The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 picks up right where The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 left off, with an insane Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) having just brutally attacked Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) in an attempt to kill her. Katniss is devastated to realize that President Snow (Donald Sutherland) has managed to transform the sweet boy she loved into a raving, murderous monster and she is more determined than ever to exact her revenge upon Snow. While rebellion President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore) and Gamemaker Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman) are more than thrilled that she is once more ready to assume the role of the Mockingjay, the symbol of the rebellion, Katniss always has a plan of her own and her goal is to infiltrate the Capitol to kill Snow. But first, the rebels must crack "The Nut," a stronghold in District 2, to remove the Capitol's access to their weapons cache. While things go horribly awry and Katniss is injured, she is once again able to rally the troops against Snow.
After sneaking onto the frontlines of battle to infiltrate the Capitol, Katniss is placed with a troop led by Boggs (Mahershala Ali) and Lt. Jackson (Michelle Forbes), and also includes Gale (Liam Hemsworth) and Finnick (Sam Claflin), among others, with Cressida (Natalie Dormer, Game of Thrones) and her camera crew, brothers Castor (Wes Chatham, The Expanse) and Pollux (Elden Henson, Daredevil) in tow, filming it all. They are supposedly days behind the actual fighting and the goal is to film propos for the rebellion, but what they soon discover is that the Capitol itself has been transformed into a version of The Hunger Games with deadly and treacherous pods created by the Gamemakers placed all around the city and they'll have to fight for their lives for every inch of ground they cover. To make matters worse, Peeta has been placed in their charge, again to intimidate the Capitol and rouse the crowds who will view the propo films, but he is still not right mentally and is a timebomb waiting to go off.
Katniss and crew soon discover that it will be no easy feat to reach Snow himself, and she and Gale come up with a plan to infiltrate Snow's mansion, but nothing can ever go right for this group, and the rebellion and loyalists to the Capitol are dealt a simultaneous and devastating blow which brings the battle to an alarming halt. With all that has happened, can Katniss ever truly find peace and a normal life, and even if she does, will she end up with a damaged Peeta or a war-hardened Gale?
As I said earlier, I was really disappointed in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 and thought it could be condensed into an extra 30 minutes and added to Part 2 to make one complete film, but that being said, I thoroughly enjoyed the roller coaster ride that was The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2. Once it kicks into gear, it is pretty much non-stop action the whole way through and is equal parts nail-biter and heartbreak. The entire cast is fantastic, but Jennifer Lawrence is incredible as Katniss Everdeen. I had my doubts way back when she was initially cast, but she perfectly embodies the strong and fiercely independent girl determined to keep her family safe.
If you are looking for special features, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 has got them in spades and their production quality is as high as that of the film, itself. For starters, there's an 8-part documentary (clocking in at around 2.5 hours) on the making of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 and everything you can imagine is covered in-depth. From the cast, to the costumes, to the stunts and special effects, you can feel the love here. While I am typically bored by making-of featurettes, these were truly fantastic and I thoroughly enjoyed watching them. Additionally, there's a featurette on the on-set photographer, his lengthy career, and experiences during the filming of all four movies; a really interesting featurette on Cinna's Sketchbook of designs for the Mockingjay armor and how the film's costume guys used Cinna's descriptions in the book to create what would have been a sketchbook he left for Katniss and the rebellion; a short featurette on The Hunger Games Exhibition, which is something I will definitely visit next time I am in San Francisco; an audio commentary with Director Francis Lawrence and Producer Nina Jacobson, which contains even more behind the scenes info than is even conveyed in the documentary; and a 45-minute show called Jet to the Set, which was a little silly, but also great fun. Here, the two hostesses travel to the filming locations of The Hunger Games series in Atlanta, plus they visit the local eateries and hot spots visited by the stars while they filmed. This was a fun tidbit to watch, but focused only on Atlanta, GA, while the documentary covered all of the locations including Paris and Berlin. Lastly, it must be noted that incredible actor Philip Seymour Hoffman passed away during the filming of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 and his loss was felt in watching not only the film, since there were a few scenes that had to be altered due to his loss, but also deeply while watching the featurettes. They didn't dwell on his passing, but he was clearly missed.
All in all, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 is a thrill ride that any fan of the series will want to see. I loved the book trilogy and I loved the movies, with the exception of Part 1, which was just ok. You'll want to have seen the previous film installments, but to complete the series, you can't miss The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2.
