technical portions of the review, below.

Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) are ensconced with the rebel forces, albeit under radically different circumstances. Katniss is initially recovering from some bad wounds (courtesy of Peeta, in fact), but is at the center of efforts by Alma Coin (Julianne Moore) and Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman) to create propaganda that will foster a climate to overthrow the Capitol and officious President Snow (Donald Sutherland). Peeta on the other hand is tethered to a hospital bed, where various folks (ultimately including a reluctant Katniss) attempt to snap the young man out of the torture induced brainwashing Peeta underwent at the hands of the nefarious Snow.

When Katniss tries to forge a perhaps unlikely peace between various rebel and loyalist forces, she ends up getting the wrong end of a bullet, a moment which suggests the unlikely outcome that the franchise’s heroine has met her fate just a few minutes into the final film. That of course turns out not to be the case, but it brings Katniss into contact with Johanna Mason (Jena Malone), a young woman who was a cellmate neighbor to Peeta in Snow’s torture chambers. Johanna later gives Katniss an important piece of (convenient) information which allows the so-called Mockingjay to attempt to infiltrate the Capitol in order to personally take out Snow herself.

And it’s here where The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 starts to show both its seams and some fitful attempts to overwork the source material in order to provide enough content for two (rather long) feature films. It’s obvious the film is careening toward a showdown between Katniss and Snow, and on one level it’s commendable that the adaptive screenplay by Peter Craig and Danny Strong avoids at least a couple of pitfalls on this preordained path. But on another level, a lot of the second act of this film feels like padding, sidebars that accrue for little other reason than to forestall the inevitable. That seems especially true with regard to the kind of silly "romantic triangle" between Katniss, Peeta and Gale (Liam Hemsworth), an element that never seems to find any real emotional power.

Something that also tends to hobble this final chapter is the absence of over the top set pieces designed to satisfy the adrenaline needs of action junkies. Once Katniss and her crew start invading the Capitol, there are a couple of traditional sequences featuring things that go “boom”, and there’s a rather well done sewer sequence that may remind some viewers of certain Ray Harryhausen offerings, but otherwise this is a curiously static film in a number of ways, with characters pretty much just sitting around waiting for something—anything—to happen. Even the film’s climactic moment lacks the sort of visceral intensity that often accompanies huge blockbusters like this, though it’s notable that there is an emotional component at play here that is just as frequently missing from many huge constructs which seek to provide a closing moment of hyperbolic energy.

Ultimately, though, that may actually work in the film’s favor, for a remarkably quiet coda seems to want to establish some emotional resonance that no amount of overwhelming special effects ever can. Katniss’ saga has been long and winding (perhaps too long and winding, some might argue), but its resolution brings a bittersweet and elegiac quality to the franchise in a way that is rather unique for tentpoles like this.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. Digitally captured with the Arri Alexa, this final chapter doesn't quite rise to the levels seen in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, due mostly to the many long swaths of this film that play out in near darkness. There are several dimly or minimally lit scenes in this film where shadow detail is negligible and in fact aside from very slight movement that's noticeable within the frame, very little else is actually visible. This film also traffics in some fairly heavy color grading, with the expected blue tones in abundance but a somewhat more green-yellow tint added at times which departs from a relatively more buttery yellow tone utilized in the first half of this final "chapter". All of these elements tend to work together to deplete detail levels at times, though when the film finally gets out into the relatively bright open spaces of the Capitol, the palette pops extremely well and detail levels jump markedly. As should be expected, close-ups in these sequences offer extremely sharp and well defined delineation, and the good news is even in some of the more dimly lit moments, close-ups still provide at least adequate and at times excellent levels of detail. Some of the CGI elements in this final film are fairly soft looking.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Perhaps because this final film doesn't depend quite as much on huge set pieces like the previous installments did, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2's Dolby Atmos mix might seem at times not to offer the kind of hyperbolic sonic energy that has come to define the sound design of "really big" films like this. But surround activity is ubiquitous throughout this film, even in supposedly quieter moments like Katniss' early scenes in the rebel headquarters. Ambient environmental effects are routinely placed (and often move) around the surround channels, and there's excellent differentiation between the sometimes claustrophobic feeling interior scenes and the relatively wide open spaces once Katniss starts to infiltrate the Capitol. That set of scenes provides some of the most forceful LFE in the film, once a number of booby traps start exploding, and it's also here that several clear engagements of the Atmos speakers kick in. Another great sequence in a sewer provides a glut of fantastic sound effects, several of which clearly waft overhead. Dialogue and score are offered cleanly and clearly and with excellent prioritization.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Director Francis Lawrence and Producer Nina Jacobson


• Pawns No More: The Making of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 (1080p; 2:21:45) is a set of eight featurettes which get into considerable depth about elements like screenplay adaptation, SFX, production design and casting.


• The Hunger Games: A Photographic Journey (1080p; 10:17) features photographer Murray Close and a host of production stills.


• Cinna's Sketchbook: Secrets of the Mockingjay Armor (1080p; 9:22) looks at elements of the costume design in general and the Mockingjay outfit in particular, which was ostensibly designed by Cinna.


• Panem on Display: The Hunger Games: The Exhibition (1080p; 1:57) is a brief promotional piece highlighting an exhibition of franchise memorabilia and interactive displays.


• Jet to the Set (1080i; 41:58) is an episode of a series which visits sets and interviews actors.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I personally found The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 the "weakest link" in this franchise, and in some ways Mockingjay Part 2 repeats some of the same mistakes of its immediate predecessor, including a tendency to drag things out seemingly for no other reason than to eat up running time. But despite a relative lack of huge (or at least consistent) action elements, Mockingjay Part 2 manages to work up an element that the first part seemed to forget at times: emotion. Despite a somewhat somnambulistic performance by Jennifer Lawrence, Mockingjay Part 2 manages to be compelling and even meaningful, offering a rare kinda sorta happy ending for the typically pretty dreary dystopian future young adult genre. Technical merits continue to be strong, and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 comes Recommended.