Mockingjay Pt 2

And so another film franchise comes to its conclusion.
Having read the first half of the book a year ago, it took me a while to get back into the story. There are a lot of things that need tying up - the rebellion, the final confrontation between Snow and Katniss, the healing of Peeta and choosing between him and Gale.
I found it all too rushed.
The rebellion is happening without Katniss, as she is being used for propaganda. There are lots of Hunger Games type traps set around the streets of the Capitol, however, which heightens the peril for Katniss and her team.
As always with a civil war, it is the general innocent populace that suffers most - yes, they enjoyed wealth whilst the other Districts suffered, but are they responsible for the political actions of their leader? They die caught in the crossfire and as a result of the callous traps that take anyone regardless of faction.

Most of the pages are spent being chased or avoiding death, to the detriment of the characters.


Significant players are dispatched like chess pieces, with even Snow not getting a deserving death. Yes, we all know who Katniss is ultimately going to settle down with, but characters like Haymitch and Gale are left forgotten at the epilogue and you are left wanting to know more about what happens to everyone, how society rebuilds and what part does Katniss play in it.
Before I read this last part of the trilogy, I thought they would be dragging it out to produce four films, but I hope that the last film devotes time to providing the answers that the reader so wants and deserves! 


Official movie site

The film ends the series with a whimper rather than a bang, and if there's anything to point the blame at, it's the source material and the fact that Suzanne Collins adapted her book for the film. Perhaps, in this case, if another writer had been able to modify or change some of the outcomes it might have made the film a more satisfying experience.

There are a few action scenes that deliver - the black oil trap and the attack of the mutants in the sewers - but these are infrequent.
 
I think as the culmination of a trilogy and the overthrowing of a dystopian regime, Mockingjay fails to deliver what is expected - too many of the good guys die in the struggle, including major characters; Snow doesn't get a suitable end for the finale; the added ironic complication of President Coin being just as bad and willing to use the deaths of innocent children to usher in her rule. The fact that the UK government and others are just about to bomb a war-torn Syria and accept innocent lives as collateral rather left me with a nasty taste in my mouth.

Even the pastoral sunny ending of Katniss and Peeta with their children doesn't really end happily - Katniss still has bad dreams and these will haunt her. Hope is for the next generation.