"It gets a little tedious after all these years," admits Katniss Everdeen about her life's obligations in her final line of dialogue after 547 accumulated minutes of "The Hunger Games" films. It's hard not to agree with her, nor to imagine that there are too many people -- Jennifer Lawrence included -- who will be sorry to see this overdrawn series end.
Not too many, that is, except for the folks at Lionsgate, who have tallied $2.315 billion in worldwide box-office grosses from their three previous adaptations of Suzanne Collins' blockbuster book trilogy and can count on raking in another $800 million, give or take, from this pervasively grim final edition to the series. But this cash cow is done.What started
off onscreen as a lush, outdoorsy, futuristic gladiatorial adventure has, to close things out, become a dark, often stifling tale of rebel insurrection that takes place largely underground or in dangerous urban ruins. Nominally fueled by accelerating anticipation of the long-awaited showdown between Katniss and nefarious President Snow (Donald. Sutherland), "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay -- Part 2" accentuates the weariness of the original insurgents and wariness between the archer warrior and rebel leader Coin (Julianne Moore), who is far ahead of her cohorts in imagining a post-Snow Panem nation. In fact, Collins' most surprising and satisfying achievement in the series' third installment was her handling of Coin, whose profile as a people's champion against an oppressive, tyrannical regime is increasingly contaminated by totalitarian impulses of her own and crafty ploys aimed at reducing Katniss to a mere figurehead for the revolutionary movement. This element is similarly the most engaging aspect of the latest film and, while it doesn't really occupy much screen time, it provides a dramatically arresting action climax.
Still, this is a dish that has been simmering over low heat for a long time, which makes for some pretty slow-going early on. Contributing most to the early sense of stasis is Josh Hutcherson's Peeta, who, since his liberation after being brainwashed by Capitol forces, must be strapped down while he babbles threatening diatribes against Katniss. She believes he can be brought around, but even as he improves he continues to be a loose cannon.
