The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Donald Sutherland.

Thriller/adventure

Star rating: **** (out of five)

by Michael Upton

And I was struck by both the similarities and contrasts between the latest outings of grim-faced heroes Katniss Everdeen and James Bond.

Both are essentially quest movies, the protagonists travelling from one destination to the next in their pursuit of villains.

But while Katniss and James (Jennifer Lawrence and Daniel Craig) are both serious, focussed individuals compelled to complete their missions by unfortunate circumstance and a sense of duty, the look and feel of the two couldn’t be more different.

Doubtless deliberately referencing its predecessors, Spectre plays out like a particularly-dramatic travelogue, with Bond destroying half of Mexico City before heading off on his expedition to Rome, the Austrian Alps and Morocco, all of which look stunning.

Katniss meanwhile, swaps the industrial grey and clinical white of a recovery centre (she had a bit of a rough time in Part 1, you may recall) for the war-ravaged frontline of District 2 in her revenge-motivated assault on the Capital.

The rebel forces may be out to overcome the fascist state, but rebel talisman Katniss has a more personal aim — assassinating the fiendish, grinning President Snow (Donald Sutherland), whose rhetoric echoes that of real-life warmongering statesmen.

If you’re not familiar with the Hunger Games series, think Lord of the Rings: The Revenge of the King with neater hair and fewer orcs.

Mockingjay Part 2 sees Katniss and her allies from the previous films battling lethal booby traps and terrifying sewer monsters as they advance on the presidential palace.

The need to overcome a series of “bosses” to progress to the next level playing out not unlike a video game, which means this closing chapter lacks the structural complexity of parts 1 to 3, not least because the action focuses almost entirely on the one attacking unit.

This is not entirely unlike the original Games, which pitted young “tributes” into battle against each other in a manipulated arena, except that the stakes are even higher this time.

Characters like warm-hearted stylist Effie (Elizabeth Banks), scheming strategist Plutarch (the late Philip Seymour Hoffman) and ragged-round-the-edges spin doctor Haymitch (Woody Harrelson) are sidelined as Katniss and her quest dominate proceedings.

Thank the movie gods then that the set pieces are gripping — one confusing scrap in a torch-lit sewer is a frantic masterpiece — and Lawrence’s conflicted, three-dimensional heroine takes you with her every step of the way.

She’s not alone in excelling, with Suzanne Collins’ adaptation her own novels adding depth to several key characters and Josh Hutcherson ably portraying troubled Peeta’s struggle for sanity.

Conflict-riddling Panem looks suitably, atmospherically grim, and there’s genuine uncertainty as to exactly which characters will make it out alive.

Anyone who’s not read Collins’ novels will also be treated to a series of twists in the final act.

But all of us who have followed Katniss’ on-screen journey — during which Lawrence has developed from hot prospect to A-list fixture — can feel satisfied the final miles of the marathon do due justice to what has gone before.

Pre-production hype of the Hunger Games whetted the appetite, and the finished concoction was more than satisfying.

Sorry James, when it comes to leaving me shaken and stirred (unlike your Martini), Katniss and co have the edge.